The Players Championship 2017: Tee times, pairings for Round 2

Golf’s unofficial fifth major teed off Thursday, as 147 of the world’s top golfers took to one of its least forgiving courses. The Players Championship and its iconic 17th hole island green welcomed a crowded field of athletes to north Florida for May’s premier PGA event. With $10.5 million at stake, the headaches that come with a trip to Sawgrass are worthwhile.

Despite a star-studded field, the first day of the tournament gave us a surprising name atop the leaderboard. William McGirt, a 37-year-old pro with only one PGA Tour victory in his 13-year career, put the rest of the field on notice after firing a -5 round Thursday morning. He shares the lead with Canadian Mackenzie Hughes through 18 holes.

If McGirt can complete a pillar-to-post victory, he’d win nearly double the money at The Players’ Championship — $1.89 million — than he has in throughout his 2017 season ($969,000).

He and Hughes will have to hold off the world’s best golfers to pull it off. J.B. Holmes was nipping at his heels after shooting -4 to start his tournament. 2016 TPC champion Jason Day was only three strokes behind, along with Rickie Fowler and Phil Mickelson. Other top five golfers Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy, Hideki Matsuyama, and Jordan Spieth all remain in the hunt as well.

Friday’s action starts bright and early, as two groups will have to set their alarms to make a 7:10 a.m. tee time to kick off round two. The day’s first big name group goes off at 7:54 when Bubba Watson and Patrick Reed start their days. From there, the course just adds more and more talent:

8:16 a.m. (10th hole): Sergio Garcia, Adam Scott, Matt Kuchar
8:27 a.m. (10th hole): Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, Rory McIlroy
8:49 a.m. (10th hole): Charl Schwartzel, Smylie Kaufman, Ernie Els

These talent-heavy groups then ebb a bit until the afternoon, when more heavy hitters get the call on the first tee. Back-to-back pairings at 1:41 and 1:52 will unleash three of the world’s top five duffers — Johnson, Matsuyama, and Spieth — as well as Fowler and Mickelson, onto Sawgrass’s unforgiving links.

Golf Channel’s coverage of the first round will start at 1 p.m. ET and run through 7 p.m. Featured Groups coverage can be seen at PGA Tour Live, starting at 7:30 a.m. With sunny skies and warm temperatures on tap, everything should run according to plan Friday. Here are the day’s full pairings.