DELOFTED Golf Update: Players Championship – Darkness Halts Explosive Start!
What an opener at the US PGA Players Championship, folks! The first day at the legendary TPC Sawgrass immediately got down to business, and in the end, five players shared the provisional lead. Among them: Austria's Sepp Straka and American Sahith Theegala, who both posted a powerful 67 (-5) before darkness abruptly ended the spectacle.
And there was more: Maverick McNealy and Lee Hodges, both from the USA, also secured their spot in the lead with a 67 after completing their 18 holes at the infamous TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
There was almost a sole leader! Austin Smotherman was also five-under through 17 holes, and on the par-5 ninth, he was poised with a birdie putt from just under 15 feet to snatch the outright lead. But he too had to succumb to the elements and is now waiting for Friday morning, March 13, 2026, to finish his sensational round.
"It just got too dark," Smotherman said. "It's not worth playing now when you have fresh greens tomorrow morning." A clear statement from the man. No surprise: A 21-minute rain delay in the afternoon turned the green speed into a real challenge for the later flights.
Sepp Straka got off to a lightning start with two consecutive birdies. Then the highlight: an eagle on the par-5 16th, after a monster chip from 50 feet! And as if that wasn't enough, he conjured up an up-and-down for par from 66 yards on the 18th to coolly secure his round. Despite this, Straka was self-critical: "I really didn't hit it well today. But I was able to recover from a few errors off the tee and still put a good number on the board." His conclusion: "I need to hit more fairways. I was living on the edge today, had a lot of up-and-downs, some of them from 90 and 100 yards. You can't sustain that in the long run." Insider knowledge, folks – he knows what he's talking about.
Sahith Theegala also started furiously with three birdies before holing out for eagle on the 12th from an unbelievable 99 yards. That's how it's done! "I got really lucky there," he admitted. "I landed it so far right that it took a huge hop to the left. If it hadn't hit the flagstick, it would have rolled 25 feet down the ridge. That was a huge bonus. It felt great to see the ball disappear."
Lee Hodges, on the other hand, didn't waste any time, scoring birdies on four of the first seven holes. And to top it off, he sank a six-foot birdie putt on the 18th to also snatch a share of the lead. "Honestly, I'm just happy to be in this position," Hodges said. "I knew my game was there. I have
