PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – With the largest purse of the PGA Tour season – a cool $25 million – the Players Championship isn’t the week to be trunk-slamming on Friday. Yet the Pete Dye design at TPC Sawgrass exposes any weaknesses in one’s game and it sent several of the best players in golf packing.
That included the likes of Justin Thomas, Will Zalatoris and Jordan Spieth.
On the flip side, Aaron Rai, who lives locally, came up clutch, stuffing his approach at 18 inside 2 feet and brushed in the birdie putt to make the cut on the number. Min Woo Lee canned a 60 foot, 1 inch putt at 17, the second-longest putt made on the hole since 2003, which gave him a cushion to make bogey at 18 and also finish on the cutline. And Sam Burns salvaged a par from this unlikely spot to join them on the weekend.
In all, the field needed to shoot 1-under 143 or better to earn a spot into the weekend at the Tour’s flagship event, with reigning U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark (65-65) leading the way at 14 under.
Just two golfers didn’t finish their second rounds before darkness set in Friday night.
Justin Thomas plays his shot from the 16th tee during the first round of the 2024 Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass. (Photo: Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union)
Round 1: 1-under 71
Round 2: 2-over 74
Justin Thomas, the 2021 Players champ, had never missed the cut at this event in eight previous starts. He made seven birdies in the first round but made too many mistakes, including just 2-for-7 scrambling in posting his 71. On Friday, the putter let him down as he ranked 139th out of 144 in SG: Putting, missing several putts in the 5-10-foot range. Thomas has four top-12 finishes this season but also missed the cut in two of his last three starts.
Jordan Spieth plays his shot from the 12th tee during the first round of the 2024 Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass. (Photo: Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union)
Round 1: 2-over 74
Round 2: Even-par 72
Spieth continued to struggle at TPC Sawgrass. He missed the cut for the sixth time in 10 starts at the Players. Spieth struggled mightily off the tee in both rounds, hitting just 13 fairways for two rounds.
It didn’t get much better from there as he ranked 141st in SG: Tee to Green on Thursday. His usually impressive short-game was off the mark as he only scrambled successfully on 4 of 14 attempts (T-134).
Justin Rose hits his tee shot on the 15th hole…
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