Jeff Straka putsts on the 14th green during the first round of the Players Championship golf tournament at TPC Sawgrass on March 12, 2026 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. (Doug Engle/Florida Times-Union) PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Surprise Package Austin Smotherman was left with a two-putt par and a five-way tie for the lead after the weather-delayed opening round of the Players Championship finally concluded Friday morning.
Smotherman, one of four players who had yet to complete the first round when play was halted for dim light at 7:37 PM ET on Thursday, faced a 15-foot birdie putt on the final hole, the par-5 ninth, as the round resumed on a chilly, breezy but sunny morning at TPC Sawgrass.
The 31-year-old is a three-time winner on the Korn Ferry Tour and was runner-up at last month’s Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches, but missed a birdie attempt left of the cup but tapped in for par to shoot a 5-under 67.
This puts him level with fellow Americans Maverick McNealy, Lee Hodges and Sahith Theegala, and Austria’s Sepp Straka, who all finished the opening rounds on Thursday.
World No. 6 Russell Henley, who won the event in 2021 and is making his second PGA Tour start this year after undergoing back surgery in November, and fellow American Justin Thomas were among a group of four players who opened with 68s on a packed leaderboard.
Smotherman, who withdrew from last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational before the third round due to a back injury, cited “the pinnacle of trusting the process” as the reason for his impressive PGA Tour performance this season.
“Then with good putting and good habits, my short game came back and I trusted my ball striking,” said Smotherman, who birdied four of the last nine holes in the opening round. “But maybe that belief has been kicked up a notch or two, and now we’re back on tour feeling like we know everyone.
“At Korn Ferry, I felt like a 31-year-old, and here we are in the middle of it. o Just put in a good round, and we’ve been lucky enough to be able to take our signature events early this season and give players access to all these extra points when they want.”
Smotherman missed the cut three times and made the top 10 twice in five PGA Tour games this season, and also withdrew from the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
“I think I just got tired after a long week at Cognizant,” Smotherman said of his back problem at Bay Hill. “Now I’m taking an extra 30 minutes or so to get to the course to give myself extra time to roll slowly, but I’ve got some really good beds this week.
“Who knows if the bed at my Airbnb last week was so soft that it was a mess? I’m not someone who has back problems. I mean, sometimes my back hurts and it’s so tight that I can throw the kids around.”
Smotherman is seeking his first PGA Tour victory in his 84th start and aims to become only the third player to earn his first win at the Players Championship, joining Craig Perks in 2002 and Tim Clark in 2010.
But he will have to battle some of the biggest names in the game over the next three days. World No. 3 Tommy Fleetwood is just two strokes behind after opening with a 69, and No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is three strokes further behind.
Scheffler, seeking a rare third victory at the Players Championship, produced a mixed bag Thursday, opening with an even-par 72. He followed up with back-to-back bogeys and a birdie on the final hole, the par-5 9th.
“I did some good things, like changing the weather, but overall I felt like it was a little disappointing,” said Scheffler, who won his 20th PGA Tour victory at the American Express in January. “I’d like to get things sorted out over the next few days.”
The opening round concluded Friday morning at TPC Sawgrass, but the second round began as scheduled at 7:40 a.m. ET.
-Mark Lamport-Stokes, Field Level Media
