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The Players Championship will mark a pandemic milestone for PGA Tour

AP photo by John Raoux / Rory McIlroy tees off on No. 7 at Bay Hill Club during the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational on Sunday in Orlando, Fla.
AP photo by John Raoux / Rory McIlroy tees off on No. 7 at Bay Hill Club during the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational on Sunday in Orlando, Fla. AP photo by John Raoux / Rory McIlroy tees off on No. 7 at Bay Hill Club during the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational on Sunday in Orlando, Fla.

By DOUG FERGUSON / The Associated Press 5 min read

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Hideki Matsuyama made a 25-foot eagle putt on his final hole of the first round at The Players Championship and earned a spot in the record book as the ninth player to post a 63 at TPC Sawgrass.

And then it was gone.

Last year’s opening round wasn’t complete because eight players failed to finish before dark. The entire tournament wasn’t complete because of the COVID-19 pandemic that wiped out the final three rounds at Sawgrass and the following three months on the PGA Tour.

Now it’s about starting over. The reigning champion is still Rory McIlroy, who won in 2019 and who began last year with a 72, leaving him nine shots behind. On Thursday, everyone is back to even.

“I think I feel a bit better about that than Hideki does,” McIlroy said. “If I felt for anyone last year because of all this, it was Hideki. That was obviously a hell of an opening round. But it’s nice to be back, and hopefully I can get off to a better start than I did last year.”