PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Akshay Bhatia and Min Woo Lee shared the lead at The Players Championship going into a weekend with strong wind in the forecast and the potential for a wide-open chase.
That includes Justin Thomas, the biggest surprise Friday.
Thomas opened with a 78 and was tied for 134th when he set the tournament record for most birdies in a single round with 11. A bogey from the water on the 18th hole forced him to settle for a 10-under-par 62 to tie Tom Hoge’s record for the lowest round in The Players Championship.
“Everything seems to happen in mysterious and weird ways,” said the 31-year-old Thomas, with it unclear if the two-time PGA Championship winner was speaking to his round or the very game of golf.
Lee, a 26-year-old Australian seeking his PGA Tour breakthrough, made a sloppy bogey on his final hole at the par-5 ninth. The 23-year-old Bhatia, with two career wins on the tour already to his credit, got creative with a wedge to make a birdie on the ninth. Each had a 66, and they were tied for the lead at 11-under 133 through 36 holes on the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass.