Thursday 11 May 2017 21:26, UK
Rickie Fowler was pleased with his "solid" start to the 2017 Players Championship, but was left ruing two poor holes that saw him slip back into the pack after having a share of the lead.
Fowler - a former winner at TPC Sawgrass in 2015 - got off to a flier, going four under par through his first seven holes, starting on the back nine of the course.
But he fell away with a bogey on the par-four fourth and a double on sixth, also a par four, before finishing his round with a fifth birdie of the day to end two under.
"Two under par is a good solid start," said Fowler after his opening round. "No-one's going crazy low or anything like that. There's a lot of golf to be played.
"It was great to get off to a good start. I made a lot of really good swings out there, hitting 11 of 14 fairways, 15 of 18 greens.
"I just had two holes get away from me. Other than that it was 16 really good golf holes, so I'm definitely pleased with my start as, on the day as a whole, I made a lot of good swings.
"It's great to be back here, where I know I've played well before. It's relaxing. And obviously having won here, it makes the week a lot more special."
Joining Fowler on two under is a fellow former winner at TPC Sawgrass, Phil Mickelson, who 10 years on from his triumph in 2007, had a mixed opening round, the highlight of which was undoubtedly his eagle on the par-five 16th.
Despite that, and five birdies, Mickelson wasn't disappointed at not finishing with a lower score, citing his struggles on the course in recent years as well as the new changes to it for 2017.
"I'm happy because I've been a lot worse the last few years, so to be under par is good," he said following his first round efforts. "I did a lot of really good things, hit a lot of good shots, a lot of birdies and made an eagle, so it's great.
"Sure, I made some mistakes, but you're going to do that here. It's a course that it is going to get you at some point, so you're also going to make a lot of bogeys and doubles. Unfortunately I did that today too.
"Also, the way the changes to the course have come out - first of all, I really like it, but second, it's faster and firmer and so the misses are magnified.
"It's very difficult to get up-and-down around the greens, so we're going to see a lot more bogeys and doubles over the tournament."
Jordan Spieth made three bogeys and one costly double on the first to start his back nine, as he ultimately finished one over par for his opening round.
Spieth hit his second shot into the bunker front-left of the green, and was seen taking a photo after hitting his third out of the sand, disappointed with the condition it was left in.
"It just kind of looked like somebody didn't really care much to rake it, or were rushing off the green, because I had worse than a plugged lie," said Spieth. "I overreacted probably a bit but it was very frustrating as it was at a time in my round where I was trying to kind of get some momentum going.
"My second shot I thought was actually going to carry five yards further than it did, but I just didn't have control of the golf ball today, particularly off the tee.
"I hit four fairways and, honestly, to be only one over after four fairways hit is actually somewhat of a strong effort out here.
"In a span of four rounds you're likely to have a day where you're a little off, a day or two, and I'll just hope that that was the one today and that we're back on track tomorrow."
