Players Championship suspended due to darkness, Glover, Villegas, Spaun lead

Horschel birdies his last three holes, Villegas posts back-nine 31 to push their way onto the first page of the leaderboard

Billy Horschel and Camilo Villegas took their Chomps out of the Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass during Thursday’s first round of The Players Championship.

The two former University of Florida golfers battled increasing wind during afternoon rounds to push their way into contention after Lucas Glover set the number to chase in the morning wave with a 6-under-par 66. J.J. Spaun also shot a 66 in the afternoon, with a bogey-free card.

The first round was suspended because of darkness at 7:34 p.m. Five players begin the resumption of their round at 8:50 a.m., but the second round will begin as scheduled at 7:40 a.m.

Who’s left on the course?

When a round is suspended because of darkness, players are given the option of finishing the hole they’re on. Kris Ventura, who was on the par-4 ninth hole, elected to play it out and made a bogey for a 77.

His playing partners, Kevin Roy and Jackson Suber decided to wait until Friday morning to finish. Both are 5-over par. Roy hit his third shot on the ninth green and has a 23-foot birdie putt attempt. Suber had yet to hit his second shot.

The other group was on the 17th hole when the suspension was called. Max McGreevy is 5-under par and has a birdie putt attempt of 16 feet when he returns and Ryan Gerard is 1-under and has a 9-10 birdie attempt. Frankie Capan III elected to finish the 17th hole with a par, and is 2-over.

Villegas, Horschel make late birdies

Villegas shot 5-under 31 on his front nine, the Stadium Course back, and was 1-under on the front to tie Glover and Spaun for the lead. Horschel birdied his last three holes to finish in a tie with 2019 Players champion Rory McIlroy, gallery favorite Min Woo Lee, and Akshay Bhatia at 5-under 67.

Villegas dropped a 23-foot birdie at No. 12 and a 15-footer at the 17th hole Island Green and Horschel rolled in birdie putts of 2-11 at No. 16, 6 feet at No. 17 and 16-11 at No. 18.

A UF player has never won The Players. There have been Texas Longhorns (Scheffler, Tom Kite and Justin Leonard), Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (David Duval, Matt Kuchar), Alabama Crimson Tide players (Justin Thomas, Jerry Pate) and Wake Forest Demon Deacons (Webb Simpson, Lanny Wadkins).

But no one who wore Orange and Blue.

Horschel and Villegas are in good position to change that.

Billy Horschel ‘in a good space’

Contending at The Players is especially meaningful for Horschel, who lives in Ponte Vedra Beach and is married to a Nease graduate, the former Brittany Nelson.

Horschel is in his 12th Players Championship. He missed the cut the last two years and has never posted a top-10 finish. His best was a tie for 13th in 2025.

When asked if he put undue pressure on himself to win in his adopted hometown, Horschel wasn’t shy about the answer but pointed out that there is pressure in winning any Tour event — and he’s got eight of them, including the 2015 FedEx Cup.

“This is my 12th Players Championship, so year, 12 straight years of putting undue pressure on myself,” he said. “As much as I talk about not trying to do that and put any added pressure, at the end of the day, it happens.”

Horschel birdied his first two holes, then bogeyed three of his next five. A streak of four birdies in a row began at No. 9, which settled him down.

“This morning I woke up and I was in a really good space and I felt really good with my warmup,” he said. “I birdied the first two holes, which should calm me down, but it didn’t. I started playing defensive and trying to steer things around and not make mistakes, because I knew things were going well.”

Camilo Villegas has struggled at The Players

Villegas, who tied for third in his first Players in 2006, has missed seven of 10 cuts since.

“I kept it in play, gave myself good chances, made some nice putts. A couple nice par saves, too,” he said. “Five birdies [on the back nine], it was a special nine.”

Villegas said that 2006 Players is too distant a memory to be of any help this week.

“To be honest there’s not too many things I remember from 2006 except I finished third,” he said. “The golf course has changed, I’ve changed, and I guess I do have a lot more experience. I’ve gone through some good battles in life and good moments, bad moments. Back in 2006 I was just a young kid coming out of college, and I guess got nothing to lose.”

Villegas was referring to the 2020 loss of his infant daughter Mia.

McIlroy made birdie from pine straw at No. 18

McIlroy hit a sensational shot at the last, punching out from the pine straw and avoiding trees after his tee shot went right. The ball shot out and kept rolling, until it came to rest 7 feet, 7 inches from the hole. He dropped the putt for a birdie to cap a back-nine 32 that began with three birdies in a row.

“It’s a better place than left off the tee [where there is nothing but water], so I was just trying to cut a 3-wood up into the wind to get it on to the fairway,” McIlroy said. “You’re just hoping for a backswing and a gap, and I had both of those. Just trying to chip-and-run a 5-iron up around the front of the green and make 4 and get out of there. It was a bonus to get it up on the green and hole the putt. It was a lovely way to finish.”

It was the second time in the round McIlroy made birdie after losing a drive to the right in pine straw and trees. He had to punch out of trouble at the par-5 11th hole, then hit his third shot on the green and made an 11-foot putt.

Spaun birdied all four par-5 holes to highlight his day, either laying up or getting up and down from around the greens. He added 10-foot birdie putts at Nos. 6 and 12.

He has a rather abysmal record at The Players, with three missed cuts, a withdrawal and a tie for 64th last year.

“I kind of kept the ball in front of me and just limited mistakes and got up-and-down when I needed to,” he said. “I made some good putts, and just overall had a pretty nice day.

Lucas Glover thinks course is a good fit

Glover, 45 years old, birdied his last four holes, with a 18-footer at No. 17 as the key roll. A six-time PGA Tour winner, Glover has usually struggled at the Stadium Course with 10 missed cuts in 16 starts. He did finish solo third in 2010 and tied for sixth in 2017.

“I think it fits when anybody’s playing well, honestly,” said the Greenville, S.C., native and Tequesta resident, who graduated from Clemson. “For some reason I’ve had difficulty here hitting the ball close and making putts … whether it’s wind or not being confident or just not swinging well this week or what have you. 

“But it is a decent course for me because it’s not overly long,” he continued. “I know I can compete here, if I get it in the fairway. I don’t hit it far enough to be hanging up in the rough.” 

Scottie Scheffler is in the mix for a third Players

Eleven players, led by former Jacksonville resident Bud Cauley, 2015 Players champion Rickie Fowler and area resident Sam Ryder posted 4-under 68. Two-time defending champion Scottie Scheffler is lurking with a 3-under 69, along with Patrick Cantlay and Canadian Taylor Pendrith and Adam Hadwin.

Cauley, now living in Jupiter, had eight birdies and four bogeys.

“I grew up as a kid coming to this tournament every year,” said Cauley, who played out of Windsor Parke as a junior before going to Alabama. “Every time I get to come play, it brings back a lot of memories of coming out here and watching and seeing the guys play and hoping one day I’d be able to play. It’s always a lot of fun for me.”

Chandler Phillips: A record three eagles

Chandler Phillips, a former Texas A&M player who has missed three of six cuts on the Tour this season and is in his first Players Championship, shot his 68 in a sensational manner, becoming the first in tournament history to make three eagles in one round.

Phillips, who began on the back nine, eagled No. 16 on a putt of 37-8., He pitched in from 71 feet off the left side of No. 2, then muscled a 301-yard second shot onto the green at No. 9, and made a putt of less than 4 feet.

This story was updated to add additional information and quotes.