Sepp Straka and Sahith Theegala among five at top of Players Championship leaderboard

[p]Americans [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mcnealy-maverick/0zWorABC/"]Maverick McNealy[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hodges-lee/rZPQr7JR/"]Lee Hodges[/a] also reached the clubhouse on 67 after 18 holes at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/smotherman-austin/U7Jjbxgc/"]Austin Smotherman[/a], five-under through 17 holes, had a birdie putt from just inside 15 feet at the par-five ninth to seize the lead when darkness prompted the American to wait until Friday morning to finish his first round.[/p][p]"[b]Just getting so dark[/b]," Smotherman said. "[b]It's not worth it right now, to get fresh greens in the morning[/b]."[/p][p]A 21-minute afternoon rain delay made the green speeds tricky to read for later players.[/p][embed guid="4d8a1046-a280-4ca6-9e23-06f7ce571160" url="https://x.com/i/status/2032220083758485522" social-type="twitter" /][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/straka-sepp/fqttYEZr/"]Straka[/a] opened with back-to-back birdies, eagled the par-five 16th on a 50-foot chip and got up and down for par at 18 from 66 yards.[/p][p]"[b]I really did not hit it very well today[/b]," Straka said. "[b]I was able to recover from some errant tee shots and put a good number on the board[/b].[/p][p]"[b]I've got to hit some fairways. I lived on the edge today. Had a lot of up and downs, some from 90 and 100 yards. You won't survive long doing that[/b]."[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/theegala-sahith/WQd3jNo0/"]Theegala[/a] began with three birdies and holed out from 99 yards for eagle at the 12th.[/p][p]"[b]I got away with one there[/b]," he said. "[b]I landed it so far right that it took a huge hop left. If that didn't crash the pin there that was 25 feet down the ridge. That was a huge bonus. It felt great to see one go in[/b]."[/p][p]Hodges birdied four of the first seven holes and sank a six-foot birdie putt at 18 to share first.[/p][p]"[b]I'm honestly just happy to be in the position I'm in[/b]," Hodges said. "[b]I knew my game was there. I was just kind of waiting for it all to come together[/b]."[/p][embed guid="1b544163-fde0-4bff-b2ea-e97c6817bea5" url="https://x.com/THEPLAYERS/status/2032204272322974001" social-type="twitter" /][p]McNealy had six birdies against a lone bogey.[/p][p]"[b]I just mastered the variability of what the golf course threw at us really well[/b]," he said. "It was a mixed bag of everything."[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/thomas-justin/jV7EtuiD/"]Justin Thomas[/a], a two-time PGA Championship winner who missed the cut with back-to-back 79s last week at Bay Hill, shared sixth on 68 with US compatriots [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/henley-russell/4xlMJb5S/"]Russell Henley[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/young-cameron/WAjf7EFq/"]Cameron Young[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/moore-taylor/beu4ueho/"]Taylor Moore[/a].[/p][p]"[b]Literally every single thing you can imagine I did quite a bit better[/b]," Thomas said.[/p][p]Top-ranked [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/scheffler-scottie/bXfIuBYu/"]Scottie Scheffler[/a] opened with a 72.[/p][p]"[b]I did some good things[/b]," Scheffler said. "[b]But overall I felt like I gave away some shots[/b]."[/p][h2]Rusty Rory shoots 74[/h2][p]Second-ranked [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mcilroy-rory/djwanksN/"]Rory McIlroy[/a], the defending champion, shot 74 and said he felt no back problems such as those that forced him to withdraw last weekend at Bay Hill.[/p][p]"[b]Just felt unbelievably rusty out there. I'm glad I got through the round[/b]," McIlroy said.[/p][p]"[b]I would say the most discomfort was when the ball was below my feet or with chipping. Just like getting down a little bit to it[/b]."[/p][p]Two-time major winner [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/morikawa-collin/0UlRrMgE/"]Collin Morikawa[/a] withdrew after injuring his back following a practice swing on the 11th tee.[/p][p]"[b]Teed it up on 11, and took one practice swing, and I just knew it was gone[/b]," he said.[/p][p]New Zealand golfer [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/fox-ryan/bR9ztYXn/"]Ryan Fox[/a] pulled out with an illness that turned out to be kidney stones, he posted on Instagram.[/p]