Tommy Fleetwood has admitted that he was taken aback by the pace of the greens after a promising first round at The Players Championship on Thursday.
It proved to be a real tale of two nines for Fleetwood at TPC Sawgrass. The Englishman was five under par after his first 11 holes of the day.
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However, three bogeys in his final six holes helped leave Fleetwood three under par after his first round at the PGA Tour’s flagship event.
Tommy Fleetwood admits surprise over Sawgrass’ greens after his first round at The Players Championship
It seemed important that Tommy Fleetwood got off to a strong start after such a disappointing week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational last week. In fact, it has been a very mixed start to the season for the FedEx Cup champion when you consider his performances on the DP World Tour too.
The high point came when he played 16, 17, and 18 in four under par. And Fleetwood was asked about the significance of playing those three holes so well.
Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images
“No, that was a massive, it’s a huge bonus of a stretch, really, because I played really solid, really, that whole nine holes. I left a few short,” he said.
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“I struggled with the pace of the greens all day really. They took me by surprise. Still look a bit brownish but they weren’t that fast today. I just left way too many putts short and struggled with my pace a little bit, and up until that point on 16 had like two or three sort of mid-range chances; hadn’t holed anything.
Hit a great shot into 16 and holed that; 17 and 18. Got a read off Scottie on that hole. Then 18, made birdie there.
“A complete bonus of a stretch, but it was really good golf through that point.”
How Fleetwood improved after a disappointing week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational
Fleetwood finished 49th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational last week. He was six over par for the week, posting two rounds of 76 along the way.
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He looked to be a lot closer to his very best on Thursday at TPC Sawgrass, particularly from tee to green. Obviously, Fleetwood is one of the best ball-strikers in the current game.
And he explained what differences he noticed about his performance from his previous appearance at Bay Hill.
“I hit the ball well on Sunday last week. I think there’s still some similarities. I gave away some shots. I think that’s kind of frustrating. Golf is funny that way sometimes. I don’t need to do anything different and I’ll clean them up,” he said.
“Yeah, just a few sort of simple dropped shots. I think just the way the game is, I got on a great run there 16 to 18, birdied two, and before you know it, you’re five under for the round through that little stretch.
Other than that, I played solid. I hit a lot of good golf shots. Again, it’s not like I’m ever working on anything that different.
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“Didn’t play how I wanted to last week for the most part, scored really poorly, and today it was a bit better. It’s a lot better in certain stretches.
“You know, you just plod away. I always think it’s important, last week I gave myself a chance to play the weekend, and I felt like Sunday when I hit the ball really well, that gave me some things to go into this week, so that was kind of a carry on to that.”
Fleetwood has a good record at The Players Championship across his career. He finished fifth back in 2019, while he has three top 30 finishes in his last four appearances.
So there is plenty of reason to think that Fleetwood can keep himself in the mix over the coming days.
His performance on Thursday bodes well should he find himself in contention down the stretch on Sunday.
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