The opening round of THE PLAYERS Championship was rocked by a major withdrawal right out of the gate. Collin Morikawa injured himself on a practice swing on hole 11, his second hole of the day. He was carted off and his week was over nearly before it began.

Throughout the day, players battled winds and rain that caused a 21-minute delay. The round of the morning belonged to Maverick McNealy, who shot a 5-under 67, matching his career-best round at THE PLAYERS. He had just a single blemish on the card, which he offset with six birdies. That total was later matched by Lee Hodges, Sepp Straka and Sahith Theegala, who share the lead after the first round. Austin Smotherman was at 5-under on the 18th hole when play was suspended for darkness.

The 2021 Champion, Justin Thomas, put together a 4-under 68 that was highlighted by three consecutive birdies to start his round. This was a complete turnaround from his missed cut at Bay Hill last week. This was only Thomas’ third competitive round in 2026 after having back surgery at the end of last year.

Scottie Scheffler, the pre-tournament favorite, battled a wayward driver but was able to cobble together an even-par 72. He’ll find solace in the +1.1 strokes he gained on the putting surfaces, which included a 27-foot putt that he drained for birdie on the 15th hole.

All eyes were on Rory McIlroy, who had been nursing a back injury that forced him to withdraw from the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard last week. McIlroy arrived on-site on Wednesday afternoon and didn’t play a practice round in preparation for his title defense. He carded just a single birdie on the day and posted a 2-over 74 that will have him battling the cut line on Friday.

Ludvig Åberg to Win (+1450), DraftKings Sportsbook

The word you’re looking for is clinical. Åberg hit 11 of 14 fairways and 14 of 18 greens en route to his bogey-free 69. He was one of only three bogey-free rounds on the day and didn’t see much stress at all in the opening round.

When he did miss a green, he was perfect (4-for-4) in scrambling, with his longest putt made being 13 feet, 4 inches. When you add it all up, it was a stellar round with plenty of optimism for the rest of the event. He entered the week as one of the favorites and, with the Morikawa withdrawal, concerns around Rory McIlroy’s health, and Scottie Scheffler failing to break par in his opening round, Åberg is quickly becoming the class of the field. He’ll be able to tap into some of his confident play from last week, where he finished T3 at Bay Hill, and look to improve on it this week.

Max Homa Top 10 (+630), DraftKings Sportsbook

It was an eventful opening round for Homa, who holed out for eagle on his first hole of the day. On the other end of the spectrum, he made two double bogeys before making the turn. He was able to close with five birdies on his second nine, including four of his last five holes. Homa put on an approach clinic, hitting six approaches inside of 10 feet — and converting all of those putts. That translated to more than 3.5 Strokes Gained: Approach. He’s clearly rounding into form and building off his T13 from the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches, his most recent start. He’ll need to drive it better the rest of the way, but there are plenty of pathways to the top of the board for Homa.

Brooks Koepka Top 20 (+172), DraftKings Sportsbook

Koepka continues to show improvement each week in his return to the PGA TOUR. His opening round this week was solid — two birdies offset by two bogeys — but definitely showed room for improvement.

He played the par-5s at 1-over, and those holes are usually the throughline to good scoring rounds. The most positive metric is his Strokes Gained: Putting, where he gained more than a half stroke on the field. That’s been his struggle this year, and it’s forced him to change putters in the process. He gained +2.7 strokes putting at PGA National and is on a similar pace this week. That will give him plenty of confidence throughout the rest of his game.

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