Sepp Straka carded a bogey-free, 5-under 67 featuring an eagle at the par-5 16th to take a share of the lead at The Players Championship with play suspended overnight.

“I felt like all day I was playing from the rough, which is not ideal out here. Fortunately my iron play and wedge play was pretty nice today, and I was able to make a lot of putts to save some pars,” said Straka.

“I honestly didn’t play very well today off the tee. I hit it terrible off the tee. My iron play was good and my putter saved me a lot. But yeah, definitely need to clean up the tee balls out there.

“The first 10 holes we played in rain off and on. That was probably the hardest part about it. But other than that, I feel like there was hardly any wind, maybe five miles an hour. The greens were receptive, so I was able to control some iron shots into the green, and yeah, that definitely played into the score this afternoon.”

Straka, Ludvig Åberg and Viktor Hovland are the only three players who stayed bogey-free on Thursday.

The 32-year-old Austrian, the only non-American in the tie for the lead, seeks his fifth win on the PGA Tour in his 194th career start (previous wins: 2022 Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches, 2023 John Deere Classic, 2025 American Express, 2025 Truist Championship).

He is making his sixth start of the 2026 season and finished in the top-10 once (T2/AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am).

Maverick McNealy made one bogey for his 67. The 30-year-old seeks his second win in his 175th career start (2024 RSM Classic). He is making his seventh start of the season and has one top-10 finish (10th /Farmers Insurance Open).

Lee Hodges made two bogeys in his low 18-hole score in eleven career rounds at The Players Championship (previous: 69/2024/R1) and leads the field in Strokes Gained: Putting (3.964). The 30-year-old seeks his second win in his 129th career start (2023 3M Open).

Hodges reached the Top 100 threshold with a T6 at the Sony Open in Hawaii to satisfy his Major Medical Extension, earning him a spot in the field this week.

Sahith Theegala made an eagle at the par-4 12th as well as four birdies and one bogey to join the tie at the top of the leaderboard. The 28-year-old seeks his second win in his 133rd start (2023 Fortinet Championship).

Austin Smotherman has made two bogeys through seventeen holes for his share of the lead. The 31-year-old seeks his first win in his 84th start. His best finish was T2 at the 2026 Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches. He has had one more top-10 finish in six starts this season (T8/The American Express).

The first round of The Players Championship was suspended due to inclement weather at 12:09 p.m. ET and resumed at 12:30 p.m., a delay of 21 minutes with players staying in position.

The first round was suspended due to darkness at 7:37 p.m. with four players left to complete their round. The first round will resume on Friday at 8:50 a.m. The second round will begin as scheduled at 7:40 a.m.

Making his second start of the 2026 season since returning from back surgery in November, 2021 champion Justin Thomas of the USA opened witha  68 (two bogeys) and lies in T6 at 4-under, his first time breaking 70 in the first round of The Players Championship (11th appearance).

Two-time Champion (2023, 2024) and World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler of the United States entered the week with the longest active cuts made streak on Tour (69). He carded an even-par 72 having made four bogeys and lies in T40.

Making his 24th consecutive start at The Players, the longest active streak, 2004 Australian champion Adam Scott recorded his 23rd birdie at the 17th, the second-most in Players history (26/Bernhard Langer). He also made three more birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey at the par-4 18th to close with a 72 and T40 place.

Two-time winner (2019, 2025) and World No. 2 Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland carded his first over-par round on Tour since the 2025 Tour Championship (R3/71). He made one birdie and three bogeys for a 74 and is T69 at 2-over. McIlroy withdrew from last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational with a back injury prior to his third round.

FedExCup leader Collin Morikawa (USA) withdrew during the first round.

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