Let’s be honest—golf is impossible. Between its various sand traps, dog legs and water hazards, even the most forgiving 18-hole course will give you more than enough rope to hang yourself. TPC Sawgrass in Florida, site of the 2021 Players Championship, was a headache and a half during Thursday’s opening round, tormenting the 154-player field at each turn. The course was particularly unkind to Byeong Hun An, who carded a disastrous 11 on the Par-3 17th to finish 11-over for the round.
Misery loves company and there was plenty of that to go around Thursday with Ian Poulter (+5), Henrik Stenson (+13), Tyrell Hatton (+4) and defending champion Rory McIlroy (+7) logging a combined score of +29. McIlroy entered Thursday as the world’s 11th-ranked golfer, but you wouldn’t know it by the way he finished his first round, finding the water twice on 18 for an embarrassing quadruple bogey.
Sometimes all you can do is simply laugh and have a Coke, which is precisely what Poulter, Hatton, McIlroy and Stenson did, retreating to the players’ lounge for a post-round meal. Here the trio (apparently Stenson ducked out early) can be seen enjoying each other’s company, bonding over their shared disappointment after an opening round from Hell.
Golf can be a cruel, exhausting game, but a clubhouse soda among friends can make the sting of losing a little more tolerable.
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