PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – With his trademark long flowing locks and thick beard, Tommy Fleetwood looks as if he were performing off-Broadway in “Jesus Christ Superstar.” But the beard is missing – mostly anyway – making the 31-year-old Englishman look like a folk hero of a different sort as he walked the fairways of the Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass. What exactly happened to his beard?
“I was in a really bad mood,” Fleetwood said. “It was like break some golf clubs or shave my beard.”
Despite the fact his wife, Clare, prefers the hirsute look, he chose the beard. His mood, however, is on the upswing after shooting 6-under 66, tied with Tom Hoge during the first round of the Players Championship when play was suspended due to darkness.
It’s been far too long since Fleetwood has been contending for one of golf’s big trophies. The Englishman, who once was ranked ninth in the Official World Golf Ranking, failed to qualify for the FedEx Cup last year and has slipped to No. 49. He barely squeaked into the field at the Players, which exempts the world top 50. (He was No. 50 at the time of the cut off.)
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“If you’re not playing very well, especially out here, the standard is so, so high and it keeps getting higher,” Fleetwood said. “When you’re off the pace and you’re lacking confidence, the game becomes very, very difficult.”
Starting on the back nine at TPC Sawgrass, Fleetwood took advantage of soft conditions, no wind and preferred lies in the fairways. He wedged inside 10 feet for birdies at the two par-5s on his opening nine – Nos. 11 and 16 – and chipped in with his 60-degree wedge at 18 for birdie from 49 feet right of the green.
It was the first of three consecutive birdies for Fleetwood, who canned a 13-foot birdie putt at 1 and wedged to nine feet to set up birdie at the second. Fleetwood added another birdie at the fifth before making his only bogey of the day after a wayward drive to the right at the sixth. He holed more than 100 feet of putts on the day, the longest of which was a 24-foot birdie at the par-3 eighth, which was his seventh and final birdie of the day.
Fleetwood has always been a fan of course architect Pete Dye’s house of horrors. He was the 54-hole leader in 2019, but shot 73 in the final round to finish T-5.
“I love this golf course. I really, really do,” Fleetwood said. “If you play well, you get rewarded, and if you play poorly, you’re going to struggle to make a score. I think it’s major-like in that sense.”
TPC Sawgrass can give but it also can take it away. Harold Varner III was cruising along at 7 under with birdies on all four of the par 5s, when he spun his tee shot off the green at the infamous par-3 17th island green. It was the first water ball of the day at 17. He nearly did it again with his third shot from the drop zone, needing to stand on the bulkhead to play his fourth shot and made triple-bogey six. A bogey at the last and he signed for 3-under 69 that could’ve been so much better.
Kramer Hickock was among the early finishers, carding a bogey-free 67 in between the rain drops and the suspension of play.
“It was perfect scoring conditions for what this tournament can yield,” said Hickock. “Last year was super firm and fast, and this is about as soft and pristine as I think I’ve seen it.”
The PGA Tour’s first suspension of play in 2022 meant the opening round wouldn’t be completed on Thursday. Play is scheduled to resume at 7:15 a.m. on Friday, but the forecast calls for more rain. By the time Fleetwood plays again, he may have grown a full beard.
“When I shaved it off, I think it took about 15 years off me. Everyone kind of noticed that I look a lot younger without the beard,” he said. “I’ll definitely grow it back. As long as I can keep my temper and keep smiling, then I won’t have to shave it off again.”
