He unleashed the fervor of an already devoted audience. And things were not going very well for him up to that moment. But Sergio Garcia brought out his genius and on the iconic and thousands of times photographed 17th hole of the TPC Sawgrass, known as The Island, he holed from the green and scored a hole in one. The ball described a beautiful 120-meter parabola and went cleanly into the hole of a 20-meter long green completely surrounded by water.
It was the eighth ace achieved on that hole in the history of The Players, also known as the fifth major, and the second achieved by a Spaniard, after Miguel Angel Jimenez on 202.
That stroke by the winner of the Masters was a relief in his round, since things were not going well for him so far. In the end he finished the round with 73 strokes after having scored a par on the 18th.
The day went better for Jon Rahm, who shot a first round of 68, 4 under par, tied with Chez Reavie, Alex Noren and JB Holmes and just one stroke behind co-leaders William McGirt and Mackenzie Hughes.
Fortune also smiled on Rafa Cabrera-Bello, who finished his first 18 holes with a 69 and is now in seventh position, just three behind the leaders.
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