PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Luke List, who won his first PGA Tour title earlier this year in a playoff at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in San Diego, withdrew after eight holes Friday morning due to a neck injury. He will not be replaced in the field.
Meanwhile, Michael Thompson’s journey to the first tee of the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass on Friday was anything but conventional.
Thompson, a winner of two PGA Tour titles, became the fifth alternate for the Players Championship when Ryan Brehm won the Puerto Rico Open last Sunday.
Then Thompson moved to fourth when Bryson DeChambeau withdrew. Then he became the third alternate when Kevin Na withdrew. He moved to second when Hideki Matsuyama withdrew. Then he was first in line when Aaron Raj withdrew from the alternate list.
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And then, well before the sun rose Friday morning, Thompson got into the field when Tyler McCumber withdrew with a shoulder injury. Because McCumber did not tee off on Thursday due to weather delays, his first-round tee time was moved to Friday. That proved beneficial to Thompson.
At 7:15 a.m., Thompson teed off in the PGA Tour’s flagship event. And made eagle on the second hole, a birdie on the fourth, another birdie on the fifth before a bogey on the eighth knocked him down to 3 under.
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