Gators growling at The Players Championship as Billy Horschel, Camilo Villegas contend

Billy Horschel and Camilo Villegas took their Chomps out of the Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass during Thursday's first round of The Players Championship.

The two former University of Florida golfers posted strong finishes during afternoon rounds to push their way into contention after Lucas Glover set the number to chase in the morning wave with a 6-under-par 66. J.J. Spaun also shot a 66 in the afternoon, with a bogey-free card.

The first round was suspended because of darkness at 7:34 p.m. Five players begin the resumption of their round at 8:50 a.m. but the second round will begin as scheduled at 7:40 a.m.

Villegas overcame an up-and-down front nine to play his last 11 holes at 5-under and tie Glover and Spaun for the lead and Horschel birdied his last three holes to finish in a tie with 2019 Players champion Rory McIlroy, gallery favorite Min Woo Lee, and Akshay Bhatia at 5-under 67.

McIlroy hit a sensational shot at the last, punching out from the pine straw and avoiding trees after his tee shot went right. The ball shot out and kept rolling, until it came to rest 7 feet, 7 inches from the hole. He dropped the putt for a birdie to cap a back-nine 32 that began with three birdies in a row.

Scottie Scheffler is in the mix for a third Players

Eleven players, led by former Jacksonville resident Bud Cauley, 2015 Players champion Rickie Fowler and area resident Sam Ryder posted 4-under 68. Two-time defending champion Scottie Scheffler is lurking with a 3-under 69, along with Patrick Cantlay and Canadian Taylor Pendrith and Adam Hadwin.

Billy Horschel shakes hands with caddie Micah Fugitt after his round of golf on the 18th green during the first round of The Players Championship PGA golf tournment Thursday, March 13, 2025 at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union]

A UF player has never won The Players. There have been Texas Longhorns (Scheffler, Tom Kite and Justin Leonard), Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (David Duval, Matt Kuchar), Alabama Crimson Tide players (Justin Thomas, Jerry Pate) and Wake Forest Demon Deacons (Webb Simpson, Lanny Wadkins).

But no one who wore Orange and Blue.

Horschel and Villegas are in good position to change that.

Billy Horschel 'in a good space'

Contending at The Players is especially meaningful for Horschel, who lives in Ponte Vedra Beach and is married to a Nease graduate, the former Brittany Nelson.

Camilo Villegas blast out of the bunker on the third hole during the first round of the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fl. Thursday March 13, 2025. [Doug Engle/Florida Times-Union]

Horschel is in his 12th Players Championship. He missed the cut the last two years and has never posted a top-10 finish. His best was a tie for 13th in 2025.

When asked if he put undue pressure on himself to win in his adopted hometown, Horschel wasn't shy about the answer but pointed out that there is pressure in winning any Tour event — and he's got eight of them, including the 2015 FedEx Cup.

"This is my 12th Players Championship, so year, 12 straight years of putting undue pressure on myself," he said. "As much as I talk about not trying to do that and put any added pressure, at the end of the day, it happens."

Horschel birdied his first two holes, then bogeyed three of his next five. A streak of four birdies in a row began at No. 9, which settled him down.

"This morning I woke up and I was in a really good space and I felt really good with my warmup," he said. "I birdied the first two holes, which should calm me down, but it didn't. I started playing defensive and trying to steer things around and not make mistakes, because I knew things were going well."

Camilo Villegas has struggled at The Players

Villegas, who tied for third in his first Players in 2006, has missed seven of 10 cuts since.

"I kept it in play, gave myself good chances, made some nice putts. A couple nice par saves, too," he said. "Five birdies [on the back nine], it was a special nine."

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Players Championship suspended due to darkness, Glover, Villegas, Spaun lead

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