The Players: Emiliano Grillo plays his first tournament as a father and surrounded by the main stars

The first major tournament of the PGA Tour season kicks off this Thursday: The Players arrives, summarizing everything a golfer needs to succeed. There are courts where power and distance are vital to be successful and be crowned on Sunday. In others, however, the priority is precision and strategy. On the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass, one of the jewels of designer Pete Dye, all these technical conditions must be met to stand out and lift the golden trophy. A 7,215-yard par 72 course and an important place in the golf books await players; a feeling similar to winning a Major.

In Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida (Star+ and ESPN3 will televise from 2:00 p.m.), there will be a record of seven Latinos who will seek to keep the long-awaited title, which also has a purse of 20 million dollars, with a prize for the winner of 3, 6 millions. They are the Mexicans Abraham Ancer and Carlos Ortiz, the Chileans Joaquín Niemann and Mito Pereira (debut), the Colombian Sebastián Muñoz, the Venezuelan Jhonattan Vegas and the Argentine Emiliano Grillo, André’s recent father, the result of his relationship with Alexia García Morris.

“The Heir”, as Grillo called his first son in an Instagram post, logically monopolizes his thoughts these days, but the man from Chaco did not want to miss one of the most important events on the calendar. The reality is that he does not arrive well rested, between the emergencies of his wife’s delivery and a move within the United States. He decided to participate at the last minute and even had nowhere to rent to settle near the field, but finally stayed at the house of an Argentine friend living in the area, after an invitation.

His 2021/2022 season has been more than modest, below his usual performance: 12 tournaments played, half the cuts failed and only two top 25 finishes (18th in Las Vegas and 21st in the Genesis Invitational). In addition, he has accumulated $322,000 in prize money so far and is ranked 138th in the FedEx Cup.

Without greater pressure due to his status as a new father, Grillo will rely on the experience of his five previous participations. He debuted on The Players in 2016; his best performance was in 2017, when he finished 11th, and missed the cut in his last performance. Perhaps his formula this week is to enjoy having a place in one of the most important events in the world and try to face the secrets of the field without conditioning; he is in a good mood and has an opportunity to start the rebound he needs. Undoubtedly, it is the chance to start adding important points.

The great candidate is the North American Collin Morikawa, winner five times on the PGA Tour and with two majors in his career. “It’s a great test in golf,” said the British Open and PGA Championship champion. “It really tests every aspect of your game.” According to Dustin Johnson, two-time Tour Player of the Year, you have to do everything right: “It’s a very demanding course: you have to hit the tee shot well, hit precise irons and putts well; in short, everything”. Rory McIlroy, champion in 2019, also appears as the favorite to fight high up: “I am much more comfortable this year with my game; I try to forget the lap of 79 that I did last year here”, commented the Northern Irishman. And local Justin Thomas, defending champion in 2021, was seven shots behind the leader after 36 holes, but then won with the tournament record for 36 holes (64-68-132).

Celebrating its 40th anniversary as host of the tour’s flagship event – it first did so in 1982 – the historic course of Pete Dye makes for a very even-handed setting, favoring everyone and no one at the same time. The current No. 1 in the ranking, the Spaniard Jon Rahm, points out: “The track has such a good design that no one has ever mastered it. A very eloquent fact that anyone can succeed is that the only player who has never won on the Stadium Course is the defending champion.

One of the great absences will be that of Bryson DeChambeau, who has not played since the beginning of February due to injuries to his left wrist and hip, according to him due to a fall during a tournament in Saudi Arabia. The other is Phil Mickelson, who decided to take a break from golf after his controversial statements about the Super Golf League in that country, in which he pointed out that he is in favor of its launch despite the fact that “Arabia has a horrible record in terms of human rights”.

In the 40 years at TPC Sawgrass, only five golfers have won The Players twice, and none in consecutive years: Fred Couples (1984 and 1996), Steve Elkington (1991 and 1997), Hal Sutton (1983 and 2000), Davis Love III (1992 and 2003) and Tiger Woods (2001 and 2013), in fact, no defending champion has ever really come close. The best result is a tie for fifth place: Tom Kite in 1990 and Sutton in 2001.

Abraham Ancer (Mexico): 2 participations (12th in 2019 and 22nd in 2021)

Carlos Ortiz (Mexico): 2 participations (MC in 2016 and 2021)

Joaquin Niemann (Chile)): 29th in his only participation in 2021

Sebastian Munoz (Colombia): 1 participation (MC in 2021)

Emiliano Grillo (Argentina): 5 shares. He debuted in 2016. his best performance was in 2017 where he finished 11th. He missed the cut in his last performance.

Jonathan Vegas (Venezuela): 9 shares. He has two top-10 finishes (3rd in 2019 and 7th in 2012). He only missed the cut twice.