Rory McIlroy will be among the prominent golfers to watch when the 2018 Players Championship gets underway at TPC Sawgrass at Ponte Vedra Beach in Florida on Thursday.
McIlroy will face strong competition, though, as Jason Day has a comfort level at Sawgrass that could prove decisive. Dustin Johnson should also be in the mix, given both his natural talent and status as world No. 1.
Rory McIlroy
McIlroy will need a plan for dealing with the tricky course at Sawgrass. It's not something he's often found an answer for, per Philip Reid of The Irish Times:
"For McIlroy the course, one which requires that the strongest club in his bag, the driver, to be ignored for much of a round in favour of a two-iron, has taken some getting used to: indeed, he missed the cut with regularity on initial acquaintance and it was only from 2013 on that he has managed to get any payback from the demand for patience.