Chad Ramey is making headlines after the golfer topped the leaderboard for The Players Championship after the first round. He finished at 64 to end the day at a scoring deficit of eight.
Hailing from Mississippi, Ramey has been playing professional golf since 2014. However, he claimed a breakthrough victory on the PGA Tour in 2022 after winning the Corales Puntacana Championship.
Chad Ramey was born on August 3, 1992 in Fulton, Mississippi. It was his father, Stanley, a golf course manager, who brought him to the game. He started playing at a very early age and had a successful amateur career while studying at Mississippi State University. He was a fan of the university and was fortunate enough to attend.
Ramey turned pro in 2014 and started his golfing journey on the PGA Tour Canada. He then earned a card on the Korn Ferry Tour before ultimately starting to play on the PGA Tour.
Ramey finished 16th on The Order of Merit and claimed the 2018 Web.com Tour card. He had his first professional victory at the Live and Work in the Maine Open.
He has won two professional events in his career, including one on the PGA Tour and one on the Korn Ferry Tour. He also made the cut for the 2022 PGA Championship.
Chad Ramey won the 2022 Corales Puntacana Championship after playing a final round of 67 to defeat Ben Martin and Apex Smalley.
"Just do what you’ve got to do" - Chad Ramey talks about his performance
Chad Ramey impressed everyone with his resounding performance in the opening round of the 2023 Players Championship. He started the tournament in the first round with a birdie on the first hole.
He made four birdies in the last nine holes and four in the next nine holes to finish the day with a total of eight birdies. The opening round concluded with Chad Ramey taking the lead with one stroke over Collin Morikawa.
Speaking about his performance, Ramey said:
"There’s always nerves, but it’s just they don’t mean anything. It kind of means you care. You’ve just got to deal with them. That’s kind of why we play the game. It’s why we’re here is to have those nerves. Just kind of push past them, push them aside, and just do what you’ve got to do.”
Morikawa took a solo lead in the second followed by Taylor Pendrith, Ben Griffin, and Justin Suh tied for third position. Min Woo Lee secured the sixth position alongside Denny McCarthy, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Adam Svensson, Sam Burns, and Scottie Scheffler.
Rory McIlroy had a terrible day playing at The Players Championship. He finished at T118 after ending the opening round at 76.
McIlroy struggled throughout the inaugural day, making bogeys after bogeys. He could only sink one birdie on Thursday and is now looking for something better from Friday's round.
Jon Rahm, who has had three tournaments this year, secured the 32nd position. The Players Championship will conclude on Sunday, March 12.