If Round 1 of the 2012 Players Championship is any indication, former Colorado St. Rams golfer Martin Laird will make a run for victory at TPC Sawgrass in the 2012 Players Championship. Laird is tied with Ian Poulter at 7-under (65) for the tournament lead.
Poulter's round was over by the time Laird made the late charge up the leaderboard. Starting his day on Hole No. 10 with Stewart Cink and Charles Howell III, Laird made par on the hole and then fired off two-straight birdies. He made par on the next three holes before making back-to-back birdies on Holes 16 and 17.
After a bogey-free first nine holes, Laird followed that up with three more birdies (Holes 2, 5 and 9). That completed a bogey-free line.
Other notable scores include Phil Mickelson at 1-under, Rickie Fowler and Rory McIlroy at even-par and Tiger Woods at 2-over.
Here is the top 10 of the standings after Round 1 (complete standings):
| Pos. | Name | Total | Fri. Start | Strokes |
| T1 | Ian Poulter | -7 | 1:39pm* | 65 |
| T1 | Martin Laird | -7 | 8:08am | 65 |
| 3 | Blake Adams | -6 | 12:25pm* | 66 |
| T4 | Kevin Na | -5 | 1:18pm | 67 |
| T4 | Ben Crane | -5 | 1:28pm* | 67 |
| T6 | Michael Thompson | -4 | 12:46pm* | 68 |
| T6 | Harrison Frazar | -4 | 1:18pm* | 68 |
| T6 | Matt Kuchar | -4 | 1:39pm | 68 |
| T6 | Kevin Stadler | -4 | 7:15am* | 68 |
| T6 | Jhonattan Vegas | -4 | 8:08am* | 68 |
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