It’s time for golf’s “fifth major.”
The Players Championship is set for TPC Sawgrass this week, marking the first truly big event on the PGA Tour’s schedule. The Tour is offering a $25 million purse and a $4.5 million check for the winner this week, too, in what is the largest prize of the season by far.
All eyes, though, will be on Rory McIlroy. After withdrawing from last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational with a back injury, McIlroy is going to be a late arrival to the Jacksonville-area course after the injury has still been giving him issues in recent days. McIlroy won the event last year in a playoff, and is coming off a T2 finish at the Genesis Invitational last month. McIlroy is slated to play alongside Xander Schauffele and Hideki Matsuyama in the first two rounds.
Top-ranked Scottie Scheffler has won The Players twice in his career, first in 2023 and then again the following season. He’s kept his cut streak alive this season just barely, but he’s been slowly finishing worse and worse after his season-opening win at The American Express in January. But his worst outing was a T24 finish last week at Bay Hill, so it’s not all bad. He’ll play with Tommy Fleetwood and Justin Thomas in the first two rounds.
Here’s everything you need to know to keep up with the first two rounds at the 52nd edition of The Players Championship this week at TPC Sawgrass.
The Players Championship notable groups
All times ET | First Round tee times
7:52 a.m. (No. 1 tee): Max Homa, Daniel Berger, Michael Thorbjornsen
8:28 a.m. (No. 10 tee): Akshay Bhatia, Brooks Koepka, Tony Finau
8:40 a.m. (No. 10 tee): Collin Morikawa, Ludvig Åberg, Si Woo Kim
8:52 a.m. (No. 10 tee): Scottie Scheffler, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Thomas
9:04 a.m. (No. 10 tee): Viktor Hovland, Russell Henley, Robert MacIntyre
1:30 p.m. (No. 1 tee): Sahith Theegala, Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler
1:42 p.m. (No. 1 tee): Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, Hideki Matsuyama
1:54 p.m. (No. 1 tee): Chris Gotterup, Justin Rose, Min Woo Lee
The Players Championship first and second round tee times
All times ET
Round 1: No. 1 tee, Round 2: No. 10 tee
7:40 a.m. | 12:30 p.m.: Mark Hubbard, Thorbjørn Olesen, Mac Meissner
7:52 a.m. | 12:42 p.m.: Bud Cauley, Vince Whaley, Chandler Phillips
8:04 a.m. | 12:54 p.m.: Emiliano Grillo, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Max Greyserman
8:16 a.m. | 1:06 p.m.: Kevin Yu, Cam Davis, Gary Woodland
8:28 a.m. | 1:18 p.m.: Ricky Castillo, Ryan Gerard, Patrick Cantlay
8:40 a.m. | 1:30 p.m.: Adam Schenk, Garrick Higgo, Matt McCarty
8:52 a.m. | 1:42 p.m.: Brian Harman, Maverick McNealy, Davis Riley
9:04 a.m. | 1:54 p.m.: Sami Valimaki, Lucas Glover, Matt Fitzpatrick
9:16 a.m. | 2:06 p.m.: Michael Brennan, Harris English, J.T. Poston
9:28 a.m. | 2:18 p.m.: Haotong Li, Zecheng Dou, Jordan Smith
Round 1: No. 10 tee | Round 2: No. 1 tee
7:40 a.m. | 12:30 p.m.: Mackenzie Hughes, Eric Cole, Rico Hoey
7:52 a.m. | 12:42 p.m.: Max Homa, Daniel Berger, Michael Thorbjornsen
8:04 a.m. | 12:54 p.m.: Rasmus Højgaard, Danny Walker, Kristoffer Reitan
8:16 a.m. | 1:06 p.m.: Jhonattan Vegas, Taylor Pendrith, Alex Noren
8:28 a.m. | 1:18 p.m.: Akshay Bhatia, Brooks Koepka, Tony Finau
8:40 a.m. | 1:30 p.m.: Collin Morikawa, Ludvig Åberg, Si Woo Kim
8:52 a.m. | 1:42 p.m.: Scottie Scheffler, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Thomas
9:04 a.m. | 1:54 p.m.: Viktor Hovland, Russell Henley, Robert MacIntyre
9:16 a.m. | 2:06 p.m.: Aldrich Potgieter, Jake Knapp, Sungjae Im
9:28 a.m. | 2:18 p.m.: Patton Kizzire, Seamus Power, Johnny Keefer
Round 1: No. 1 tee | Round 2: No. 10 tee
12:30 p.m. | 7:40 a.m.: Lee Hodges, Andrew Putnam, Sam Stevens
12:42 p.m. | 7:52 a.m.: Erik van Rooyen, Keith Mitchell, Michael Kim
12:54 p.m. | 8:04 a.m.: Taylor Moore, Joel Dahmen, Ryo Hisatsune
1:06 p.m. | 8:16 a.m.: Jacob Bridgeman, Ben Griffin, Adam Scott
1:18 p.m. | 8:28 a.m.: J.J. Spaun, Sepp Straka, Shane Lowry
1:30 p.m. | 8:40 a.m.: Sahith Theegala, Rickie Fowler, Jordan Spieth
1:42 p.m. | 8:52 a.m.: Xander Schauffele, Rory McIlroy, Hideki Matsuyama
1:54 p.m. | 9:04 a.m.: Chris Gotterup, Justin Rose, Min Woo Lee
2:06 p.m. | 9:16 a.m.: Brian Campbell, Karl Vilips, Aaron Rai
2:18 p.m. | 9:28 a.m.: Matti Schmid, Max McGreevy, Takumi Kanaya
2:30 p.m. | 9:40 a.m.: Zach Bauchou, Sudarshan Yellamaraju, A.J. Ewart
Round 1: No. 10 tee | Round 2: No. 1 tee
12:30 p.m. | 7:40 a.m.: Tom Hoge, Denny McCarthy, Nicolai Højgaard
12:42 p.m. | 7:52 a.m.: Patrick Rodgers, Kevin Roy, Marco Penge
12:54 p.m. | 8:04 a.m.: Chad Ramey, Alex Smalley, Pierceson Coody
1:06 p.m. | 8:16 a.m.: Kurt Kitayama, Harry Hall, Stephan Jaeger
1:18 p.m. | 8:28 a.m.: Keegan Bradley, Ryan Fox, Chris Kirk
1:30 p.m. | 8:40 a.m.: Andrew Novak, Nick Taylor, Wyndham Clark
1:42 p.m. | 8:52 a.m.: Steven Fisk, William Mouw, Joe Highsmith
1:54 p.m. | 9:04 a.m.: Cameron Young, Davis Thompson, Sam Burns
2:06 p.m. | 9:16 a.m.: Nico Echavarria, Jason Day, Corey Conners
2:18 p.m. | 9:28 a.m.: Matthieu Pavon, S.H. Kim, Austin Smotherman