THE PLAYERS Championship
TPC Sawgrass
Stadium Course
Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
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Thoughts on The Chalk:
Schefffler, fade at your own peril. He will figure it out. I am seriously considering changing my Expert’s Picks lineup and will make a last-minute decision about donning his as my Captain.
McIlroy arrived on Wednesday. In a field this deep and on a track this demanding, at BEST, he will be on my bench.
Fleetwood’s 70.63 scoring average here is top five.
Morikawa fits to a T. There’s a reason EVERYONE is on him this week. Sometimes EVERYONE is right.
Si Woo Kim is on fire and a previous winner. Leads the TOUR in Ball-Striking.
Ludvig Aberg is brewing.
Bhatia will attempt to join Scheffler as the only recent player to win at Bay Hill and follow up with a victory at TPC Sawgrass.
I can’t get away from Min Woo Lee and Rickie Fowler
NOW PLAYING:
| Host Course | TPC Sawgrass |
| Yards (per official scorecard): | 7,352 |
| Par: | 72 (36-36). |
| Greens: | TifEagle Bermuda; 5,500 square feet. |
| Stimpmeter: | 13-plus feet. |
| Rough: | Overseeded ryegrass was mowed Sunday at 4.5 inches. #THICC |
| Bunkers/Water Hazards/In-Play | 94/18/17 |
| Architect(s): | Pete Dye (1980; 2016). |
| Defending Champion (event): | Rory McIlroy (-12) |
| Multiple Champion(s) Entered: | McIlroy (2019, 2025); Scheffler (2024, 2022). |
| Youngest Winner: | Si Woo Kim, 17. |
| Oldest Winner: | Fred Fuk, 48. |
| Course Record: | 62; Justin Thomas (Round 2, 2025); Tom Hoge (Round 3, 2023). |
| Tournament Scoring Record | 264; Greg Norman (-24, 1994). |
| 72 Hole Tournament Record (post 2015 switch to TifEagle): | 268; Scottie Scheffler (-20, 2024). |
| Fact of the Week: | 7.4 is the average attempts for winners. |
| Fact of the Week II: | Justin Thomas made 11 birdies to tie the course record last year. |
Notes:
- Field of 123.
- The top 65 and ties play the weekend.
- The deepest field in golf, no amateurs.
- $25 million – $4.5 million – 750 FedExCup points.
Recent Winners
2026 Season Winners
| Event | Winner |
| The Sentry | No Event |
| Sony Open in Hawaii | Chris Gotterup |
| The American Express | Scottie Scheffler |
| Farmers Insurance Open | Justin Rose |
| WM Phoenix Open | Chris Gotterup (2) |
| AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am | Collin Morikawa |
| Cognizant Classic | Nico Echavarria |
| Arnold Palmer Invitational | Akshay Bhatia |
2025 Season Winners
| Event | Winner |
| The Sentry | Hideki Matsuyama |
| Sony Open in Hawaii | Nick Taylor |
| The American Express | Sepp Straka |
| Farmers Insurance Open | Harris English |
| AT&T Pebble Beach | Rory McIlroy |
| WM Phoenix Open | Thomas Detry (LIV) |
| The Genesis Invitational | Ludvig Aberg |
| Mexico Open at Vidanta | Brian Campbell (first time) |
| Cognizant Classic | Joe Highsmith (first time) |
| Arnold Palmer Invitational | Russell Henley |
| Puerto Rico Open | Karl Vilips (first time) |
| THE PLAYERS Championship | Rory McIlroy |
| Valspar Championship | Viktor Hovland |
| Texas Children’s Houston Open | Min Woo Lee (first time) |
| Valero Texas Open | Brian Harman |
| 88th Masters Tournament | Rory McIlroy (career grand slam) |
| RBC Heritage | Justin Thomas |
| Zurich Classic | Ben Griffin & Andrew Novak (first time winners) |
| THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson | Scottie Scheffler |
| Truist Championship | Sepp Straka (2) |
| Mrytle Beach One Flight | Ryan Fox |
| 106th PGA Championship | Scottie Scheffler (2) |
| Charles Schwab Challenge | Ben Griffin (2) |
| The 50th Memorial Tournament | Scottie Scheffler (3) |
| RBC Canadian Open | Ryan Fox (2) |
| 124th United States Open | J.J. Spaun |
| Travelers Championship | Keegan Bradley |
| Rocket Mortgage Classic | Aldrich Potgieter (first time) |
| John Deere Classic | Brian Campbell (2) |
| Genesis Scottish Open | Chris Gotterup |
| ISCO Championship | William Mouw (first time) |
| 152nd Open Championship | Scottie Scheffler (4) |
| Barracuda Championship | Ryan Gerard (first time) |
| 3M Open | Kurt Kitayama |
| Wyndham Championship | Cameron Young (first time) |
| FedEx St. Jude Championship | Justin Rose |
| BMW Championship | Scottie Scheffler (5) |
| The TOUR Championship | Tommy Fleetwood (first time) |
| FedEx Cup Fall | |
| Procore Championship | Scottie Scheffler (6) |
| Sanderson Farms Championship | Steven Fisk (first time) |
| Black Desert Championship | Michael Brennan (first time) |
| Baycurrent Championship | Xander Schauffele |
| World Wide Technology Champ | Ben Griffin (3) |
| Butterfield Bermuda Champ | Adam Schenk (first time) |
| The RSM Classic | Sami Valimaki (first time) |
Recent Winners – THE PLAYERS Championship
Italics – not entered this week; March winners only.
| Year | Winner | Notes |
| 2025 | Rory McIlroy (-12) | Defeated J.J. Spaun in a three-hole aggregate playoff to win for the second time. |
| 2024 | Scottie Scheffler (-20) | Becomes the first player EVER to defend the title. |
| 2023 | Scottie Scheffler (-17) | Won by five shots in his third attempt. |
| 2022 | Cameron Smith (-14) | Needed a Monay finish and closed with 66 to come back from two shots and win. |
| 2021 | Justin Thomas (-14) | Posted 64-68, tying the lowest 36-hole aggregate to win by a shot. |
| 2019 | Rory McIlroy (-13) | Chased down Jon Rahm on Sunday to win the first event in the return to March. |
One and Done – Spotter’s Game
LAST WEEK – Arnold Palmer Invitational
MY CHOICE: Scottie Scheffler – T24
Oh, Daniel Berger was THIS week, my bad.
Also, how f*cking stupid am I? Don’t answer that…
Why not wait for Scheffler to get hot, THEN play him?
I’m so bad at this.
| Event | Selection | Place | Earnings |
| Sony Open in Hawaii | Robert MacIntyre | T4 | 409,500 |
| The American Express | Ben Griffin | T24 | 81,420 |
| Farmers Insurance | Jason Day | T38 | 41,760 |
| WM Phoenix Open | Sahith Theegala | T18 | 122,720 |
| AT&T Pebble Beach | Patrick Cantlay | T14 | 342,500 |
| The Genesis Invitational | Tommy Fleetwood | T7 | 603,200 |
| Cognizant Classic | Daniel Berger | T32 | 54,816 |
| Arnold Palmer Invitational | Scottie Scheffler | T24 | 157,000 |
THIS WEEK – THE PLAYERS
It’s the biggest prize purse of the season.
Time to get it right.
The time for dad-to-be Collin Morikawa is now.
MY CHOICE: Collin Morikawa
Others to consider
Si Woo Kim, Ludvig Aberg, Sepp Straka, Shane Lowry
Longshots
Rickie Fowler, Min Woo Lee, Adam Scott, Corey Conners
Horses for Courses
| Players | Top | Scr | Notes |
| (cuts made/starts) | 10 | Avg | |
| Scottie Scheffler (5/6) | 2 | 69.89 | T20-WIN-WIN last 3 |
| Rory McIlroy (10/16) | 5 | 71.15 | 2 wins in last six visits |
| Tommy Fleetwood (8/9) | 2 | 70.63 | No top 10 in 6 years |
| Justin Rose (12/21) | 3 | 71.81 | MC-MC-T6 L3Y |
| Collin Morikawa (5/6) | 1 | 71.11 | 3 straight; T10 ’25 best w/ 77 |
| Chris Gotterup (0/1) | 0 | 73.00 | MC 73-73 |
| Russell Henley (7/13) | 0 | 71.67 | T30 in 3 of last 4; T13 best |
| Robert MacIntyre (1/3) | 1 | 72.13 | Solo 9th ’25; all 4 rds 72 > |
| Xander Schauffele (5/8) | 2 | 71.32 | 72-T2-T19 L3Y |
| JJ Spaun (3/7) | 1 | 72.13 | P2 ’25 – T64 ’24 |
| Ben Griffin (1/3) | 0 | 71.63 | T35 2023 |
| Hideki Matsuyama (8/11) | 4 | 70.50 | MC-T6-5th L3Y; T23 worst |
| Sepp Straka (5/6) | 1 | 71.11 | T14-T16-T65-T9 last 4 |
| Justin Thomas (10/11) | 2 | 70.86 | 2021 winner; T33 best since |
| Harris English (7/12) | 0 | 72.80 | T30-T19 L2Y; 7 –> MC before |
| Alex Noren (4/7) | 1 | 71.27 | T19-MC-T26; T10 debut best |
| Viktor Hovland (4/6) | 2 | 71.25 | MC-T62-T3-T9-MC |
| Keegan Bradley (10/15) | 2 | 71.65 | T20-MC-MC-5TH L4Y |
| Jacob Bridgeman | First Appearance | ||
| Cameron Young (3/4) | 0 | 72.43 | Only 2 rounds in the 60s; T51 best |
| Matt Fitzpatrick (5/10) | 2 | 71.38 | MC-5TH-MC-MC-T9 L5 |
| Ludvig Aberg (1/2) | 1 | 70.00 | MC-8TH |
| Maverick McNealy (3/5) | 1 | 72.50 | MC-T9-T60-T46-MC; 3 of 16 60s |
| Ryan Gerard (1/1) | 0 | 72.00 | Sat T14 after 54 holes before 78 Sunday (T42) |
| Si Woo Kim (9/10) | 3 | 70.67 | 2017 winner at 21; T6 2024; never MC here |
| Sam Burns (4/6) | 0 | 72.13 | 2 of 16 rds in 60s; T26 best |
| Kurt Kitayama (2/3) | 0 | 71.40 | T33-T19-MC |
| Patrick Cantlay (6/9) | 0 | 71.73 | T12-T68-T19; 2 of his best L3Y |
| Shane Lowry (8/11) | 1 | 71.09 | T20-T19-T35-T13-8th last five |
| Min Woo Lee (3/3) | 1 | 70.83 | T20-T54-T6; Final Group 2023 |
| Jason Day (10/14) | 4 | 70.86 | 2016 winner; T35-T19 |
| Players | Top | Scr | TPC Sawgrass Notes/Best Performances |
| (cuts made/starts) | 10 | Avg | |
| Corey Conners (6/7) | 2 | 70.55 | T6-T13-mc-T26-7th |
| Akshay Bhatia (1/2) | 1 | 70.33 | T3-MC |
| Matt McCarty (1/1) | 0 | 71.00 | 3 rounds of 70 or better in tough conditions |
| Ryan Fox (2/3) | 0 | 71.20 | T20-mc-T27 |
| Andrew Novak (0/3) | 0 | 74.83 | 6 of 7 rounds 74 or worse |
| Jake Knapp (2/2) | 0 | 70.75 | T12-T45; All 8 rounds 73 or better |
| Sam Stevens (0/2) | 0 | 73.75 | 74-72; 73-76 |
| Pierceson Coody | First Appearance | ||
| Michael Kim (1/5) | 0 | 74.42 | MC last four |
| Michael Thorbjornsen | First Appearance | ||
| Adam Scott (19/24) | 4 | 71.41 | 2004 winner; T45 best in last 5 |
| Brian Harman (10/14) | 4 | 71.68 | T2 2024; T3 2021 |
| Nicolai Hojgaard (0/2) | 73.75 | 73-73; 73-76 | |
| Nick Taylor (6/9) | 0 | 72.04 | T26 best in last 5 |
| Harry Hall (0/2) | 75-70; 77-74 | ||
| Daniel Berger (8/9) | 2 | 71.27 | 8 straight; T20 2025 |
| Taylor Pendrith (3/4) | 0 | 72.21 | T13 2022 debut best |
| Ryo Hisatsune (0-2) | 72.50 | 72-74; 70-74 | |
| JT Poston (5/7) | 0 | 71.80 | T33-T45 L2Y; T22 2019 debut best |
| Rickie Fowler (9/15) | 2 | 72.09 | 2015 winner; T71-T68-T13 L3Y |
| Sungjae Im (6/7) | 1 | 71.36 | T61-T31-T6-T55-T17 |
| Players | Top | Scr | Notes/Best Performances |
| 10 | Avg | ||
| Aaron Rai (3/3) | 0 | 70.58 | T14-T35-T19 |
| C Bezuidenhout (3/4) | 0 | 70.79 | MC-T13-T13-T41 |
| Brian Campbell (0/1) | 74-71 | ||
| Ricky Castillo (0/1) | 70-74 | ||
| Bud Cauley (2/5) | 1 | 72.14 | T6 2025 first visit since 2019 |
| Wyndham Clark (2/6) | 1 | 71.15 | WD-T2-T27-MC-MC-DQ |
| Eric Cole (1/3) | 0 | 72.13 | MC-MC-T27 |
| Lucas Glover (5/6) | 0 | 71.05 | 4 straight; T11 2024 best |
| Cam Davis (1/5) | 1 | 74.50 | T6 2023 |
| Zecheng Dou | First Appearance | ||
| Top | Scr | ||
| Players | 10 | Avg | |
| Nico Echavarria (0/3) | 73.83 | 70 or worse in 6 rounds | |
| AJ Ewart | First Appearance | ||
| Tony Finau (5/10) | 0 | 72.08 | T19 2023 best |
| Steven Fisk | First Appearance | ||
| Emiliano Grillo (5/9) | 0 | 72.32 | 11th 2017 |
| Garrick Higgo (1/3) | 0 | 72.29 | WD-T44-MC |
| Joe Highsmith (1/1) | 0 | 71.00 | 3 rounds of 72 or better |
| Lee Hodges (2/3) | 0 | 73.20 | T35-MC-T70 L3Y |
| Rico Hoey (1/1) | 0 | 71.50 | T33 debut |
| Tom Hoge (7/7) | 2 | 70.70 | T3-T54-T3; 7 straight |
| Rasmus Hojgaard (0/1) | 0 | 76.00 | 72-80 MC |
| Max Homa (3/5) | 1 | 71.63 | MC-T64-T6-T13-MC |
| Mark Hubbard (3/5) | 0 | 72.36 | MC-T31-T35-MC-MC |
| Mackenzie Hughes (4/7) | 0 | 72.10 | MC 4 of the last 5 (T26) |
| Stephan Jaeger (2/4) | 0 | 72.08 | T20-MC-T44-MC |
| Takumi Kanaya | First Appearance | ||
| SH Kim (0/2) | 74.50 | 74-71; 77-76 | |
| Chris Kirk (10/14) | 0 | 71.66 | T12 2017 best; T42-T26 L2 |
| Brooks Koepka (4/6) | 0 | 71.70 | First Appearance since 2022 MC |
| Haotong Li (0/2) | First Appearance since 2019 MC | ||
| Denny McCarthy (6/6) | 0 | 71.21 | T14-T35-T13 L3Y |
| Max McGreevey (1/2) | 0 | 73.67 | T20-MC; 69-89 debut |
| Mac Meissner (1/1) | 0 | 72.00 | T42 2025 |
| Keith Mitchell (5/6) | 0 | 72.04 | T13 2022 |
| Taylor Moore (3/4) | 0 | 71.79 | T33-T31-T35-MC |
| William Mouw | First Appearance | ||
| Thorbjorn Olesen (1/2) | 0 | 72.17 | T41 2019 last, best |
| Matthieu Pavon (1/2) | 0 | 73.00 | T54-MC |
| Marco Penge | First Appearance | ||
| Chandler Philips (1/1) | 0 | 73.50 | T61 opened with 68 |
| Aldrich Potgieter (0/1) | 74-71 | ||
| Andrew Putnam (1/6) | 0 | 73.21 | 53rd 2024 |
| Chad Ramey (1/3) | 0 | 72.38 | MC-MC-T27; FRL 2023 |
| Kristoffer Reitan | First Appearance | ||
| Davis Riley (1/3) | 0 | 72.88 | T38-MC-MC |
| Patrick Rodgers (2/9) | 0 | 73.43 | MC last four |
| Kevin Roy (0/1) | 73.50 | 77-70 2025 | |
| Adam Schenk (1/5) | 0 | 72.33 | T19 2024 |
| Matti Schmid (1/2) | 0 | 71.00 | MC-T26 |
| Alex Smalley (2/3) | 0 | 71.90 | T14-MC-T65 |
| Jordan Smith | First Appearance | ||
| Austin Smotherman (1/1) | 0 | 71.00 | T35 2023 |
| Jordan Spieth (5/11) | 1 | 71.91 | T4 2014 debut; 59th-MC-T19 L3Y |
| Sahith Theegala (3/4) | 1 | 72.57 | T52-T9-74-MC |
| Davis Thompson (2/3) | 1 | 71.80 | T10-MC-T68 |
| Sami Valimaki (2/2) | 0 | 72.88 | T69-T54 |
| Erik van Rooyen (1/3) | 0 | 71.50 | T13 2022 |
| Jhonattan Vegas (7/11) | 2 | 72.14 | T3 2019; T7 2012; 60th best last 4 |
| Karl Vilips | 0 | 75.00 | 72-78 MC 2025 |
| Danny Walker (1/1) | 1 | 69.75 | 70-66-70 last 54 for T6 debut |
| Vince Whaley (0/1) | 72.50 | 73-72 | |
| Gary Woodland (6/13) | 0 | 72.84 | T54 best in last 5 years |
| Sudarshan Yellamaraju | First Appearance | ||
| Keivn Yu (0/2) | 73.75 | 73 is best |
Glass Houses 