The PGA TOUR returns to TPC Sawgrass for the year’s richest regular season prize purse. $25 Million is up for grabs this week, with $4.5 Million to the winner of what they like to call the “fifth major” in golf. As each year goes by, the Players Championship becomes even more prestigious. This 51st edition features 144 golfers representing 24 countries and 48 of the top 50 in the Official World Golf Rankings.
Last year, Scottie Scheffler won the Arnold Palmer Invitational and then went back-to-back in claiming the Players a week later for the second consecutive year. According to Sunday’s winner at Bay Hill, Russell Henley, momentum can be a significant variable.
“Man, I think it’s huge. I mean, you see a couple putts go in or you feel like things are going well, you kind of feel like you’re unstoppable, and then make one or two bad swings, get a bad break, and all of a sudden golf feels really hard. So, momentum’s huge, but, you know, I’m just going to try to focus on now and not later,” Henley told me in the champion’s news conference.
Scheffler would become the first player to win the Players three times since Jack Nicklaus (1974, 1976, 1978), and the first to win a PGA TOUR event three consecutive years since Steve Stricker (John Deere Classic, 2009-11).
“I’m not going to be thinking about that too much, just go in there with the right mindset, Scheffler told me after finishing four under par Sunday in Orlando, tied for 11th place, 7 shots behind Henley at the Arnold Palmer Presented by Mastercard. “I did some good things this week. I definitely did some things I feel like I can improve on, but yeah, overall, I feel pretty good.”
In all, 8 past winners of the Players are slated to tee it up in Thursday’s Opening Round. Joining Scheffler, who is primed for a three-peat in Ponte Vedra, having won in 2023 and 24, there’s Justin Thomas, who won here four years ago; Rory McIlroy, a winner on TPC Sawgrass in 2019, along with Si Woo Kim, Jason Day, Rickie Fowler, Matt Kuchar, and Adam Scott. The 44-year-old Australian and 2013 Masters winner will have the most appearances of any player in this year’s field with 23. Kuchar and Justin Rose will each make their 20th career start at the Players.
This week’s Players will welcome 24 first-time participants, including 5 who recently won maiden events on the PGA TOUR. Joe Highsmith began this month’s Florida Swing taking top prize at the Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches. Brian Campbell won his way in the field at the Mexico Open earlier this year. In 2024, Rafa Campos took a prize in Bermuda, Chris Gotterup in Myrtle Beach, and Matt McCarty in the Black Desert Championship.
The Players runs from March 13 to March 16, and you have a variety of options to watch the strongest field in golf. On Thursday and Friday, Golf Channel will broadcast from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. ET, while NBC takes over on the weekend, airing from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. ET on Saturday and 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. ET on Sunday.
PGA Tour Live on ESPN+ also offers extensive online coverage for those who prefer streaming, including featured groups, daily early-round action, and exclusive behind-the-scenes content. Additionally, NBC’s coverage is streamed on Peacock, and Golf Channel’s broadcasts are available on nbcsports.com and the NBC Sports App.
