The 50th Players Championship goes down this week at TPC Sawgrass. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler will vie for his second straight win on the PGA Tour — after his dominant showing at the Arnold Palmer Invitational — and at The Players. Tiger Woods will not participate. The Masters is weeks away.

The winner of the 144-person Signature Event by the PGA Tour headquarters in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, will pocket $4.5 million of the richest purse ($25 million) on the PGA Tour and 750 FedExCup Points (Scheffler leads the standings).

For the manufactured “fifth-major” branding and the arcade nature of the Stadium Course, the Players can elicit eye rolls as a competition. As an entertainment product, though, the TPC can claim as high of a ceiling as any non-major.

Here's what else to know before the bedlam at TPC Sawgrass.

 

Course Notes

The Stadium Course offers a lush, telegenic, and unpredictable crapshoot — by design — that can rankle purists and produce superb drama. Get your popcorn ready.

Water is technically in play on all 18 holes, though it can be hard to gauge exactly how and where. Pete Dye's famed venue is not particularly firm; you can take a few chances and hope for a modest bounce.

Historically, TPC Sawgrass doesn't reward any specific style. At 7,275 yards, the Par-72 course isn't known for its length. Driving accuracy and finesse with short irons will be essential. The last four winners have been ranked in the top 10, but that's solely a recent trend.

“I just thought it was really hard,” Scheffler said about his first impressions of Sawgrass. “You just have to hit it so good around this place to play well, and I think that's why you don't see the same winners every year is because it doesn't really suit one type of player.

“If you look at the golf course, No. 1 requires a fade, No. 2’s a draw. Four is a fade, No. 5’s a fade, No. 7’s a draw. No. 9, you’ve got to hit a fade, then a draw; No. 10’s a draw, No. 12’s a draw, 13 is a draw. Then you get to No. 15, it’s a cut, 16 is a draw and 18 is a draw. It's very interesting how the course works like that, and so that's why … One guy just hasn’t figured this place out.”

The par-5 16th plays easiest (though the water can get you) — providing a false sense of confidence when shooting for the “Island Green” on No. 17, among the most famous scenes in the sport.

The toughest hole, however, would be No. 18 — requiring a slight but acutely tricky draw over the water from the tee box. As dangerous of a tee shot as there is, especially when the pressure is on.

How to watch (all times ET)

  • Thursday-Friday: 1-7 p.m. — Golf Channel/Peacock/ESPN+
  • Saturday: 2-7 p.m. — NBC/Peacock/ESPN+
  • Sunday: 1-6 p.m. — NBC/Peacock/ESPN+

Tee times

Notable pairings:

  • Brice Garnett, Russell Henley, Steve Stricker: Garnett earned a spot in the Players (and a PGA Tour card through 2026) by winning the Puerto Rico Open on Sunday. 12-time champion Stricker, 57, got in by winning the Kaulig Companies Championship (formerly the Senior Players Championship) in 2023. Henley's been lowkey ballin in Florida.
  • Brian Harman, Collin Morikawa, Wyndham Clark: Three major champions/bulldog competitors who can get inventive with irons and approaches.
  • Jake Knapp, Matthieu Pavon, Nick Dunlap: A rookie has never won the Players. All three of these rookies have won in 2024.
  • Matt Fitzpatrick, Hideki Matsuyama, Max Homa: Three of the sport's elite thinkers. Matsuyama, after a win at Riviera and T12 at Bay Hill, is rounding into Masters form.
  • Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Viktor Hovland: Rory's API ended with a final round 76. He won the TPC in 2019 but hasn't sniffed contention since. Hovland — a short-game artist — has predictably excelled at Sawgrass (T3 last year, T9 in 2022), but he's searching. He's lost strokes in all of his tournaments this year.

Round 1 (starting on first hole) / Round 2 (10th hole)

  • Ryan Moore, Chesson Hadley, Zac Blair — 7:40 a.m. / 12:45 p.m.
  • Carson Young, Brandon Wu, Ben Taylor — 7:51 a.m. / 12:56 p.m.
  • Alex Noren, Thomas Detry, Joseph Bramlett — 8:02 a.m. / 1:07 p.m.
  • Camilo Villegas, Lee Hodges, Tom Hoge — 8:13 a.m. / 1:18 p.m.
  • Kurt Kitayama, Chad Ramey, Adam Schenk — 8:24 a.m. / 1:29 p.m.
  • Vincent Norrman, Sepp Straka, Chez Reavie — 8:35 a.m. / 1:40 p.m.
  • Brice Garnett, Russell Henley, Steve Stricker — 8:46 a.m. / 1:51 p.m.
  • Emiliano Grillo, Taylor Moore, Scott Stallings — 8:57 a.m. / 2:02 p.m.
  • Billy Horschel, Sungjae Im, Webb Simpson — 9:08 a.m. / 2:13 p.m.
  • Keegan Bradley, K.H. Lee, Adam Hadwin — 9:19 a.m. / 2:24 p.m.
  • David Lipsky, Justin Lower, Tyson Alexander — 9:30 a.m. / 2:35 p.m.
  • Robert MacIntyre, Ben Silverman, Ryo Hisatsune — 9:41 a.m. / 2:46 p.m.

Round 1 (10th) / Round 2 (first)

  • Troy Merritt, Taylor Pendrith, Taylor Montgomery — 7:40 a.m. / 12:45 p.m.
  • Michael Kim, Aaron Rai, Carl Yuan — 7:51 a.m. / 12:56 p.m.
  • Joel Dahmen, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Min Woo Lee — 8:02 a.m. / 1:07 p.m.
  • Jason Day, Si Woo Kim, Matt Kuchar — 8:13 a.m. / 1:18 p.m.
  • Sam Burns, Xander Schauffele, Tommy Fleetwood — 8:24 a.m. / 1:29 p.m.
  • Viktor Hovland, Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth — 8:35 a.m. / 1:40 p.m.
  • Ludvig Åberg, Patrick Cantlay, Adam Scott — 8:46 a.m. / 1:51 p.m.
  • Nick Taylor, Tom Kim, Justin Rose — 8:57 a.m. / 2:02 p.m.
  • Erik van Rooyen, Lucas Glover, Brendon Todd — 9:08 a.m. / 2:13 p.m.
  • C.T. Pan, Kevin Streelman, Ryan Fox — 9:19 a.m. / 2:24 p.m.
  • Martin Laird, Justin Suh, Greyson Sigg — 9:30 a.m. / 2:35 p.m.
  • Nate Lashley, Robby Shelton, Ben Kohles — 9:41 a.m. / 2:46 p.m.

Round 1 (first) / Round 2 (1oth)

  • Doug Ghim, Hayden Buckley, Kevin Yu — 12:45 p.m. / 7:40 a.m.
  • Peter Malnati, Beau Hossler, Alex Smalley — 12:56 p.m. / 7:51 a.m.
  • Cam Davis, Sam Ryder, Stephan Jaeger — 1:07 p.m. / 8:02 a.m.
  • Jake Knapp, Matthieu Pavon, Nick Dunlap — 1:18 p.m. / 8:13 a.m.
  • Hideki Matsuyama, Matt Fitzpatrick, Max Homa — 1:29 p.m. / 8:24 a.m.
  • Scottie Scheffler, Rickie Fowler, Justin Thomas — 1:40 p.m. / 8:35 a.m.
  • Wyndham Clark, Collin Morikawa, Brian Harman — 1:51 p.m. / 8:46 a.m.
  • Tony Finau, Will Zalatoris, Shane Lowry — 2:02 p.m. / 8:57 a.m.
  • Austin Eckroat, Sahith Theegala, Akshay Bhatia — 2:13 p.m. / 9:08 a.m.
  • Garrick Higgo, S.H. Kim, Andrew Novak — 2:24 p.m. / 9:19 a.m.
  • Ben Martin, Eric Cole, Harry Hall — 2:35 p.m. / 9:30 a.m.
  • Charley Hoffman, Sam Stevens, Sami Valimaki — 2:46 p.m. / 9:41 a.m.

Round 1 (10th) / Round 2 (first)

  • Byeong Hun An, Patrick Rodgers, Matti Schmid — 12:45 p.m. / 7:40 a.m.
  • Denny McCarthy, Matt NeSmith, Nicolai Højgaard — 12:56 p.m. / 7:51 a.m.
  • Keith Mitchell, Mark Hubbard, Dylan Wu — 1:07 p.m. / 8:02 a.m.
  • Grayson Murray, Seamus Power, Francesco Molinari — 1:18 p.m. / 8:13 a.m.
  • Nick Hardy, Matt Wallace, Adam Svensson — 1:29 p.m. / 8:24 a.m.
  • Nico Echavarria, J.T. Poston, Harris English — 1:40 p.m. / 8:35 a.m.
  • Davis Riley, Corey Conners, J.J. Spaun — 1:51 p.m. / 8:46 a.m.
  • Luke List, Gary Woodland, Cameron Young — 2:02 p.m. / 8:57 a.m.
  • Chris Kirk, Mackenzie Hughes, Andrew Putnam — 2:13 p.m. / 9:08 a.m.
  • Aaron Baddeley, Ben Griffin, Davis Thompson — 2:24 p.m. / 9:19 a.m.
  • Tyler Duncan, Maverick McNealy, Callum Tarren — 2:35 p.m. / 9:30 a.m.
  • Chan Kim, David Skinns, Jimmy Stanger — 2:46 p.m. / 9:41 a.m

The favorite: Scottie Scheffler (+550, according to FanDuel)

Just like at Bay Hill, Scheffler won the TPC Sawgrass by five strokes in 2023.

At this precise moment, with Scheffler having solved the greens, there exists a sizable gap between him and everybody else on the PGA Tour. If he carries the momentum with his mallet from Orlando into Ponte Vedra Beach, we could be looking at our first repeat winner at the Players … ever.

“It would be borderline unfair if he starts putting really good,” said API runner-up Wyndham Clark. “I never want to wish ill on anybody, but if he starts putting positive each week it's going to be really hard to beat.”

Shane Lowry: “There's probably only a couple of players in the world that can live with [Scottie] playing like that. Not sure I'm one of them.”

Picks!

Justin Thomas outright (+2000): JT has kicked off his bounce-back year with four top-12s in five appearances. He triumphed at Sawgrass in 2021. Is he back?

Will Zalatoris outright (+3000): Willy Z is close. He dispelled lingering concerns about his surgically repaired back with a runner-up (and run up into his caddie) at Riviera. He showed out at the API, at one point holding a five-stroke lead on moving day.

Max Homa Top 5 (+550): Homa typically plays his best on the West Coast, but that didn't happen this year (for anybody). In his first stop in Florida, Homa notched a T6 at the API. Homa is a nifty scrambler, which could pay dividends on this unpredictable setup.

One and Done — Min Woo Lee (+5500)  — The Min Woo buzz is gaining steam. The 25-year-old Australian has the talent and the rizz to merit the hype. He opened eyes with a T6 in in his Sawgrass debut in 2023.

Other plausible contenders: Xander Schauffele, Sam Burns, Sahith Theegala, Nick Taylor, Tom Hoge

Other Storylines: 

  • Scheffler's Bay Hill win ended the trend of longshot winners. Frankly, it was refreshing. Unheralded winners make cool stories, but another stacked Sunday leaderboard would propel the tour toward major season.
  • Tiger is not competing for the fourth straight year for undisclosed reasons. Along with the Genesis Invitational, the Players was one of two possible pre-Masters events Tiger pinpointed back in December when outlining his ideal 2024 slate. Alas.
  • Masters: The Florida swing wraps up at the Valspar Championship at Innisbrook. It'll be followed by two more non-signature events — the Texas Children's Houston Open and the Valero Texas Open — before Augusta. Top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking the week before The Masters earn invites.