The smallest field in The Players Championship history will pit the iconic TPC Sawgrass against the PGA Tour’s biggest stakes, as Jon Rahm looks to maintain his hot LIV Golf streak in Singapore.
PGA TOUR
THIS WEEK: Players Championship, Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, March 12-15
Course: TPC Sawgrass (Par 72, 7,352 Yards)
Purse: $25M (Winner: $4.5M)
Defending Champion: Rory McIlroy
FedEx Cup Leader: Collin Morikawa
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday-Friday: 1-7pm ET (Golf Channel); Saturday: 14.00-19.00 (NBC); Sunday: 1-6pm (NBC)
Streaming (ESPN+): Thursday-Friday: 7:30am-7:00pm ET; Saturday: 08.00-19.00; Sunday: 07.30-18.00
X: @Player
NOTES: Each of this week’s six The Players winners ranked among the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings, and this week includes 46 of the top 50 players. … This is the first of five events this season to offer 750 FedExCup points to the winner, and the winner gets a five-year PGA Tour exemption. … Seven of the first nine events have been won by players in their 20s. … Five of the final six Players were decided by no more than one shot. … Joel Dahmen, Taylor Moore, Seamus Power and Andrew Putnam qualified for the field via their FedExCup rankings through the Cognizant Classic. … Only three players have turned a 54-hole lead/co-lead into a win at The Players since 2016: Jason Day (2016), Webb Simpson (2018) and Scottie Scheffler (2023). … Brooks Koepka was in the field as part of his return to the PGA Tour through the Returning Member Program. To complete the threesome, the field was expanded to 123 with the addition of Patton Kizzire and Seamus Power. This still marks the smallest field in tournament history. … 2021 Players Champion Justin Thomas will make his second start after returning from back surgery in November. … Fourteen players made their tournament debut, including seven tour rookies… Greg Norman holds the tournament scoring record of 264 set in 1994.
BEST BET: Scottie Scheffler (+435 at DraftKings) wins at TPC Sawgrass in 2023-24 and looks to join Jack Nicklaus as the only three-time winners of The Players. … Rory McIlroy (+1475) is also a two-time winner of The Players, but only arrived at TPC Sawgrass on Wednesday after withdrawing from Arnold Palmer due to back spasms. … Collin Morikawa (+2050) leads the FedExCup standings after his T-7 at Genesis and solo fifth at Arnold Palmer in addition to his win at Pebble Beach. … Ludvig Aberg (+2900) came off T3 at Bay Hill and finished solo eighth here in 2024 before failing to qualify last year. … Chris Gotterup (+4700) offers interesting odds for the tour’s only two-time winner so far this season. … Sepp Straka (+5600) provides a long shot despite entering the week ranked ninth in the world. He ran T-2 at Pebble Beach and finished T-13 last week.
Last Tournament: Arnold Palmer Invitational (Akshay Bhatia)
Next Tournament: Valspar Championship, Palm Harbor, Florida (March 19-22)
LIV GOLF LEAGUE
THIS WEEK: LIV Golf Singapore, March 12-15
Course: Sentosa Golf Club (Par 71, 7,406 Yards)
Purse: Individual: $30M (Winner: $4M); Team: $10M (Winner: $3M)
Defending Champion: Individual: Joaquin Niemann; Team: Fireball GC
2026 Season Leaders: Individual: Jon Rahm; Team: Ripper GC
HOW TO WATCH
TV: Wednesday: 9pm-11pm ET (Fox Sports app), 11pm-2am (FS1); Thursday: 9pm-11.30pm (Fox Sports app), 11.30pm-2am (FS1); Friday: 21:30-22:30 (FS2), 22:30-02:30 (FS); Saturday: 21.00-02.00 (FS1)
X: @livgolf_league
NOTE: This is the fourth of 14 events this season as LIV Golf returns to Singapore for the fourth year in a row. … Rahm has four runner-up finishes and one win in his last five LIV events. … HyFlyers GC captain Phil Mickelson will miss his fourth straight event due to an undisclosed family issue and will be replaced by Wade Ormsby. … Daily shotgun starts include 13 teams and a total of 57 players, including five wild cards. … Thomas Detry (No. 61) and Elvis Smylie (No. 73) have two events remaining to climb into the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking and earn a spot in the Masters.
Last Event: LIV Golf Hong Kong (Individual: Rahm; Team: 4Aces GC)
Next Event: LIV Golf South Africa, Steyn City, March 19-22
LPGA TOUR
THIS WEEK: OFF.
Race to CME Globe Leader: Jeeno Thitikul
Last Tournament: Blue Bay LPGA (Mi Hyang Lee)
Next Tournament: Fortinet Founders Cup, Menlo Park, California, March 19-22
WORLD TOURISM DP
THIS WEEK: OFF.
Race to Leader Dubai: Patrick Reed
Last Tournament: Joburg Open (Dan Bradbury)
Next Tournament: Hainan Classic, Hainan Island, China, March 19-22
PGA TOUR CHAMPION
THIS WEEK: OFF.
Charles Schwab Cup Leader: Stewart Cink
Final Tournament: James Hardie Pro Football Hall of Fame Invitational (Zach Johnson)
Next Tournament: Cologuard Classic, Tucson, Arizona, March 20-22
–Field Level Media
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