PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA – The weather is finally warming up on the East Coast, and the PGA Tour is headed to The Players, its premier event at Pete Dye’s Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass.
While there has been much debate over whether The Players should be considered the game’s fifth major, there is no doubt that there will be a lot at stake for the 123-man field starting on Thursday.
Players have a purse of $25 million, with the winner taking home $4.5 million and 750 FedEx Cup points.
Rory McIlroy is the current champion after being defeated JJ Spawn In the Monday playoffs last year.
This week there will be a lot of focus on what actually happens. PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp will address the media on Wednesday, when he is expected to reveal part of his vision for the tour’s future.
These are the top contenders to win The Players:
The world No. 1 golfer earned his 20th PGA Tour victory in his first start of the season on Jan. 22 at the American Express. He will attempt to become only the second three-time winner of The Players – he will join jack nicklaus (1974, ’76 and ’78) — after becoming back-to-back champions for the first time in 2023 and ’24. The four-time major champion has four consecutive opening rounds of 70 or worse. Maybe he’s just giving the rest of the field a chance?
Defending Players Championship winners Was gaining momentum for his upcoming defense with ties for second at the Genesis Invitational at both TPC Sawgrass and Augusta National Golf Club. but then he was forced to retreat Before the third round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational on Saturday due to lower back spasms. McIlroy said he felt cramps in the gym and his condition worsened while hitting balls on the range. His health will be a major storyline this week. McIlroy can also join the Golden Bear as the only three-time winner.
after Earned his first PGA Tour win At last season’s Tour Championship, Fleetwood picked up where he left off with a fourth-place finish at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and a seventh-place finish at the Genesis Invitational. His last top-10 finish at TPC Sawgrass was a solo fifth-place finish in 2019.
A painful rib injury derailed Schauffele’s 2025 season, but the two-time major champion’s game showed signs of life as he finished seventh at Genesis. He has been wrong off the tee so far this season. Schauffele has twice finished runner-up at the Players, in 2018 and 2024.
two-time major champion Won at Pebble Beach on February 22His first win on the tour since October 2023. Switch to mallet putter – Morikawa said he “stole” it from a good friend Kurt Kitayama — ultimately helped him get back into the winner’s circle. He finished tied for 10th at 7 under at the 2025 Players Championship, his best finish at TPC Sawgrass.
Knapp had made a promising start to the season – finishing worse than 11th in each of his first five starts – until he was forced to withdraw due to illness before the opening round at Arnold Palmer. Heading into that tournament at Bay Hill, Knapp was third in strokes gained: total (2.183), fourth in putting (1.095) and eighth in driving distance (319.4 yards). He finished 12th at the 2025 Players Championship, his second start in the event.
Even before he earned his third PGA Tour win at Bay Hill, Bhatia was headed toward potential stardom. After consistently missing the cut at the start of the season, Bhatia’s form has been tremendous over the last month. He had finished in the top-10 three times in his last four starts, including a third-place tie at Phoenix. He tied for third at last season’s Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass at 10 under in his second start.
Straka had to sit out the end of the 2025 season due to personal reasons, but he has been hotting up recently. He was runner-up at Pebble Beach and finished 13th at Bay Hill. Plus, TPC Sawgrass fits his vision. He finished 16th or better in three of his last four starts at the Players.
The Scottish golfer had a moment during his West Coast swing, finishing fourth at the Sony Open in Hawaii and tied for 20th at the Genesis Invitational. His iron play was not good. He ranked 141st in strokes gained: approach heading to Bay Hill (-.575). But McIntyre has been on a roll, finishing ninth at 8 under at The Players last season.
The 45-year-old continues to play the best golf of his career. He earned his 13th PGA Tour victory 7-shot defeat in Kisan Bima Open On 29 January. His iron play has been fantastic. The English golfer missed the cut in three of his last five starts at TPC Sawgrass, but he also had a pair of top-10 finishes.
Bridgman had his Success at Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club near Los Angeles, defeating McIlroy and Kitayama by one shot, his first win on tour. The 26-year-old former Clemson star has six top 25 starts this season. He took the lead at Bay Hill last week to lead the tour: (1.276). This will be his second start at The Players.
Just when it looked like Gotterup might be cool after his difficult beginningIn which he won the Sony Open and WM Phoenix Open in Hawaii, he returned to the top of the leaderboard at Bay Hill. Gotterup has been one of the best golfers on the tour off the tee, tied for fifth in driving distance (322 yards) behind Arnold Palmer. He missed the cut in his first start at The Players in 2025.
Aberg withdrew from American Express due to illness in his first start this season and had an uneventful start to 2026. He turned things around by finishing 20th at the Genesis Invitational and third at Bay Hill. His stats haven’t been great so far, but he did finish tied for eighth at 5 under in his first Players start in 2024. He’ll have a home-course advantage this week after moving closer to the Stadium Course.
After a hot start to the season, Matsuyama cooled off a bit. He finished no worse than 11th in his first four starts, including a loss to Gotterup on the first hole of a playoff in Phoenix. Matsuyama has a good track record at TPC Sawgrass, where he has seven top-25s in 11 starts. He missed the cut last year, after finishing sixth in 2024 and fifth in singles in 2023.
Lori was probably still getting his prick Late collapse in Cognizant Classic – He had a three-stroke lead with three holes left and lost Nico Echavarria By two – and that’s when he missed the cut at last week’s Arnold Palmer. The Irish golfer has otherwise performed well in 2026, particularly with his irons and putter, and has four top 20 finishes in his last five starts at The Players.
Kim, the 2017 Players Championship winner, has had a great start to this season. He finished in the top 13 five times, including a second place finish at the Farmers Insurance Open and a third place finish at the WM Phoenix Open. His last win on the tour came at the 2023 Sony Open in Hawaii.
The 2022 US Open winner is back as one of the best ball strikers in the world. Entering Arnold Palmer, he finished fourth in strokes gained: fifth on approach (1.120) and tee to green (1.731). He missed the cut in three of his last five starts at The Players and was in the top 10 in the other two.
According to Golfweek, Hovland didn’t wait long to make a significant change this season, moving from swing coach Grant Waite to his former coach TJ Yetton. Hovland was also using his old Ping driver at Bay Hill. Hovland was clearly disappointed when he failed to compete in two signature events, the Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Genesis Invitational. Although he missed the cut at TPC Sawgrass last year, he is tied for third in 2023 and ninth in 2022.
Connors has had a very good start to the season with a tie for 24th at the Sony Open in Hawaii, a high mark. Still, the Canadian golfer has been one of the best iron players in the world, and he could turn things around. He finished 13th or better in three of his last five starts at TPC Sawgrass.
Young finally won on the PGA Tour at the Wyndham Championship in August, then was one of the best performers on the American team at the Ryder Cup. His form seems to be heating up with consecutive top-10 finishes at the Genesis Invitational and Arnold Palmer. TPC Sawgrass has confounded him so far; He failed to finish in the top-50 in four starts.
There seem to be about two certainties at TPC Sawgrass: There will be a lot of balls hit into the water on the island-green 17th, and Hoge will be somewhere on the leaderboard. Although he has dropped to 95th in the Official World Golf Ranking, the players appear to be getting the best of Hoge. He carded a 10-under 62 in the third round to finish third in 2023, which is a tournament record. Hoge finished third again last year, two strokes shy of the playoffs.
The reigning US Open champion has made a slow start this season and has missed three cuts in five starts. He could do no better than finishing 40th in the other two. Spawn was able to turn things around at TPC Sawgrass, where he lost to McIlroy in a three-hole aggregate playoff in Monday’s finale at the 2025 Players Championship.
It’s another resurgence for Fowler, who played well in two FedEx Cup playoff events at the end of 2025. This season, he has four top 20s and has never finished lower than 28th. He finished ninth in the API. He is hitting his irons well and ranks in the top 25 in strokes gained: (.701). Since winning the playoffs in 2015, Fowler has finished in the top-45 among players only once.
English’s results this season have been as consistent as his play: he has not finished outside the top 28 in each of his first six matches. The player had been a nightmare for the English side for the last two years. He missed the cut in seven consecutive tournaments before finishing 19th in 2024 and 30th last year.
Henley, ranked seventh in the world, performed well on the West Coast, finishing 19th at Pebble Beach and eighth at American Express. Henley’s performance at TPC Sawgrass has also been mixed. He missed seven cuts in his first 13 starts; His best finish was a tie for 13th in 2022.
