PGA Tour Brunch | THE PLAYERS '26
PGA Tour Brunch Preview of the 2026 PLAYERS | TPC Sawgrass
By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk
PONTE VEDRA BEACH - This year marks the 52nd playing of THE PLAYERS Championship, dating back to 1974. It’s the 44th at TPC Sawgrass with the first year of 1982. THE PLAYERS Championship is the first of five events this season that offer 750 FedExCup points to the winner.
THE PLAYERS is the third event in the Florida Swing, which began with the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches (won by Nico Echavarria) and continued with the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard in Orlando (won by Akshay Bhatia). The TOUR will make its way to Palm Harbor for the Valspar Championship next week, where Viktor Hovland will defend his 2025 title.
Akshay Bhatia won the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard for his third career PGA TOUR title and first since the 2024 Valero Texas Open. He’ll make his third PLAYERS appearance, finishing T3 in 2025.
Second-year TOUR member and University of Florida product Ricky Castillo won the Puerto Rico Open for his first career PGA TOUR title; was previously qualified for THE PLAYERS by virtue of his position in the FedExCup through the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches. Castillo missed the cut in his PLAYERS debut in 2025.
The 2026 PLAYERS field features:
46 of the top 50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking, including all of the Top 10
Seven past champions (nine wins): Rory McIlroy (2019, 2025), Scottie Scheffler (2023, 2024), Justin Thomas (2021), Si Woo Kim (2017), Jason Day (2016), Rickie Fowler (2015), Adam Scott (2004)
Eight past FedEx Cup Champions (10 wins): Tommy Fleetwood (2025), Scottie Scheffler (2024), Viktor Hovland (2023), Rory McIlroy (2016/2019/2022), Patrick Cantlay (2021), Justin Rose (2018), Justin Thomas (2017), Jordan Spieth (2015)
As part of his return to the PGA TOUR via the returning member program, Brooks Koepka was added to the field (121) so not to take a spot from a current Tour member. To round out threesomes, the field was expanded to 123 players as of Monday at Noon EDT, with the first two alternates at that time – Patton Kizzire and Seamus Power – being added to the field.
14 players in the field are making their tournament debut, highlighted by three PGA TOUR winners: Zach Bauchou, Michael Brennan, Pierceson Coody, Zecheng Dou, A.J. Ewart, Steven Fisk, Takumi Kanaya, Johnny Keefer, William Mouw, Marco Penge, Kristoffer Reitan, Jordan Smith, Michael Thorbjornsen, Sudarshan Yellamaraju (winners in BOLD).
Of the 14 players in the field making their tournament debut, seven are PGA TOUR rookies: Zach Bauchou, A.J. Ewart, Johnny Keefer, Marco Penge, Kristoffer Reitan, Jordan Smith, Sudarshan Yellamaraju.
The PLAYERS | Tournament Facts
COURSE: TPC Sawgrass - The PLAYERS Stadium Course, Ponte Vedra Beach, FL
YARDS/PAR: 7,352 yards/Par 72
ARCHITECTS: Pete Dye
OVERVIEW: (link)
PRIZE Money - Purse: $25,000,000 with Winner: $4,500,000
DEFENDING CHAMPION: Rory McIlroy
PAST RESULTS: (link)
2025 Results: (link)
FEDEx CUP Points to Winner: 750
SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @THEPLAYERSChamp
How to Watch: In case of changes, visit: (PGATourCom)
The PLAYERS | The Basics
The Tee Times at TPC Sawgrass will run from 7:40am (ET) to 2:30pm (ET) Thursday.
Weather: Thursday forecast is for mostly sunny skies with temperatures reaching 77 degrees. Winds expected at 16 mph. Despite the sunshine in AM, there’s a 63% chance of rain.
Tournament Web Site: (link)
FedEx Cup Info: (link)
PGA Tour Brunch will post at 7:30am (EDT) Thursday and Friday.
The PLAYERS : Field, Update, Tee Times & Leaderboard
The Field: (link)
Updates:
Monday, March 9:
Field expanded from 121 players to 123 to round out threesomes:
Patton Kizzire and Seamus Power added
Tee Times: (link)
Tournament Leaderboard: (link)
The PLAYERS | Tournament Odds
Source: CBS / Odds via FanDuel Sportsbook
Scottie Scheffler (4-1)
Rory McIlroy (13-1)
Collin Morikawa (19-1)
Xander Schauffele (25-1)
Ludvig Åberg (25-1)
Tommy Fleetwood (25-1)
Cameron Young (27-1)
Si Woo Kim (30-1)
Russell Henley (35-1)
Akshay Bhatia (35-1)
Hideki Matsuyama (35-1)
Matt Fitzpatrick (40-1)
Min Woo Lee (40-1)
Viktor Hovland (40-1)
Chris Gotterup (40-1)
Sepp Straka (45-1)
Brooks Koepka (45-1)
Jake Knapp (45-1)
Shane Lowry (45-1)
Patrick Cantlay (45-1)
Rickie Fowler (45-1)
Robert MacIntyre (45-1)
Jordan Spieth (50-1)
Daniel Berger (50-1)
Sam Burns (55-1)
Maverick McNealy (55-1)
Adam Scott (55-1)
Ben Griffin (55-1)
Harris English (55-1)
Kurt Kitayama (55-1)
Justin Rose (70-1)
Jacob Bridgeman (70-1)
Harry Hall (70-1)
Alex Noren (75-1)
Nicolai Højgaard (75-1)
J.J. Spaun (75-1)
Justin Thomas (80-1)
Pierceson Coody (80-1)
Aaron Rai (80-1)
Michael Thorbjornsen (80-1)
Ryan Gerard (80-1)
Sahith Theegala (80-1)
Keith Mitchell (80-1)
Rasmus Højgaard (80-1)
Nick Taylor (100-10)
Max Greyserman (100-1)
Taylor Pendrith (100-1)
Wyndham Clark (100-1)
Jason Day (100-1)
Davis Thompson (100-1)
Keegan Bradley (100-1)
Thorbjørn Olesen (100-1)
Sam Stevens (100-1)
Kristoffer Reitan (100-1)
Corey Conners (100-1)
Marco Penge (100-1)
Ricky Castillo (100-1)
Tony Finau (100-1)
Matt McCarty (100-1)
Nico Echavarria (125-1)
Jordan Smith (125-1)
Alex Smalley (125-1)
Christiaan Bezuidenhout (125-1)
Max Homa (125-1)
Ryan Fox (125-1)
Sungjae Im (125-1)
Haotong Li (150-1)
Max McGreevy (150-1)
Patrick Rodgers (150-1)
Ryo Histatsune (150-1)
J.T. Poston (150-1)
Brian Harman (150-1)
Denny McCarthy (150-1)
Mackenzie Hughes (150-1)
Rico Hoey (150-1)
Aldrich Potgieter (150-1)
Bud Cauley (150-1)
Mac Meissner (150-1)
Garrick Higgo (200-1)
Michael Kim (200-1)
Johnny Keefer (200-1)
Stephan Jaeger (200-1)
Kevin Roy (250-1)
Joel Dahmen (250-1)
Zecheng Dou (250-1)
Vince Whaley (250-1)
Eric Cole (250-1)
Emiliano Grillo (250-1)
Kevin Yu (250-1)
Tom Hoge (250-1)
Michael Brennan (250-1)
Steven Fisk (300-1)
Sami Valimaki (300-1)
Taylor Moore (300-1)
Chris Kirk (300-1)
Lucas Glover (300-1)
Chad Ramey (300-1)
Matti Schmid (300-1)
Andrew Novak (300-1)
Gary Woodland (400-1)
William Mouw (400-1)
Lee Hodges (400-1)
Austin Smotherman (400-1)
Takumi Kanaya (400-1)
S.H. Kim (400-1)
Davis Riley (600-1)
A.J. Ewart (600-1)
Jhonattan Vegas (600-1)
Mark Hubbard (600-1)
Matthieu Pavon (750-1)
Sudarshan Yellamaraju (750-1)
Andrew Putnam (750-1)
Chandler Phillips (750-1)
Karl Vilips (750-1)
Joe Highsmith (1000-1)
Cam Davis (1000-1)
Erik van Rooyen (1000-1)
Zach Bauchou (1000-1)
Brian Campbell (1000-1)
Adam Schenk (1000-1)
Danny Walker (1000-1)
TL’s Wedge for an Edge: With the big time purse and the tournament’s overall prestige, let’s FIRE away with: Scottie Scheffler, Collin Morikawa, Si Woo Kim and Akshay Bhatia. The two reserves: Rory McIlroy and Brooks Koepka.
For the Tour One and Done? Bhatia
What They’re Saying
Trends for THE PLAYERS (PGATourCom)
The PLAYERS: Tiger Re-Lives “Better Than Most” (PGATourCom)
Power Rankings for The PLAYERS (PGATourCom)
The PLAYERS: Tee Times and Groupings (CBS Sports)
Can Koepka Contend (ESPNCom)
Sports Gambling, Daily Fantasy and Industry News
Expert Picks for The PLAYERS - (PGATourCom)
Fantasy Golf Options Abound - (PGATourCom)
State of the TOUR Address by CEO Today - (Golf Week)
On This Day in Golf History
March 11, 1945 - Byron Nelson’s record of 11 consecutive tournament championships began at the Miami Four-Ball Championship at Miami Springs Country Club. Nelson teamed-up with Harold “Jugs” McSpadden for the four-ball title. Nelson would go another five months until finishing fourth at the Memphis Open in August. (Courtesy of Randy Walker), Author of On This Day in Golf History, available via Amazon.com and by clicking HERE
Parting Putt
In the Year 2025 …
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