The 2025 PLAYERS | Preview

PGA Tour Brunch Previews the 2025 PLAYERS Championship

PONTE VEDRA BEACH - This year marks the 51st playing of THE PLAYERS Championship, dating back to 1974. It’s the 43rd at TPC Sawgrass with the first year coming back in 1982.

The last five winners of The PLAYERS have entered this week in the World Golf Ranking Top 10:

• 2024 Scottie Scheffler 1

• 2023 Scottie Scheffler 2

• 2022 Cameron Smith 10

• 2021 Justin Thomas 3

• 2019 Rory McIlroy 6

The 2025 PLAYERS field features:

• 48 of the top 50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking, including all of the Top 10

• Eight past champions (nine wins): Scottie Scheffler (2023, 2024), Justin Thomas (2021), Rory McIlroy (2019), Si Woo Kim (2017), Jason Day (2016), Rickie Fowler (2015), Matt Kuchar (2012), Adam Scott (2004)

• Eight past FedEx Cup champions (10 wins): Scottie Scheffler (2024), Viktor Hovland (2023), Rory McIlroy (2016/2019/2022), Patrick Cantlay (2021), Justin Rose (2018), Justin Thomas (2017), Jordan Spieth (2015), Billy Horschel (2014)

• 25 players in the field are making their tournament debut, highlighted by six PGA TOUR winners:

  Jacob Bridgeman, Brian Campbell, Rafael Campos, Laurie Canter, Frankie Capan III, Will Chandler, Patrick Fishburn, Ryan Gerard, Chris Gotterup, Max Greyserman, Joe Highsmith, Rico Hoey, Rasmus Højgaard, Mac Meissner, Matt McCarty, Chandler Phillips, Aldrich Potgieter, Kevin Roy, Isaiah Salinda, Hayden Springer, Jackson Suber, Jesper Svensson, Alejandro Tosti, Karl Vilips, Vince Whaley.

• Among the 25 first-timers in the field, there are eight PGA TOUR rookies making their PLAYERS debut:

  Frankie Capan III, Will Chandler, Rasmus Højgaard, Aldrich Potgieter, Isaiah Salinda, Jackson Suber, Jesper Svensson and Karl Vilips. Villips won last week in Puerto Rico.

• The all-time PGA TOUR rookie with the highest finish at THE PLAYERS is David Lingmerth (T2/2013) while Fulton Allem (T3/1998) and Camilo Villegas (T3/2006) are the only others to finish inside the top five.

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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: Scottie Scheffler

PAST RESULTS: (link)

FEDEx CUP Points to Winner: 750

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @THEPLAYERSChamp

How to Watch: In case of changes, visit: (PGATourCom)

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The PLAYERS | The Basics

The Tee Times at TPC Sawgrass will run from 7:40am (ET) to 2:46pm (ET) Thursday.

Weather: Thursday forecast is for mostly sunny skies with temperatures in the mid-70s. Winds expected at 10 mph and there’s a 14% chance of rain.

Tournament Web Site: (link)

FedEx Cup Info: (link)

PGA Tour Brunch will post at 7:30am (ET) Thursday and Friday.

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The PLAYERS : Field, Update, Tee Times and Leaderboard

The Field: (link)

Update:

Monday, March 10

Lee Hodges (WD) / Bud Cauley (IN)

Tee Times: (link)

Tournament Leaderboard: (link)

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The PLAYERS | Tournament Odds

Source: CBS Sportsline

Scottie Scheffler +360

Rory McIlroy +800

Collin Morikawa +1600

Xander Schauffele +1600

Ludvig Aberg +2000

Justin Thomas +2000

Hideki Matsuyama +3000

Patrick Cantlay +3500

Tommy Fleetwood +3500

Shane Lowry +4000

Russell Henley +4500

Sungjae Im +5500

Sepp Straka +5500

Keegan Bradley +5500

Sam Burns +6000

Wyndham Clark +6000

Corey Conners +6500

Jason Day +6500

Maverick McNealy +6500

Tony Finau +7000

Viktor Hovland +7000

Si Woo Kim +7000

Daniel Berger +7000

Min Woo Lee +7500

Robert MacIntyre +7500

Jordan Spieth +8000

Tom Kim +8000

Will Zalatoris +8000

Brian Harman +9000

Taylor Pendrith +9000

Adam Scott +9000

J.T. Poston +10000

Sahith Theegala +10000

Denny McCarthy +10000

Aaron Rai +10000

Kurt Kitayama +11000

Davis Thompson +11000

Doug Ghim +11000

Rickie Fowler +11000

J.J. Spaun +11000

Michael Kim +11000

Matt Fitzpatrick +11000

Akshay Bhatia +11000

Ben Griffin +11000

Christiaan Bezuidenhout +11000

Keith Mitchell +11000

Rasmus Hojgaard +12000

Max Greyserman +12000

Thomas Detry +12000

Byeong Hun An +12000

Samuel Stevens +15000

Stephan Jaeger +15000

Cameron Young +15000

Justin Rose +15000

Joe Highsmith +15000

Alex Smalley +15000

Seamus Power +15000

Billy Horschel +15000

TL’s Wedge for an Edge: With the big time purse and the tournament’s overall prestige, let’s FIRE away with: Rory McIlroy, Collin Morakawa, Scottie Scheffler and Sepp Straka. The two reserves: Justin Thomas and Shane Lowry.

For the Tour One and Done? Sepp Straka

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What They’re Saying

First Look: The Thrill of Sawgrass and THE PLAYERS (PGATourCom)

The PLAYERS: A Look at Sawgrass’ Sixth (PGATourCom)

Power Rankings for The PLAYERS (PGATourCom)

The PLAYERS: Tee Times and Groupings (PGATourCom)

How to Watch The PLAYERS (ESPNCom)

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Sports Gambling, Daily Fantasy and Industry News

Expert Picks for The PLAYERS - (PGATourCom)

Sleeper Picks for The PLAYERS - (PGATourCom)

What Would Commissioner Commissioner Jay Say? - (Golf Week)

State of the TOUR Address - (PGATourCom)

Morikawa, Thomas Want Pace-of-Play Data toGo Public (ESPNCom)

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On This Day in Golf History

March 12, 1978 - Tom Weiskopf withstood a furious charge from Jack Nicklaus and holds on to defeat The Golden Bear by one stroke on a 36-hole final day at the Doral Eastern Open in Miami. Nicklaus fired a “Back 9” 30 with only nine putts with a round that included Eagle chip-ins at Nos 10 and 12. Weiskopf held on in a playoff to win. - Courtesy of Randy Walker, Author of On This Day in Golf History, available via Amazon.com and by clicking HERE

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Parting Putt

Memories of an Epic Finish in ‘24

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Next Up

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