2026 Players Championship Preview: Field, Course, History, Tee Times, How to Watch

It's time for the PGA Tour’s flagship event, with a loaded, 123-player field teeing it up at TPC Sawgrass. Here's everything you need to know.

Rory McIlroy won the 2025 Players Championship in a three-hole aggregate playoff. | Doug Engle/The Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The PGA Tour’s flagship event is here. 

Many of the world’s best players will tee it up at TPC Sawgrass just outside of Jacksonville, Fla., for the Players Championship. And there’s been a lot of chatter lately about whether this tournament should be considered the fifth major championship. 

Regardless of its designation, it’s still one of the top events in golf. A 123-player field will compete—down from the 144 of years past due to pace of play and March sunlight—for a $25 million purse, with the winner collecting $4.5 million and 700 FedEx Cup points. 

From its field, course, history, tee times and how to watch, here’s what you need to know for the 2026 Players Championship. 

The field: 46 of the world’s top 50 

It’s one of, if not the strongest fields in golf. 

Forty-six of the top 50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking will tee it up at TPC Sawgrass, including the entire top 10. 

Seven past champions are competing: Rory McIlroy (2025, 2019), Scottie Scheffler (2023, 2024), Justin Thomas (2021), Si Woo Kim (2017), Jason Day (2016), Rickie Fowler (2015) and Adam Scott (2004). 

Brooks Koepka is also in the field, eligible because of his victory at the 2023 PGA Championship. Since he can not take a spot away from another Tour member, one of the conditions of the Returning Member Program, the field was expanded to 123 players to round out threesomes. Those two additional players were Patton Kizzire and Seamus Power, who, along with Joel Dahmen, Taylor Moore and Andrew Putnam, qualified by their FedEx Cup standing through the Cognizant Classic two weeks ago. 

Forteen players are making their Players Championship debut: 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 and Sudarshan Yellamaraju. 

The youngest player in the field is last year’s Rocket Classic champion Aldrich Potgieter, at 21 years old. And the oldest is 46-year-old Lucas Glover. 

McIlroy, the defending champion, who topped J.J. Spaun in a three-hole Monday playoff, withdrew from the Arnold Palmer Invitational last week and is not arriving to TPC Sawgrass until Wednesday due to his back injury being “stubborn.”

The course: One of a kind

Many players consider TPC Sawgrass’s Stadium Course one of the best—and most perplexing—layouts on Tour.

“It’s a weird golf course because there’s so much that you have to do right,” Collin Morikawa said. “And there’s not one shot that you could just practice on the range and say, like that’s going to get me through the week.”

Built in 1980, the par-72 Pete Dye design stretches 7,352 yards. It has Poa annua greens with an average size of 5,500 square feet, 92 bunkers and water is in play on 17 holes, the second-most on Tour, only behind the RBC Heritage’s Harbour Town, which is 18 holes. 

In 2024, TPC Sawgrass was the 13th hardest course on Tour, yielding a scoring average of 72.39, .394 strokes above par. Its hardest hole was the 485-yard par-4 14th playing .276 strokes over par, making it the Tour’s 42nd toughest hole (out of 882). Its easiest hole, meanwhile, last year was 537-yard par-5 16th, the 110th easiest hole on Tour with a scoring average .327 strokes under par. 

Iconic, yet cruel.

The highest scores on the Island Green over the years. pic.twitter.com/BlvaXRhs84

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 14, 2025

And its signature hole, of course, is the par-3 17th island green. It measures about 137 yards and is completely surrounded by water with a 78-foot green and a small bunker in the front. It played as the 216th hardest hole last season at .111 strokes over par. 

There have been 14 holes-in-one on the island green, with three coming in 2023, the first time there were multiple aces on No. 17 in a single tournament. None occurred last year, though there were two during practice rounds. And, on the contrary, the record for most water balls on No. 17 in a Players Championship is 93, set in 2007. 

Aces, regardless of where they occur, are already unforgettable, but doing it on the island green is another level. 

“Look, you go, you play this game, just special things happen sometimes,” Shane Lowry said after his ace on No. 17 in 2022. “It’s pretty cool to do it there, one of the most iconic holes in golf. Yeah, what can I say? It was a special thing to happen.”

History: Unprecedented times 

Since 1974, the Players Championship has provided many indelible moments. 

The 2020 edition, however, is remembered for not finishing. 

The 2020 Players began on March 12, one day after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19 and essentially caused the NBA to shut down in the early days of the pandemic, with many other sports leagues following suit. The Players, though, went on as normal, with Hideki Matsuyama racing out to a two-stroke lead after equaling the then course record of 63. 

Afterward, the PGA Tour announced that the final three rounds would continue without spectators. 

That development was short-lived. A few hours later, the Tour changed course, canceling the remainder of the tournament, along with its next three events: the Valspar Championship, the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play and the Valero Texas Open.

Half of the $15 million purse was given to players who completed the first round, amounting to $52,000 each. 

“We have pledged from the start to be responsible, thoughtful and transparent with our decision process,” the Tour said in a statement. “We did everything possible to create a safe environment for our players in order to continue the event throughout the weekend, and we were endeavoring to give our fans a much-needed respite from the current climate.

“But at this point—and as the situation continues to rapidly change—the right thing to do for our players and our fans is to pause.”

With most major sports leagues on hiatus, the Tour was facing blowback for continuing. Before the cancellation, McIlroy even called for all players and caddies to get tested and said the Tour needed to be shut down if anyone was positive. 

The circuit resumed two months later at Colonial’s Charles Schwab Challenge in Texas with no spectators.

And the Players made its triumphant rebound a year into the pandemic, with Thomas winning. 

“It’s good to be back,” Schauffele said ahead of the 2021 Players. “It’s kind of crazy that it’s been a full year since this crazy COVID thing happened.”

The tournament might not have been completed six years ago, but it was certainly a time nobody will forget. 

How to watch (all times ET)

• Thursday-Friday: 1–7 p.m. (Golf Channel)
• Saturday: 2–7 p.m. (NBC)
• Sunday: 1–6 p.m. (NBC)

ESPN+ will also have coverage during each round. 

First- and second-round tee times 

Tee times for the first and second round of THE PLAYERS Championship pic.twitter.com/we2ygIrGxL

— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) March 9, 2026