PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Major or not, The Players Championship rarely lacks for entertainment.
Still fresh is Rory McIlroy going from a four-shot deficit to a three-shot lead only to wind up in a playoff that he won last year when J.J. Spaun failed to find land on the island green.
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Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, reacts while hitting practice shots during a practice round for The Players Championship golf tournament Wednesday, March 11, 2026, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
FILE -Players work on their putting on the 13th green during a practice round for The Players championship golf tournament at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., May 7, 2014. (AP Photo/John Raoux, File)
Adam Scott, of Australia, walks on the first hole during the third round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill golf tournament Saturday, March 7, 2026, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Scottie Scheffler walks on the first green during the second round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill golf tournament Friday, March 6, 2026, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, reacts while hitting practice shots during a practice round for The Players Championship golf tournament Wednesday, March 11, 2026, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
That kind of drama has been more rule than exception over the years on the ever daunting, never dull Stadium Course at the TPC Sawgrass.
“Exciting” was the one word Adam Scott chose to describe The Players Championship, the premier tournament on the PGA Tour that has all the trappings of a major except the label.
“I grew up watching this, seeing a lot of birdies and a lot of dramatic stuff happening,” Scott said. “I think that's exciting, and I think that's why people like watching this tournament. You go out there with the dream that you can shoot 10 under somehow and spin balls back off slopes. And it's not that easy once you're out there.”
Scott won The Players in 2004, and he recalled being at the bar of a restaurant with his girlfriend after opening with a 65. Some fans were talking about the day's action when one asked who was leading the tournament.
“The guy looked at him and said, ‘Some expletive no-name.’ And it was me,” Scott said. “My wife, or girlfriend at the time, was ready to jump in there and let him have it. So it was good to go on and win and maybe get out of the no-name category.”
The Players has had plenty of surprise winners. Craig Perks won his only PGA Tour title at Sawgrass, memorable for his three-hole finish when he chipped in for eagle, made a 30-foot birdie putt and then chipped in for par.
The Players has rewarded everything from the power of Tiger Woods to the precision of Fred Funk.
“You see a variety of winners, and you also don't see one style of player winning this tournament a bunch of times,” said Scottie Scheffler, the only player to win back-to-back at the TPC Sawgrass.
His win in 2024 required a rally from five shots behind, holing out with a full wedge for eagle on the fourth hole and a 64 to post the lowest final round by a winner. This was after he nearly withdrew because of a neck injury. There's always drama.
“The way modern golf is trending, I think this place you kind of take some steps back where the areas to hit into are small,” Scheffler said. “And there’s certain holes where you can definitely take advantage of your length if you’re a longer hitter. But there’s also some holes where you've got to get the ball in play, and you have to be able to curve the ball both directions.”
He then took everyone on a tour — a fade off the first tee, a draw for the approach. Next hole, a draw off the tee and a fade for the long shot into the par 5. Fade, fade, draw, draw. On he goes.
Scheffler does both well — everything well, really — which explains his position in the game. He won his 2026 debut in the California desert. His last two tournaments haven't been quite up to his standard — two straight finishes out of the top 10 for the first time in a year — though Scheffler seems to be the only one not overly concerned about it.
“Your expectations of me are living week by week,” Scheffler said. “My expectations of myself is almost more shot by shot.”
The biggest question on the eve of the $25 million championship — the richest in golf, with $4.5 million going to winner — is the defending champion.
McIlroy withdrew before the third round at Bay Hill last week because of muscle spasms in his lower back. He arrived Wednesday, about 24 hours before his tee time, hit balls on the range and took his wedge and putter out on the back nine.
“It's better than it was,” he said. “I couldn’t stand to address the ball on Saturday morning on the range at Bay Hill, and it’s obviously better than that. So, yeah, probably a game-time decision, but all indications are pointing in the right direction.”
The 123-man field is as deep as can be, with 46 of the top 50 in the world, missing four players from LIV Golf. It includes Brooks Koepka — an addition to the field — and two other players to make sure each group is threesomes on the weekdays.
Koepka is playing at the TPC Sawgrass for the first time since 2022, before he joined LIV Golf. He once made an albatross on the par-5 16th on his way to what was then a course-record 63 (Justin Thomas beat that last year with a 62) but he has yet to finish in the top 10 in his six appearances. He has a simple explanation for his pedestrian showing.
“The 17th hole,” he said of the island green, which is actually a peninsula but is the signature hole at Sawgrass, terrifying to play and fun to watch. “One year I made an 8 and a 7. Yeah, that wasn’t very good. But that 17th hole has gotten me over the years. I’ve played good rounds here. That’s just kind of the one bugaboo that always gets me.”
The PGA Tour raised eyebrows with a subtle nudge toward elevating the status of The Players with a promotional campaign that ended with, “March is going to be major.”
Major excitement, anyway.
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, reacts while hitting practice shots during a practice round for The Players Championship golf tournament Wednesday, March 11, 2026, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
FILE -Players work on their putting on the 13th green during a practice round for The Players championship golf tournament at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., May 7, 2014. (AP Photo/John Raoux, File)
Adam Scott, of Australia, walks on the first hole during the third round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill golf tournament Saturday, March 7, 2026, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Scottie Scheffler walks on the first green during the second round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill golf tournament Friday, March 6, 2026, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, reacts while hitting practice shots during a practice round for The Players Championship golf tournament Wednesday, March 11, 2026, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
