One of the biggest events of the year, The Players Championship, comes from TPC Sawgrass in Florida. A year ago, Rory McIlroy beat JJ Spaun in a Monday playoff to claim the title for the second time, and he is expected to line up to defend his title this week.
There is a slight question mark over his involvement because he withdrew from the Arnold Palmer Invitational before he started the third round with a back injury.That was seen as a precautionary measure, but he provided an update on Monday, describing the issue as "stubborn." As things stand, McIlroy plans to head to TPC Sawgrass on Wednesday, and, assuming he is fit to play, he will be grouped with Xander Schauffele and Hideki Matsuyama in the first two rounds. The three are scheduled to start at 1.42pm ET (5.42pm GMT) in the first round and 8.52am ET (12.52pm GMT) in the second round.
Another big group sees Scottie Scheffler, who won the tournament in 2023 and 2024, alongside Tommy Fleetwood and 2021 winner Justin Thomas. The three begin at 8.52am ET (12.52pm GMT) in the first round and 1.42pm ET (5.42pm GMT) in the second round.
Check out all of The Players Championship tee times for the first two rounds, including featured groups...
The Players Championship Featured Groups
All times ET/GMT
Round One
- 8.52am (12.52pm): Scottie Scheffler, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Thomas
- 8.28am (12.28pm): Akshay Bhatia, Brooks Koepka, Tony Finau
- 8.40am (12.40pm): Collin Morikawa, Ludvig Åberg, Si Woo Kim
- 1.42pm (5.42pm): Xander Schauffele, Rory McIlroy, Hideki Matsuyama
- 1.30pm (5.30pm): Sahith Theegala, Rickie Fowler, Jordan Spieth
Round Two
- 8.52am (12.52pm): Xander Schauffele, Rory McIlroy, Hideki Matsuyama
- 8.40am (12.40pm): Sahith Theegala, Rickie Fowler, Jordan Spieth
- 9.04am (1.04pm): Chris Gotterup, Justin Rose, Min Woo Lee
- 1.42pm (5.42pm): Scottie Scheffler, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Thomas
- 1.18pm (5.18pm): Akshay Bhatia, Brooks Koepka, Tony Finau
The Players Championship Tee Times
All times ET/GMT
Round One - 1st Tee
- 7.40am (11.40am): Mark Hubbard, Thorbjørn Olesen, Mac Meissner
- 7.52am (11.52am): Bud Cauley, Vince Whaley, Chandler Phillips
- 8.04am (12.04pm): Emiliano Grillo, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Max Greyserman
- 8.16am (12.16pm): Kevin Yu, Cam Davis, Gary Woodland
- 8.28am (12.28pm): Ricky Castillo, Ryan Gerard, Patrick Cantlay
- 8.40am (12.40pm): Adam Schenk, Garrick Higgo, Matt McCarty
- 8.52am (12.52pm): Brian Harman, Maverick McNealy, Davis Riley
- 9.04am (1.04pm): Sami Valimaki, Lucas Glover, Matt Fitzpatrick
- 9.16am (1.16pm): Michael Brennan, Harris English, J.T. Poston
- 9.28am (1.28pm): Haotong Li, Zecheng Dou, Jordan Smith
- 12.30pm (4.30pm): Lee Hodges, Andrew Putnam, Sam Stevens
- 12.42pm (4.42pm): Erik van Rooyen, Keith Mitchell, Michael Kim
- 12.54pm (4.54pm): Taylor Moore, Joel Dahmen, Ryo Hisatsune
- 1.06pm (5.06pm): Jacob Bridgeman, Ben Griffin, Adam Scott
- 1.18pm (5.18pm): J.J. Spaun, Sepp Straka, Shane Lowry
- 1.30pm (5.30pm): Sahith Theegala, Rickie Fowler, Jordan Spieth
- 1.42pm (5.42pm): Xander Schauffele, Rory McIlroy, Hideki Matsuyama
- 1.54pm (5.54pm): Chris Gotterup, Justin Rose, Min Woo Lee
- 2.06pm (6.06pm): Brian Campbell, Karl Vilips, Aaron Rai
- 2.18pm (6.18pm): Matti Schmid, Max McGreevy, Takumi Kanaya
- 2.30pm (6.30pm): Zach Bauchou, Sudarshan Yellamara, AJ Ewart
Round One - 10th Tee
- 7.40am (11.40am): Mackenzie Hughes, Eric Cole, Rico Hoey
- 7.52am (11.52am): Max Homa, Daniel Berger, Michael Thorbjornsen
- 8.04am (12.04pm): Rasmus Højgaard, Danny Walker, Kristoffer Reitan
- 8.16am (12.16pm): Jhonattan Vegas, Taylor Pendrith, Alex Noren
- 8.28am (12.28pm): Akshay Bhatia, Brooks Koepka, Tony Finau
- 8.40am (12.40pm): Collin Morikawa, Ludvig Åberg, Si Woo Kim
- 8.52am (12.52pm): Scottie Scheffler, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Thomas
- 9.04am (1.04pm): Viktor Hovland, Russell Henley, Robert MacIntyre
- 9.16am (1.16pm): Aldrich Potgieter, Jake Knapp, Sungjae Im
- 9.28am (1.28pm): Patton Kizzire, Seamus Power, Johnny Keefer
- 12.30pm (4.30pm): Tom Hoge, Denny McCarthy, Nicolai Højgaard
- 12.42pm (4.42pm): Patrick Rodgers, Kevin Roy, Marco Penge
- 12.54pm (4.54pm): Chad Ramey, Alex Smalley, Pierceson Coody
- 1.06pm (5.06pm): Kurt Kitayama, Harry Hall, Stephan Jaeger
- 1.18pm (5.18pm): Keegan Bradley, Ryan Fox, Chris Kirk
- 1.30pm (5.30pm): Andrew Novak, Nick Taylor, Wyndham Clark
- 1.42pm (5.42pm): Steven Fisk, William Mouw, Joe Highsmith
- 1.54pm (5.54pm): Cameron Young, Davis Thompson, Sam Burns
- 2.06pm (6.06pm): Nico Echavarria, Jason Day, Corey Conners
- 2.18pm (6.18pm): Matthieu Pavon, S.H. Kim, Austin Smotherman
Round Two - 1st Tee
- 7.40am (11.40am): Tom Hoge, Denny McCarthy, Nicolai Højgaard
- 7.52am (11.52am): Patrick Rodgers, Kevin Roy, Marco Penge
- 8.04am (12.04pm): Chad Ramey, Alex Smalley, Pierceson Coody
- 8.16am (12.16pm): Kurt Kitayama, Harry Hall, Stephan Jaeger
- 8.28am (12.28pm): Keegan Bradley, Ryan Fox, Chris Kirk
- 8.40am (12.40pm): Andrew Novak, Nick Taylor, Wyndham Clark
- 8.52am (12.52pm): Steven Fisk, William Mouw, Joe Highsmith
- 9.04am (1.04pm): Cameron Young, Davis Thompson, Sam Burns
- 9.16am (1.16pm): Nico Echavarria, Jason Day, Corey Conners
- 9.28am (1.28pm): Matthieu Pavon, S.H. Kim, Austin Smotherman
- 12.30pm (4.30pm): Mackenzie Hughes, Eric Cole, Rico Hoey
- 12.42pm (4.42pm): Max Homa, Daniel Berger, Michael Thorbjornsen
- 12.54pm (4.54pm): Rasmus Højgaard, Danny Walker, Kristoffer Reitan
- 1.06pm (5.06pm): Jhonattan Vegas, Taylor Pendrith, Alex Noren
- 1.18pm (5.18pm): Akshay Bhatia, Brooks Koepka, Tony Finau
- 1.30pm (5.30pm): Collin Morikawa, Ludvig Åberg, Si Woo Kim
- 1.42pm (5.42pm): Scottie Scheffler, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Thomas
- 1.54pm (5.54pm): Viktor Hovland, Russell Henley, Robert MacIntyre
- 2.06pm (6.06pm): Aldrich Potgieter, Jake Knapp, Sungjae Im
- 2.18pm (6.18pm): Patton Kizzire, Seamus Power, Johnny Keefer
Round Two - 10th Tee
- 7.40am (11.40am): Lee Hodges, Andrew Putnam, Sam Stevens
- 7.52am (11.52am): Erik van Rooyen, Keith Mitchell, Michael Kim
- 8.04am (12.04pm): Taylor Moore, Joel Dahmen, Ryo Hisatsune
- 8.16am (12.16pm): Jacob Bridgeman, Ben Griffin, Adam Scott
- 8.28am (12.28pm): J.J. Spaun, Sepp Straka, Shane Lowry
- 8.40am (12.40pm): Sahith Theegala, Rickie Fowler, Jordan Spieth
- 8.52am (12.52pm): Xander Schauffele, Rory McIlroy, Hideki Matsuyama
- 9.04am (1.04pm): Chris Gotterup, Justin Rose, Min Woo Lee
- 9.16am (1.16pm): Brian Campbell, Karl Vilips, Aaron Rai
- 9.28am (1.28pm): Matti Schmid, Max McGreevy, Takumi Kanaya
- 9.40am (1.40pm): Zach Bauchou, Sudarshan Yellamaraju, A.J. Ewart
- 12.30pm (4.30pm): Mark Hubbard, Thorbjørn Olesen, Mac Meissner
- 12.42pm (4.42pm): Bud Cauley, Vince Whaley, Chandler Phillips
- 12.54pm (4.54pm): Emiliano Grillo, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Max Greyserman
- 1.06pm (5.06pm): Kevin Yu, Cam Davis, Gary Woodland
- 1.18pm (5.18pm): Ricky Castillo, Ryan Gerard, Patrick Cantlay
- 1.30pm (5.30pm): Adam Schenk, Garrick Higgo, Matt McCarty
- 1.42pm (5.42pm): Brian Harman, Maverick McNealy, Davis Riley
- 1.54pm (5.54pm): Sami Valimaki, Lucas Glover, Matt Fitzpatrick
- 2.06pm (6.06pm): Michael Brennan, Harris English, J.T. Poston
- 2.18pm (6.18pm): Haotong Li, Zecheng Dou, Jordan Smith
How To Watch The Players Championship
US (all times ET)
- Thursday March 12th: 7.30am - 7.00pm (ESPN+), 1.00pm - 7.00pm (Golf Channel)
- Friday March 13th: 7.30am - 7.00pm (ESPN+), 1.00pm - 7.00pm (Golf Channel)
- Saturday March 14th: 8.00am - 7.00pm (ESPN+), 2.00pm - 7.00pm (NBC/Peacock)
- Sunday March 15th: 7.30am - 6.00pm (ESPN+), 1.00pm - 6.00pm (NBC/Peacock)
UK (all times GMT)
- Thursday March 12th: 11.30am Sky Sports Main Event/Sky Sports Golf
- Friday March 13th: 11.30am Sky Sports Main Event/Sky Sports Golf
- Saturday March 14th: 1.00pm (Sky Sports Golf), 8.00pm Sky Sports Main Event
- Sunday March 15th: 11.30am Sky Sports Main Event, 1.00pm Sky Sports Golf, 7.00pm Sky Sports Main Event
