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