The Players Championship might not officially be a major, but a loaded field converges on TPC Sawgrass this week for the PGA Tour’s flagship event. TPC Sawgrass is a place that historically tests all facets of a player’s game, so no surprise that Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler have combined to win four of the past six editions.
Speaking of McIlroy and Scheffler, neither enters The Players in elite form, as Scheffler has battled his ball-striking a bit since winning The American Express and McIlroy was forced to pull out of the Arnold Palmer Invitational prior to his third round with a back issue.
So, what does that mean for the rest of the field? Here’s a ranking of all 123 players who are set to tee it up beginning Thursday at TPC Sawgrass:
1. Si Woo Kim: Owns just two top-10s at The Players since winning in 2017, but he’s been on fire this year. He leads the Tour in proximity, ranks second in strokes gained tee to green, and per Data Golf, he’s tied with Rory McIlroy with the second-best chance of winning.
2. Collin Morikawa: Ranks top 10 on Tour in total driving, strokes gained tee to green and strokes gained approach, and he’s coming off his best Players showing, a T-10, last year. A solo fifth last week at Bay Hill marked his third straight finish of T-7 or better, too.
3. Scottie Scheffler: He’s being tabbed by DataGolf with just over a 10% chance of winning, though should we feel that comfortable with the two-time Players champion? He put the new TaylorMade driver in play last week and didn’t seem totally thrilled, plus he ranks 88th in strokes gained approach this year. He’s not quite the dominant player he’s been recently, but he’s still really good.
4. Rory McIlroy: Let’s monitor the back issue, which forced him out of the API, though every indication is that it’s nothing serious. The Players hasn’t been overly kind to defending champions over the year, but McIlroy leads the Tour in both strokes gained tee to green and bogey avoidance.
5. Min Woo Lee: Perhaps a risky pick, though Lee leads the Tour in total driving; has a solid record at TPC Sawgrass, highlighted by a T-6 three years ago; and has gone T-2, T-12, T-6 in his most recent Tour starts.
6. Ludvig Åberg: Will his T-3 at Bay Hill spark a run? Ranks fourth on Tour in proximity and 12th in total driving. Was eighth in his Players debut before missing last year’s cut.
7. Daniel Berger: Losing the API the way he did won’t linger for a guy who has this level of confidence. He’s nearly top 10 in strokes gained approach and top 25 in total driving while cracking the top 20 in each of his last three trips to TPC Sawgrass.
8. Joel Dahmen: I know what you’re saying; how can a guy barely in the field be top 10? Well, he’s the Tour’s leader in driving accuracy, ranks 11th in proximity and was T-11 at TPC Sawgrass as recent as two years ago. He’s also gone T-7, MC, T-9, MC; spot the pattern?
9. Matt Fitzpatrick: Doesn’t have a top-10 finish since Phoenix and owns three MCs in his last four Players starts, but hear me out. He’s been T-9 and fifth at TPC Sawgrass in the last five years, and he’s ranked in the teens in most of important ball-striking categories this season.
10. Cameron Young: Hovering around the top 15 in total driving, proximity and strokes gained tee to green. Followed a T-7 at Riviera with a T-3 at API. All that said, he’s never finished inside the top 50 in four Players starts; that changes this year.
ORLANDO, FL - MARCH 07: Adam Scott of Australia looks on at the 15th hole during the third round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard 2026 at Arnold Palmer Bay Hill Golf Course on March 07, 2026 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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11. Adam Scott: TPC Sawgrass hasn’t been kind to the former Players champ of late with nothing better than a T-45 in the past five years. But he’s looked good, including last week at Bay Hill, where he was T-11. Ranks seventh in proximity and at least top 20 in most other ball-striking categories.
12. Hideki Matsuyama: The driver could see him miss the cut, but top 5 around the greens and in bogey avoidance. T-41 at API snapped a nice run that included a second in Phoenix, but he’s T-6 or better in two of last three trips to TPC Sawgrass.
13. Jake Knapp: Withdrew from API with an illness, but if that doesn’t linger, he’s well equipped to build off last year’s T-12 at The Players. He’s 11th in strokes gained tee to green and third in bogey avoidance.
14. Viktor Hovland: The feeling is he’s getting closer every week with the driver, and yet, he’s still top 30 in driving accuracy while ranking 13th in strokes gained approach. T-13 at Bay Hill was his third finish of T-14 or better in his last five starts, and he’s got a couple top-10s to his name at The Players, too.
15. Russell Henley: Shockingly, he’s played a decade’s worth of Players and hasn’t posted a top-10 finish. But he’s top 10 in both driving accuracy and bogey avoidance, and he’s coming off a T-6 at Bay Hill.
16. Ryo Hisatsune: He’s cooled off in recent starts but still clings to a top-10 ranking in strokes gained tee to green.
17. Kurt Kitayama: He’s been solid at TPC Sawgrass, followed his T-2 at Genesis with a top-20 showing at Bay Hill, and he’s enjoying one of his best driving seasons to date, ranking 16th in total driving.
18. Sepp Straka: T-16 or better in three of last four Players starts, which is a better recent record here than most. He’s 17th in strokes gained tee to green, but also outside the top 100 in proximity and bogey avoidance. T-13 last week at Bay Hill is another plus, though.
19. Maverick McNealy: Still trying to return to that elite putting form that we’ve seen in the past, but he’s up to 18th in strokes gained tee to green and finished strong on the weekend to post a T-13 at API. Was T-9 two years ago at The Players.
20. Tommy Fleetwood: The iron play hasn’t been very sharp this year, but he’s tops on Tour in strokes gained around the green, which has him 15th tee to green. He’s been pretty consistent at The Players, though he’s not had a top-10 finish since 2019. Consider this a dart throw.
ORLANDO, FLORIDA - MARCH 06: Austin Smotherman of The united States plays his tee shot on the 10th hole during the second round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard 2026 at Arnold Palmer Bay Hill Golf Course on March 06, 2026 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images)
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21. Austin Smotherman: Like McIlroy, Smotherman also withdrew from the API on Saturday with a back injury, which is a shame because if healthy, I love him at TPC Sawgrass. He’s third on Tour in strokes gained approach and sixth in proximity, and he was coming off a T-2 at Cognizant.
22. Nicolai Højgaard: Ranks sixth on Tour in strokes gained tee to green, so no wonder he’s been one of the hottest players in the world – Three top-6s finishes in his last five starts, all top-25s. Time to end his MC streak at The Players at two.
23. Shane Lowry: Has cracked the top 20 in four of his last five Players and ranks sixth on Tour in proximity, but he MC’d at API after his collapse at Cognizant. I’d lean toward a bounce-back week.
24. Rickie Fowler: Since winning the 2015 Players, he owns just one finish better than T-47. But he’s coming off a T-9 at API and ranks 11th in total driving.
25. Xander Schauffele: Just a warning; the model had him much lower than this considering he’s ranked 39th in strokes gained tee to green, 133rd in driving accuracy and 145th in proximity. Has a couple T-2’s at TPC Sawgrass, but missed three straight cuts a few years ago and was solo 72nd last year. His T-24 at API gives him some hope of notching another top-25 finish.
26. Max McGreevy: I don’t think his T-20 at TPC Sawgrass last year was a fluke. His finishes haven’t wowed anyone this year, and yet statistically, he’s got some positives, including ranking 27th in strokes gained tee to green.
27. Ryan Gerard: He’s already got two runners-up this year, but he’s not gone four straight starts without a top-20 finish, including posting a MC at API. Still, he’s got the striking ability (seventh on Tour in strokes gained approach) to better his T-42 finish in his Players debut last year.
28. Davis Thompson: I’m not putting a ton of stock in his solo fourth in Puerto Rico, but I’ll give him some credit. He’s 26th in total driving and 11th in bogey avoidance. Plus, he was T-10 at TPC Sawgrass last year.
29. Christiaan Bezuidenhout: MC’d at last year’s Players, but had posted two straight T-13’s before that. Another guy with a nice week in PR (T-8). The driver is a concern (118th in total driving), but a great scrambler.
30. Haotong Li: He’s top 20 in total driving and nearly top 25 in strokes gained approach, but he’s trending the wrong way after MCs at Phoenix and API.
ORLANDO, FLORIDA - MARCH 08: Michael Thorbjornsen of the United States watches a tee shot on the first hole during the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard 2026 at Arnold Palmer Bay Hill Golf Course on March 08, 2026 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images)
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Nos. 31-40
31. Michael Thorbjornsen
32. Alex Smalley
33. Nick Taylor
34. Corey Conners
35. Sam Stevens
36. Chris Gotterup
37. Patrick Cantlay
38. Jacob Bridgeman
39. Sudarshan Yellamaraju
40. Mac Meissner
Nos. 41-50
41. Ricky Castillo
42. Aaron Rai
43. Akshay Bhatia
44. Brooks Koepka
45. Sahith Theegala
46. Jordan Smith
47. Ben Griffin
48. Lucas Glover
49. Harris English
50. Robert MacIntyre
Nos. 51-60
51. Kevin Roy
52. Harry Hall
53. Pierceson Coody
54. Alex Noren
55. Andrew Putnam
56. Emiliano Grillo
57. A.J. Ewart
58. Michael Brennan
59. J.J. Spaun
60. Johnny Keefer
Nos. 61-70
61. Nico Echavarria
62. Lee Hodges
63. Ryan Fox
64. Keith Mitchell
65. Mackenzie Hughes
66. Jason Day
67. Thorbjørn Olesen
68. Keegan Bradley
69. Matt McCarty
70. Justin Rose
Nos. 71-80
71. Taylor Moore
72. Wyndham Clark
73. Bud Cauley
74. Zecheng Dou
75. Takumi Kanaya
76. Sami Valimaki
77. Max Homa
78. Chris Kirk
79. Sungjae Im
80. Steven Fisk
Nos. 81-90
81. Patrick Rodgers
82. Seamus Power
83. Rasmus Højgaard
84. Patton Kizzire
85. Taylor Pendrith
86. S.H. Kim
87. William Mouw
88. Jordan Spieth
89. Denny McCarthy
90. Justin Thomas
Nos. 91-100
91. Brian Harman
92. Sam Burns
93. Zach Bauchou
94. J.T. Poston
95. Chad Ramey
96. Stephan Jaeger
97. Max Greyserman
98. Tom Hoge
99. Andrew Novak
100. Michael Kim
Nos. 101-110
101. Matthieu Pavon
102. Kristoffer Reitan
103. Rico Hoey
104. Gary Woodland
105. Mark Hubbard
106. Tony Finau
107. Eric Cole
108. Chandler Phillips
109. Marco Penge
110. Aldrich Potgieter
Nos. 111-123
111. Karl Vilips
112. Kevin Yu
113. Davis Riley
114. Jhonattan Vegas
115. Matti Schmid
116. Adam Schenk
117. Danny Walker
118. Joe Highsmith
119. Brian Campbell
120. Garrick Higgo
121. Cam Davis
122. Erik van Rooyen
123. Vince Whaley