Still recent is Rory McIlroy going from a four-shot deficit to a three-shot lead solely to wind up in a playoff that he received final 12 months when J.J. Spaun failed to search out land on the island inexperienced.
That form of drama has been extra rule than exception through the years on the ever daunting, by no means boring Stadium Course on the TPC Sawgrass.
“Exciting” was the one phrase Adam Scott selected to explain The Players Championship, the premier event on the PGA Tour that has all of the trapping of a significant besides the label.
“I grew up watching this, seeing a lot of birdies and a lot of dramatic stuff happening,” Scott mentioned. “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 received The Players in 2004, and he recalled being on the bar of a restaurant along with his girlfriend after opening with a 65. Some followers had been speaking in regards to the day’s motion when one requested who was main the event.
“The guy looked at him at said, ‘Some expletive no-name.’ And it was me,” Scott mentioned. “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 loads of shock winners. Craig Perks received his solely PGA Tour title at Sawgrass, memorable for his three-hole end when he chipped in for eagle, made a 30-foot birdie putt after which chipped in for par.
The Players has rewarded the whole lot from the ability 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,” mentioned Scottie Scheffler, the one participant to win back-to-back on the TPC Sawgrass.
His second win in 2024 required a rally from 5 pictures behind, holing out with a full wedge for eagle on the fourth gap and a 64 to publish the bottom last spherical by a winner. This was after he almost withdrew due to a neck damage. There’s at all times 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 mentioned. “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 everybody on a tour – a fade off the primary tee, a draw for the method. Next gap, a draw off the tee and a fade for the lengthy shot into the par 5. Fade, fade, draw, draw. On he goes.
Scheffler does each properly – the whole lot properly, actually – which explains his place within the recreation. He received his 2026 debut within the California desert. His final two tournaments have not been fairly as much as his normal – two straight occasions out of the highest 10 for the primary time in a 12 months – although Scheffler appears to be the one one not overly involved about it.
“Your expectations of me are living week by week,” Scheffler mentioned. “My expectations of myself is almost more shot by shot.”
The largest query 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 earlier than the third spherical at Bay Hill final week due to muscle spasms in his decrease again. He instructed Golf Channel the again was being cussed, and his plan was to reach Wednesday to find out whether or not he may play.
The 123-man area is as deep as may be, with 46 of the highest 50 on the planet, lacking 4 gamers from LIV Golf. It consists of Brooks Koepka – an addition to the sphere – and two different gamers to ensure every group is threesomes on the weekdays.
Koepka is taking part in on the TPC Sawgrass for the primary time since 2022, earlier than he went over to LIV Golf. He as soon as made an albatross on the par-5 sixteenth on his option to what was then a course-record 63 (Justin Thomas beat that final 12 months with a 62) however he has but to complete within the prime 10 in his six appearances. He has a easy clarification for his pedestrian exhibiting.
“The 17th hole,” he mentioned of the island inexperienced, which is definitely a peninsula however is the signature gap at Sawgrass, terrifying to play and enjoyable to look at. “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 refined nudge towards elevating the standing of The Players with a promotional marketing campaign that ended with, “March is going to be major.”
Major pleasure, anyway.
