What's TPC Sawgrass like? How much money does the winner get? Can Rory McIlroy defend his title?
It may not be a major—well, it depends who you ask—but it’s also certainly not just another PGA Tour event. However you care to label the Players Championship, the tour’s flagship event is back once again with a loaded field, an opportunity for a Rory McIlroy defense and a fabled island-green par 3 ready to provide maximum chaos.
It’s somehow already been 12 months since the Northern Irishman survived a Monday three-hole aggregate playoff against J.J. Spaun, and so … here are some frequently asked questions (and answers!) regarding this year's Players Championship.
When is the 2026 Players Championship played?The Players Championship will be played March 12-15. The event was played in March for its first 30 years, moved to May in 2007 and returned to March in 2019 after the PGA Tour revamped its schedule.
Who conducts the Players?Unlike the four men’s majors, the PGA Tour owns the Players, holding it at the course that lies within a mile of PGA Tour headquarters. With that said, the winner receives a three-year invitation to the Masters Tournament, and three-year exemptions for the U.S. Open, the Open Championship and the PGA Championship. All good things to have.
Where is the 2026 Players Championship being played?When it was originally started in 1974, the Players Championship jumped around between Atlanta Country Club, Colonial Country Club, Inverrary Country Club and Sawgrass Country Club before eventually settling into a permanent home at TPC Sawgrass. It has been played at the appropriately named Players Stadium Course every year since 1982. Sawgrass went through a major renovation in 2007, which included a beautiful $32 million, 77,000-square-foot Mediterranean revival-style clubhouse, a state-of-the-art underground drainage system and resurfaced greens.
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PreviousNextPausePlayfalse Public TPC Sawgrass: Stadium Ponte Vedra Beach, FL 4.6 26Panelists TPC’s stadium concept was the idea of then-PGA Tour commissioner Deane Beman. The 1980 design was pure Pete Dye, who set out to test the world’s best golfers by mixing the demands of distance with target golf. Most greens are ringed by random lumps, bumps and hollows, what Dye called his "grenade attack architecture." His ultimate target hole is the heart-pounding sink-or-swim island green 17th, which offers no bailout, perhaps unfairly in windy Atlantic coast conditions. The 17th has spawned over a hundred imitation island greens in the past 40 years. To make the layout even more exciting during tournament play, Steve Wenzloff of PGA Tour Design Services later remodeled several holes, most significantly the 12th, which he turned into a drivable par-4, something Dye was never a fan of. View Course The Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass is currently ranked 41st in Golf Digest’s America’s 100 Greatest Golf Course ranking, and we had this to say, “Pete Dye’s ultimate target hole is the heart-pounding sink-or-swim island-green 17th, which offers no bailout, perhaps unfairly in windy Atlantic coast conditions. The 17th has spawned more than a hundred imitation island greens in the past 40 years. To make the layout even more exciting during tournament play, Steve Wenzloff of PGA Tour Design Services recently remodeled several holes, most significantly the 12th, which is now a drivable par 4.”
When and where was the first Players? And who won?The first Players took place in 1974. Jack Nicklaus beat J.C. Snead by two shots at Atlanta Country Club and took home $50,000 behind a 16-under 272. (In 2026, any player who finishes 72nd or better earns at least $50,000.)
What is the format of the Players? How many players are in the field and how does one qualify?The field at the Players Championship features 120 players, including defending champ Rory McIlroy, two-time winner Scottie Scheffler and former LIV golfer Brooks Koepka. The tournament is a 72-hole stroke-play event that sends invites to all of the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking, any PGA Tour winners over the past year and the top 100 from the previous season's FedEx Cup points list.
Rory McIlroy, winner of the 2019 Players, poses with both his trophies in the champions locker room after defeating J.J. Spaun in a playoff in the final round of 2025 Players edition.
Ben Jared
If players are tied after 72 holes, how is the winner determined?The playoff format used to be sudden death, but that switched in 2014 to a three-hole aggregate over the final three holes. If still tied, the playoff goes into sudden death, which just so happens to start at the world-famous 17th.
There have been five playoffs since moving over to the Stadium Course in 1982: 1987, 2008, 2011, 2015 and (of course) 2025. Last year’s event saw McIlroy win on a bogey after Spaun found a water hazard and triple-bogeyed No. 17. McIlroy was four back to start Sunday and grabbed his spot in the playoff after Spaun couldn’t convert a 30-foot putt on the 72nd hole.
What type of course is TPC Sawgrass?The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass is designed with fans in mind, attempting to give galleries unobstructed views and provide fans in certain areas the ability to watch multiple holes at once. It is, of course, well-known for its famous island-green 17th hole, which is one of the most intimidating par 3s in the sport. The rest of the course is known for its test of mixing a demand on distance with accuracy. Pete Dye labeled it "grenade attack architecture" with random lumps, bumps and hollows across the Stadium Course. It’s 7,275 yards with a 155 slope. Also, it’s open to the public. Speaking of …
Can you play TPC Sawgrass?Yes! But, it’s going to cost a pretty penny. Using dynamic pricing, the Players Stadium Course can cost you up to $850 for certain days or time slots. TPC Sawgrass is also home to the Dye’s Valley course, which is a good deal cheaper. Don’t expect to play end of February through mid-March, however, as that’s the lead-up to the Players and then the actual event.
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Tiger Woods hasn't played in the Players since 2019.
Icon Sportswire
Not this year.
Tiger Woods hasn’t ruled out a return for the 2026 Masters, but is still recovering from disk replacement surgery in October and it's unclear when we’ll watch him tee it up competitively anytime soon. While at the Genesis Invitational, the golf great acknowledged there is no timetable yet for a return.
“Well, I'm trying. Put it that way,” he said. And on the topic of full shots, he admitted that he’s hitting it “not well every day” but that he can at least hit them.
How many Players Championships has Tiger Woods won?Tiger Woods has two Players Championship wins, one in 2001 over Vijay Singh and another in 2013 over David Lingmerth, Jeff Maggert and Kevin Streelman. He also finished runner-up to Hal Sutton in 2000. (Interesting, Woods also won the first of his three U.S. Amateur titles at TPC Sawgrass in 1994.)
Woods is also one of just seven golfers to win both the Players and a major in the same year, as he won the Masters in 2001 just a few weeks after his TPC Sawgrass victory. The other six players include Jack Nicklaus (1978), Hal Sutton (1983), Martin Kaymer (2014), Cameron Smith (2022), Scottie Scheffler (2024) and Rory McIlroy (2025).
Who has won the most Players Championships?
Jack Nicklaus has the most Players Championship wins with three, each coming in the first five years of the event.
PGA TOUR Archive
Jack Nicklaus has the most victories at the Players Championship with three, all in the first five years of the event’s existence. The wins were in alternating years starting in 1974 and were each at a different course.
Scottie Scheffler has a chance for his third Players Championship victory if he can beat the field yet again at TPC Sawgrass. He’s won $9.2 million in five starts in the players, including his back-to-back wins—he was the first repeat winner in tournament history—with 17-under and 20-under scores in 2023 and 2024, respectively.
Can LIV golfers play in the Players Championship?Current LIV golfers cannot play in this event as there remains a ban on any competing in PGA Tour-run tournaments.
But wait … didn't you say Brooks Koepka is playing this year?
Brooks Koepka is playing for the first time in the Players Championship since 2022. His best career finish in six starts at TPC Sawgrass is T-11 in 2018.
Stan Badz
For less ardent golf fans, Koepka actually resigned from the LIV circuit last December, then rejoined the PGA Tour in mid-January under the newly created “Returning Member Program.” So far, Koepke has played in the Farmers Insurance Open (T-56), the WM Phoenix Open (missed the cut) and the Cognizant Classic (T-9). It will be his first time back at the Players since 2022. Koepka’s best result at the event came in 2018 when he finished T-11 after an final-round 63. But his last time competing, he stumbled at the 17th hole with a double bogey on the par 3 in the first round and a triple bogey in the second round en route to him shooting a second-round 81. “I remember going to 17 and debating hitting a 5-iron," Koepka said after the Cognizant Classic. “Hopefully it plays a little different this year.”
What site has hosted the most Players?The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass is the runaway winner here, hosting 44 of the 52 iterations of the event, including this year. Sawgrass Country Club has hosted five times, and Inverrary Country Club, Colonial Country Club and Atlanta Country Club have all hosted once.
What is the Players Championship scoring record?The lowest tournament score at the Players belongs to Greg Norman, who shot a 24-under 264 in 1994 to best Fuzzy Zoeller by four strokes. The biggest margin of victory goes to Steve Elkington, who shot a 16 under and won by seven strokes in 1997.
What is the lowest round in Players history?
Tom Hoge celebrates with Justin Thomas after closing out a course-record 62 at TPC Sawgrass during the third round of the 2023 Players Championship.
Cliff Hawkins
The lowest round in Players history was pretty recent as Tom Hoge went off in 2023, shooting a 10-under-par 62, sneaking by the nine-under-par rounds set by Fred Couples in 1992 and Dustin Johnson in 2022. Hoge made the cut on the number in 2023 after rounds of 78 and 68 and then set a flamethrower to the course, notching 10 birdies in a bogey-less Saturday round.
Who are the oldest and youngest winner of the Players?The oldest winner of the Players is Fred Funk, who was 48 years, 9 months, 14 days old when he won in 2005. The youngest winner is Si Woo Kim, who was 21 years old when he won in 2017. He then joined Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth and Sergio Garcia as the only golfers with multiple PGA Tour wins before the age of 22.
When was the last time an international player won the Players?The last international golfer to win at the Players was Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) last season. Before that, it was Cameron Smith in 2022 over fellow international pro Anirban Lahiri. The Aussie one-putted eight of his last nine holes and needed every single one of those shots, winning by only one stroke.
How much is the purse of the Players, and how much does the winner receive?
Scottie Scheffler needed just five starts in the Players Championship to become the all-time money leader in the event ($9.2 million), thanks to two wins that banked him $4.5 million each.
Mike Ehrmann
The Players Championship has a mighty fine purse of $25 million, with $4.5 million going to the winner. That's the largest prize money payout of any PGA Tour event, including the majors. It's also a far cry from the inaugural event, which had a $250,000 purse and a $50,000 winner’s check.
How many World Ranking points does the Players winner get?The Players Championship winner will get 80 OWGR points. To put that into context, all majors give out 100 points to their respective winners and all other PGA Tour events give out between 24 and 80 points.
How many FedEx Cup points does the Players winner get?This year’s winner will get 750 FedEx Cup points.
Who broadcasts the Players Championship?The Players Championship will be broadcast on NBC with a team of lead announcer Dan Hicks and analyst Kevin Kisner. The duo will be joined by beloved veteran commentator Roger Maltbie, who still has a "little bit left in the tank," as well as major champ Jim Furyk, set to work on extended coverage for the Golf Channel. Golf Channel will also carry early coverage with streaming options through PGA Tour LIVE and ESPN+.
Golf Channel: Live From The Players Championship Schedule
Monday: 7-9 p.m. ETTuesday: 9 a.m.- 5 p.m. & 7-9 p.m. ETWednesday: 9 a.m.- 5 p.m. and 6-9 p.m. ETThursday: 10 a.m.-1 p.m. (Live From), 1-7 p.m. (Tournament Coverage), 7-9 p.m. ET (Live From)Friday: 10 a.m.-1 p.m. (Live From), 1-7 p.m. (Tournament Coverage), 7-9 p.m. ET (Live From)Saturday: 10 a.m.- 2 p.m. (Live From), 7-9 p.m. ET (Live From)Sunday: 9 a.m.- 1 p.m. (Live From), 6-8 p.m. ET (Live From)
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