By Mike Bonts, Florida Sports Wire
PONTE VEDRA – THE PLAYERS Championship marks the first of five events in 2026 to award 750 FedExCup points to the winner.
As the third stop on the Florida Swing, it follows victories by Nico Echavarria at the Cognizant Classic and Akshay Bhatia at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
The TOUR will proceed to the Valspar Championship next, with Viktor Hovland set to defend his 2025 title. Young talent has dominated early in the season, with players in their 20s claiming seven of the first nine tournaments, including recent wins by Bhatia and Ricky Castillo. Chris Gotterup stands out as the only multiple winner thus far, while Jake Knapp leads the TOUR in top-10 finishes despite withdrawing from a recent event.
Several players have qualified for THE PLAYERS through strong performances and FedExCup rankings, including conditional TOUR members and Lee Hodges, who secured his spot via a Major Medical Extension.
The field features 46 of the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking, seven past champions, and eight past FedExCup champions. Notably, Brooks Koepka joins the field as part of the Returning Member Program, expanding the tournament roster to 123.
Fourteen competitors are making their PLAYERS debut, with seven rookies among them, highlighting a mix of established stars and promising newcomers. Recent tournament history suggests that holding an early lead does not guarantee victory, as four of the last five champions were not leading after the first three rounds.
The oldest and youngest in the field are Lucas Glover (46) and Aldrich Potgieter (21), respectively, reflecting the event’s broad range of competitors.
The 123-player field features 47 of the top 50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking, and representation from 24 countries.
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 officially expanded to 123 as of Monday at noon ET, with the first two alternates at that time – Patton Kizzire and Seamus Power – being added to the field.
Other notes on the field include:
- Seven PLAYERS Champions: Rory McIlroy (2019, 2025), Scottie Scheffler (2023, 2024), Justin Thomas (2021), Si Woo Kim (2017), Jason Day (2016), Rickie Fowler (2015), Adam Scott (2004).
- Two-time PLAYERS Champions Scottie Scheffler (2023, 2024) and Rory McIlroy (2019, 2025) are seeking to become the first to win THE PLAYERS three times since Jack Nicklaus (1974, 1976, 1978), and the first to win THE PLAYERS three times at TPC Sawgrass.
- 2004 PLAYERS Champion Adam Scott qualified by virtue of his position in the FedExCup standings through the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches (20th). Scott has the most appearances of any player in the field with 24. Justin Rose owns the second-most appearances of any player in the field with 21.
- Fourteen players in the field are making their tournament debut, highlighted by three PGA TOUR winners (in bold): 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.
- 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 last man in the field is Seamus Power (No. 78 in the FedExCup standings through the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches) and the first alternate is David Ford.
PGA TOUR launches PGA TOUR Pass
The PGA TOUR today announced PGA TOUR Pass, a new fan membership program set to launch tomorrow, March 10. A free-to-join initiative available to fans globally on PGATOUR.COM and the PGA TOUR mobile app, PGA TOUR Pass offers a wide range of exclusive benefits spanning digital platforms, tournaments, the TPC Network, retail and licensing partners, sponsors and more.
The way fans engage with the game of golf has evolved dramatically, from playing and attending tournaments to connecting across digital and social platforms. PGA TOUR Pass brings the fan experience together into one connected platform, making it easier than ever for fans to connect with the PGA TOUR – receiving added perks and benefits throughout the year.
“PGA TOUR fans deserve to be recognized and rewarded for the passion and loyalty they show to the game every day,” said Andy Weitz, PGA TOUR Chief Marketing Officer. “PGA TOUR Pass was built with every fan in mind, whether they play the game, attend tournaments, engage across digital and social platforms or follow along from afar. This program makes it easier to be a PGA TOUR fan and brings users even closer to the sport, venues and stars that they love.”
THE PLAYERS Championship field list as of Monday, March 9 at noon ET:
Åberg, Ludvig
Bauchou, Zach
Berger, Daniel
Bezuidenhout, Christiaan
Bhatia, Akshay
Bradley, Keegan
Brennan, Michael
Bridgeman, Jacob
Burns, Sam
Campbell, Brian
Cantlay, Patrick
Castillo, Ricky
Cauley, Bud
Clark, Wyndham
Cole, Eric
Conners, Corey
Coody, Pierceson
Dahmen, Joel
Davis, Cam
Day, Jason
Dou, Zecheng
Echavarria, Nico
English, Harris
Ewart, A.J.
Finau, Tony
Fisk, Steven
Fitzpatrick, Matt
Fleetwood, Tommy
Fowler, Rickie
Fox, Ryan
Gerard, Ryan
Glover, Lucas
Gotterup, Chris
Greyserman, Max
Griffin, Ben
Grillo, Emiliano
Hall, Harry
Harman, Brian
Henley, Russell
Higgo, Garrick
Highsmith, Joe
Hisatsune, Ryo
Hodges, Lee
Hoey, Rico
Hoge, Tom
Højgaard, Nicolai
Højgaard, Rasmus
Homa, Max
Hovland, Viktor
Hubbard, Mark
Hughes, Mackenzie
Im, Sungjae
Jaeger, Stephan
Kanaya, Takumi
Keefer, Johnny
Kim, Michael
Kim, S.H.
Kim, Si Woo
Kirk, Chris
Kitayama, Kurt
Kizzire, Patton
Knapp, Jake
Koepka, Brooks
Lee, Min Woo
Li, Haotong
Lowry, Shane
MacIntyre, Robert
Matsuyama, Hideki
McCarthy, Denny
McCarty, Matt
McGreevy, Max
McIlroy, Rory
McNealy, Maverick
Meissner, Mac
Mitchell, Keith
Moore, Taylor
Morikawa, Collin
Mouw, William
Noren, Alex
Novak, Andrew
Olesen, Thorbjørn
Pavon, Matthieu
Pendrith, Taylor
Penge, Marco
Phillips, Chandler
Poston, J.T.
Potgieter, Aldrich
Power, Seamus
Putnam, Andrew
Rai, Aaron
Ramey, Chad
Reitan, Kristoffer
Riley, Davis
Rodgers, Patrick
Rose, Justin
Roy, Kevin
Schauffele, Xander
Scheffler, Scottie
Schenk, Adam
Schmid, Matti
Scott, Adam
Smalley, Alex
Smith, Jordan
Smotherman, Austin
Spaun, J.J.
Spieth, Jordan
Stevens, Sam
Straka, Sepp
Taylor, Nick
Theegala, Sahith
Thomas, Justin
Thompson, Davis
Thorbjornsen, Michael
Valimaki, Sami
van Rooyen, Erik
Vegas, Jhonattan
Vilips, Karl
Walker, Danny
Whaley, Vince
Woodland, Gary
Yellamaraju, Sudarshan
Young, Cameron
Yu, Kevin
