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A general view of the flag stick prior to THE PLAYERS Championship on the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass on March 12, 2025.
The field is officially set for the 2026 Players Championship (March 10-15), one of the most anticipated events on the PGA Tour calendar. Known as golf’s unofficial “fifth major,” the tournament returns to the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, bringing together many of the world’s top-ranked players.
This year’s lineup features a deep and competitive field highlighted by world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa, and Viktor Hovland. With the tournament offering one of the largest purses on the PGA Tour schedule and a prestigious title, The Players Championship continues to attract a stacked lineup of elite talent.
Several recent PGA Tour winners will also be in the spotlight, including Akshay Bhatia, who is coming off his dramatic playoff victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, and Ludvig Åberg, one of the rising stars on Tour.
Star Power Headlines the 2026 Field
The Players Championship consistently delivers one of the strongest fields in professional golf, and the 2026 edition is no exception. Along with Scheffler, McIlroy, and Schauffele, the tournament will feature former major champions and Ryder Cup stars such as Jordan Spieth, Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas, Shane Lowry, Matt Fitzpatrick, Hideki Matsuyama, and Adam Scott.
Veteran contenders like Jason Day, Rickie Fowler, Gary Woodland, and Justin Rose will also tee it up at TPC Sawgrass, while younger stars such as Cameron Young, Sahith Theegala, Nick Taylor, and Min Woo Lee continue to push for breakthrough wins on one of the Tour’s biggest stages.
The field also features several international standouts, including Tommy Fleetwood, Corey Conners, Aaron Rai, Nicolai Højgaard, Rasmus Højgaard, and Matthieu Pavon, highlighting the global depth of the tournament.
Defending Champion McIlroy Monitoring Back Injury
One of the biggest storylines entering the 2026 Players Championship will be the health of defending champion McIlroy, who withdrew from the Arnold Palmer Invitational shortly before his third round at Bay Hill.
McIlroy pulled out of the tournament roughly 35 minutes before teeing off Saturday, citing lower back spasms that developed during his warmup. The four-time major champion said he decided not to risk aggravating the injury with both the Players Championship and next month’s Masters Tournament approaching.
Despite the setback, McIlroy remains confident he will be ready to defend his title at TPC Sawgrass. After withdrawing, he traveled back to his home in West Palm Beach, Florida, where he planned to rest and seek additional medical advice before arriving in Ponte Vedra Beach later in the week.
McIlroy had been 4-under-par through two rounds at Bay Hill after a solid 68 on Friday, keeping him within reach of the leaders before the injury forced him out of the tournament.
The withdrawal was also notable given how rarely it happens in McIlroy’s career. It marked just the second PGA Tour withdrawal of his career, and the first since 2013. He is expected to provide an update on his condition during his scheduled Players Championship press conference on Wednesday.
Full 2026 Players Championship Field
Here is the complete list of players scheduled to compete in the 2026 Players Championship:
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
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
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