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Rory’s McIlroy’s winning highlights from THE PLAYERS
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Three FedExCup champions, Scottie Scheffler (2024), Justin Thomas (2017) and Tommy Fleetwood (2025), will take on TPC Sawgrass together in a Featured Group for THE PLAYERS Championship’s first two rounds.
Defending champion Rory McIlroy, along with Xander Schauffele and Hideki Matsuyama, make up a second Featured Group announced for Thursday and Friday in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
The groupings were revealed during NBC’s broadcast of the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. All first- and second-round tee times will be announced later in the week.
McIlroy, who withdrew prior to his third-round tee time at Bay Hill Club & Lodge due to a back injury, returns to Pete Dye’s Stadium Course as defending champion after claiming his second THE PLAYERS trophy a year ago in a three-hole Monday playoff against J.J. Spaun. Schauffele has yet to win at TPC Sawgrass but has earned two runner-up finishes (2018, 2024), while Matsuyama’s best finish came in 2023, when a flurry of final-round birdies moved the Japanese star to fifth on the final leaderboard.
Scheffler heads to TPC Sawgrass like McIlroy, looking to claim a third THE PLAYERS title and tie Jack Nicklaus’ record for most wins. The world No. 1 has had a mixed 2026 so far, with a win at The American Express, but also some uncharacteristic over-par opening rounds that have left even the best in the world too far back come Sunday afternoons.
Former THE PLAYERS champion Thomas made a much-welcomed return to golf, having missed almost six months after undergoing microdiscectomy surgery last year. The 32-year-old struggled to shake off the rust at Bay Hill, but will work off good memories at TPC Sawgrass after winning the Tiffany trophy in 2021. Fleetwood, who made his PGA TOUR breakthrough on the biggest of stages last year at the TOUR Championship, enters THE PLAYERS as the current FedExCup champion.
THE PLAYERS Championship gets underway Thursday from TPC Sawgrass’ Pete Dye PLAYERS Stadium Course, with coverage across PGA TOUR LIVE on ESPN+ as well as Golf Channel and NBC.
How to watch (all times ET, subject to change)
Special programming alerts:
PGA TOUR LIVE Betcast presented by DraftKings: Get your betting coverage and analysis for THE PLAYERS on ESPN+ throughout the week for an all-day, watch-and-bet experience for golf fans.Thursday-Friday: 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m.Saturday: 8 a.m.-7 p.m.Sunday: 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m.Wednesday: “On the Range,” 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., Golf ChannelThursday-Friday: 1-7 p.m, Golf Channel Saturday: 2-7 p.m., NBC, PeacockSunday: 1-6 p.m., NBC, PeacockThursday-Friday: 7:30 a.m.-7 p.m.Saturday: 8 a.m.-7 p.m.Sunday: 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m.
PGA TOUR LIVE is available exclusively on ESPN+ and consists of four streams:
Main feed (Stream 1): Primary tournament coverage featuring the best action from across the courseMarquee group (Stream 2): New “marquee group” showcasing every shot from each player in the groupFeatured groups (Stream 3): Traditional PGA TOUR LIVE coverage of two concurrent featured groupsBetcast presented by DraftKings (Stream 4): Betting coverage and analysis throughout the week
PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and free at PGATOUR.COM/liveaudio:
Thursday-Friday: noon-7 p.m.Saturday: 1-7 p.m.Sunday: noon-6 p.m.*:not(style){overflow:hidden;position:absolute;top:0px;right:0px;bottom:0px;left:0px;display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;width:100%;height:100%;}.css-11jnzpa>img,.css-11jnzpa>video{object-fit:cover;}.css-11jnzpa::before{height:0px;content:””;display:block;padding-bottom:66.66666666666666%;}]]>
Mar 5, 2026
Arnold Palmer Invitational: How to watch action from Bay Hill
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