It’s a Players ball beginning Thursday.
The 2023 Players Championship, golf’s unofficial “fifth major,” is back this week, with the biggest tournament purse on the 2023 PGA Tour calendar.
But this year’s tourney won’t feature last year’s winner, Cameron Smith, who made the jump to LIV Golf after winning the Open Championship last July. Smith capped his 2022 TPC with a Monday win, holding off Anirban Lahiri by a stroke.
LIVE: Follow Players Championship updates and scores from Round 1
Also not partaking in this year’s Players Championship is Dustin Johnson, who also bolted for LIV. He tied a course record with a 63 in his last try at TPC Sawgrass.
This year, it’s anyone’s tournament. Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy enter as the favorites, with McIlroy aiming to join a short list of multiple-time winners at the event. Rahm has finished in the top 10 just once, in 2021. He finished tied for 55th last year.
Someone will have to play a big game to earn the big check. Here’s how to watch this year’s Players Championship, with tee times and more:
MORE: Watch the Players Championship live with fuboTV (free trial)
Watch the 2023 Players Championship live
- Dates: March 9-12
- TV channels: Golf Channel, NBC
Golf Channel and NBC will be the television homes of the 2023 Players Championship. Golf Channel will broadcast the first two rounds, while NBC will complete the coverage on Saturday and Sunday.
| Date | Time (ET) | TV channel |
|---|---|---|
| Thursday, March 10 | Noon-6 p.m. | Golf Channel |
| Friday, March 11 | Noon-6 p.m. | Golf Channel |
| Saturday, March 12 | 1-6 p.m. | NBC |
| Sunday, March 13 | 1-6 p.m. | NBC |
Players Championship 2023 live streams
- Live streams: ESPN+, fuboTV
For those who want to live stream The Players, there are a few different options.
ESPN+ will broadcast select featured groups, a marquee group and featured holes throughout the weekend. For those who want to watch the main televised action, fuboTV carries NBC and Golf Channel, so you won’t miss a minute over the four days. The streaming service also offers a free trial.
Players Championship tee times 2023
- Round 1 (Thursday, March 9)
| Time (ET) | Tee | Group |
|---|---|---|
| 6:50 a.m. | 1 | Robby Shelton, Austin Smotherman, Min Woo Lee |
| 6:50 a.m. | 10 | Danny Willett, Brandon Wu, Davis Thompson |
| 7:01 a.m. | 1 | Kevin Streelman, Denny McCarthy, Matthew NeSmith |
| 7:01 a.m. | 10 | Adam Long, Hayden Buckley, Taylor Montgomery |
| 7:12 a.m. | 1 | Byeong Hun An, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Doug Ghim |
| 7:12 a.m. | 10 | Tommy Fleetwood, Taylor Pendrith, Callum Tarren |
| 7:23 a.m. | 1 | Michael Thompson, Brendon Todd, Keith Mitchell |
| 7:23 a.m. | 10 | Si Woo Kim, Webb Simpson, Tyrrell Hatton |
| 7:34 a.m. | 1 | Kevin Kisner, Nick Taylor, Corey Conners |
| 7:34 a.m. | 10 | Tony Finau, Tom Kim, Patrick Cantlay |
| 7:45 a.m. | 1 | Trey Mullinax, Cam Davis, Tyler Duncan |
| 7:45 a.m. | 10 | Collin Morikawa, Adam Scott, Rickie Fowler |
| 7:56 a.m. | 1 | Adam Svensson, Joel Dahmen, Robert Streb |
| 7:56 a.m. | 10 | Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy |
| 8:07 a.m. | 1 | J.J. Spaun, Chad Ramey, Luke List |
| 8:07 a.m. | 10 | Justin Rose, Billy Horschel, Hideki Matsuyama |
| 8:18 a.m. | 1 | Russell Henley, Mackenzie Hughes, Brian Harman |
| 8:18 a.m. | 10 | Nico Echavarria, Sungjae Im, Harris English |
| 8:29 a.m. | 1 | Emiliano Grillo, Mark Hubbard, Matt Wallace |
| 8:29 a.m. | 10 | Jhonattan Vegas, Peter Malnati, Ryan Fox |
| 8:40 a.m. | 1 | Nate Lashley, Troy Merritt, Kelly Kraft |
| 8:40 a.m. | 10 | Adam Hadwin, Patrick Rodgers, Greyson Sigg |
| 8:51 a.m. | 1 | Aaron Baddeley, David Lingmerth, Ben Martin |
| 8:51 a.m. | 10 | Nick Hardy, Eric Cole, Harrison Endycott |
| 11:50 a.m. | 1 | Kevin Tway, Russell Knox, Chesson Hadley |
| 11:50 a.m. | 10 | David Lipsky, S.H. Kim, Tyson Alexander |
| 12:01 p.m. | 1 | Andrew Putnam, Maverick McNealy, Doc Redman |
| 12:01 p.m. | 10 | Kramer Hickok, Lee Hodges, Will Gordon |
| 12:12 p.m. | 1 | Beau Hossler, Adam Schenk, Stephan Jaeger, |
| 12:12 p.m. | 10 | Ben Griffin, Matthias Schwab, Justin Lower |
| 12:23 p.m. | 1 | Lucas Herbert, Aaron Wise, Jason Day |
| 12:23 p.m. | 10 | Sepp Straka, Garrick Higgo, Stewart Cink |
| 12:34 p.m. | 1 | Matt Fitzpatrick, Viktor Hovland, Shane Lowry |
| 12:34 p.m. | 10 | Chez Reavie, Tom Hoge, Francesco Molinari |
| 12:45 p.m. | 1 | Kurt Kitayama, Will Zalatoris, Xander Schauffele |
| 12:45 p.m. | 10 | J.T. Poston, Lucas Glover, Matt Kuchar |
| 12:56 p.m. | 1 | Max Homa, Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth |
| 12:56 p.m. | 10 | K.H. Lee, Martin Laird, Gary Woodland |
| 1:07 p.m. | 1 | Sam Burns, Cameron Young, Sahith Theegala |
| 1:07 p.m. | 10 | Ryan Brehm, Ryan Armour, Scott Stallings |
| 1:18 p.m. | 1 | Chris Kirk, Seamus Power, Keegan Bradley |
| 1:18 p.m. | 10 | Ryan Palmer, Patton Kizzire, Alex Smalley |
| 1:29 p.m. | 1 | Sam Ryder, Davis Riley, Taylor Moore |
| 1:29 p.m. | 10 | Dylan Frittelli, Jerry Kelly, Wyndham Clark |
| 1:40 p.m. | 1 | Alex Noren, Thomas Detry, Max McGreevy |
| 1:40 p.m. | 10 | Scott Piercy, James Hahn, Nick Watney |
| 1:51 p.m. | 1 | Joseph Bramlett, Justin Suh, Andrew Novak |
| 1:51 p.m. | 10 | Aaron Rai, Dylan Wu, Erik Barns |
- Round 2 (Friday, March 9)
| Time (ET) | Tee | Group |
|---|---|---|
| 6:50 a.m. | 1 | David Lipsky, S.H. Kim, Tyson Alexander |
| 6:50 a.m. | 10 | Kevin Tway, Russell Knox, Chesson Hadley |
| 7:01 a.m. | 1 | Kramer Hickok, Lee Hodges, Will Gordon |
| 7:01 a.m. | 10 | Andrew Putnam, Maverick McNealy, Doc Redman |
| 7:12 a.m. | 1 | Ben Griffin, Matthias Schwab, Justin Lower |
| 7:12 a.m. | 10 | Beau Hossler, Adam Schenk, Stephan Jaeger |
| 7:23 a.m. | 1 | Sepp Straka, Garrick Higgo, Stewart Cink |
| 7:23 a.m. | 10 | Lucas Herbert, Aaron Wise, Jason Day |
| 7:34 a.m. | 1 | Chez Reavie, Tom Hoge, Francesco Molinari |
| 7:34 a.m. | 10 | Matt Fitzpatrick, Viktor Hovland, Shane Lowry |
| 7:45 a.m. | 1 | J.T. Poston, Lucas Glover, Matt Kuchar |
| 7:45 a.m. | 10 | Kurt Kitayama, Will Zalatoris, Xander Schauffele |
| 7:56 a.m. | 1 | K.H. Lee, Martin Laird, Gary Woodland |
| 7:56 a.m. | 10 | Max Homa, Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth |
| 8:07 a.m. | 1 | Ryan Brehm, Ryan Armour, Scott Stallings |
| 8:07 a.m. | 10 | Sam Burns, Cameron Young, Sahith Theegala |
| 8:18 a.m. | 1 | Ryan Palmer, Patton Kizzire, Alex Smalley |
| 8:18 a.m. | 10 | Chris Kirk, Seamus Power, Keegan Bradley |
| 8:29 a.m. | 1 | Dylan Frittelli, Jerry Kelly, Wyndham Clark |
| 8:29 a.m. | 10 | Sam Ryder, Davis Riley, Taylor Moore |
| 8:40 a.m. | 1 | Scott Piercy, James Hahn, Nick Watney |
| 8:40 a.m. | 10 | Alex Noren, Thomas Detry, Max McGreevy |
| 8:51 a.m. | 1 | Aaron Rai, Dylan Wu, Erik Barns |
| 8:51 a.m. | 10 | Joseph Bramlett, Justin Suh, Andrew Novak |
| 11:50 a.m. | 1 | Danny Willett, Brandon Wu, Davis Thompson |
| 11:50 a.m. | 10 | Robby Shelton, Austin Smotherman, Min Woo Lee |
| 12:01 p.m. | 1 | Adam Long, Hayden Buckley, Taylor Montgomery |
| 12:01 p.m. | 10 | Kevin Streelman, Denny McCarthy, Matthew NeSmith |
| 12:12 p.m. | 1 | Tommy Fleetwood, Taylor Pendrith, Callum Tarren |
| 12:12 p.m. | 10 | Byeong Hun An, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Doug Ghim |
| 12:23 p.m. | 1 | Si Woo Kim, Webb Simpson, Tyrrell Hatton |
| 12:23 p.m. | 10 | Michael Thompson, Brendon Todd, Keith Mitchell |
| 12:34 p.m. | 1 | Tony Finau, Tom Kim, Patrick Cantlay |
| 12:34 p.m. | 10 | Kevin Kisner, Nick Taylor, Corey Conners |
| 12:45 p.m. | 1 | Collin Morikawa, Adam Scott, Rickie Fowler |
| 12:45 p.m. | 10 | Trey Mullinax, Cam Davis, Tyler Duncan |
| 12:56 p.m. | 1 | Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy |
| 12:56 p.m. | 10 | Adam Svensson, Joel Dahmen, Robert Streb |
| 1:07 p.m. | 1 | Justin Rose, Billy Horschel, Hideki Matsuyama |
| 1:07 p.m. | 10 | J.J. Spaun, Chad Ramey, Luke List |
| 1:18 p.m. | 1 | Nico Echavarria, Sungjae Im, Harris English |
| 1:18 p.m. | 10 | Russell Henley, Mackenzie Hughes, Brian Harman |
| 1:29 p.m. | 1 | Jhonattan Vegas, Peter Malnati, Ryan Fox |
| 1:29 p.m. | 10 | Emiliano Grillo, Mark Hubbard, Matt Wallace |
| 1:40 p.m. | 1 | Adam Hadwin, Patrick Rodgers, Greyson Sigg |
| 1:40 p.m. | 10 | Nate Lashley, Troy Merritt, Kelly Kraft |
| 1:51 p.m. | 1 | Nick Hardy, Eric Cole, Harrison Endycott |
| 1:51 p.m. | 10 | Aaron Baddeley, David Lingmerth, Ben Martin |
Players Championship purse 2023
The Players Championship, colloquially known as the unofficial fifth major, boasts the biggest prize pool of the season, with a $25 million purse.
The winner takes home a $4.5 million check, the biggest check on the PGA Tour.
Players Championship odds, picks for 2023
According to BetMGM, Jon Rahm is a slight favorite over Rory McIlroy to take home the 2023 Players Championship title.
Here’s how the top 10 stack up:
- Jon Rahm +800
- Rory McIlroy +900
- Scottie Scheffler +1100
- Justin Thomas +1800
- Patrick Cantlay +1800
- Max Homa +2000
- Xander Schauffele +2200
- Collin Morikawa +2500
- Tony Finau +2500
- Viktor Hovland +2500
MORE: Players Championship 2023: PGA expert betting predictions
Where is the Players Championship 2023?
- Location: Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
- Venue: TPC Sawgrass
The 2023 Players Championship marks the 42nd time the tournament will be played at TPC Sawgrass. The course is a par-72 with a total distance of 7,245 yards.
The course record is a 63, last shot by Dustin Johnson in Round 4 of the 2022 event.
Players Championship recent past winners
Cameron Smith, who won the 2022 Players Championship, will not participate in the 2023 event after leaving the PGA Tour for LIV Golf last summer.
| Year | Winner | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Cameron Smith | -13 |
| 2021 | Justin Thomas | -14 |
| 2019 | Rory McIlroy | -16 |
| 2018 | Webb Simpson | -18 |
| 2017 | Si Woo Kim | -10 |
| 2016 | Jason Day | -15 |
| 2015 | Rickie Fowler | -12 |
| 2014 | Martin Kaymer | -13 |
| 2013 | Tiger Woods | -13 |
| 2012 | Matt Kuchar | -13 |
| 2011 | K.J. Choi | -13 |
| 2010 | Tim Clark | -16 |