Players Championship 2024: The top 50 contenders for PGA Tour's biggest prize at TPC Sawgrass
The Players Championship field is 144 strong, and we do mean strong.
Every player teeing it up at the Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass either won a tournament in the past year, won a major championship in the past five years, earned enough FedEx Cup points last year or this season to date or has done well enough to reside within the top-50 on the World Golf Rankings.
There are no pretenders.
But there are those we consider the top contenders.
To further commemorate the 50th Players, the Times-Union has picked the top-50 contenders, in five categories, with the best chance to win at the Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass beginning on Thursday.
But someone no one considered a favorite is likely to be around the lead on Sunday afternoon. Bet on it.
Oh, you’ve never heard of Craig Perks, Stephen Ames, Mark Hayes, Si Woo Kim or Tim Clark?
Few, if anyone, gave them a chance before they won the PGA Tour’s biggest tournament for the richest cash haul in golf.
Here goes, in order of our preferences in each category:
Scott Scheffler heads Past Winners Flight
Scottie Scheffler: No one has defended a Players Championship title. Since the first Players, Tiger Woods and Nick Faldo have won back-to-back Masters; Curtis Strange and Brooks Koepka won back-to-back U.S. Opens; and Woods (twice) and Koepka have defended PGA titles; and Tom Watson, Padraig Harrington and Woods have done it at the Open Championship. Scheffler has been so consistent over the past two seasons he’s a threat to win anywhere, any time. And he looked dominant last week in winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Rory McIlroy: Started playing well out of the gate at the DP World Tour events in the Middle East but has yet to finish among the top 20 this year in America. McIlroy has been kind of streaky in The Players — he missed his first three cuts; his 2019 victory was the fourth top 10 in seven starts and has missed two cuts and tied for 33rd in his past three starts.
Justin Thomas: Last year's absence from the FedEx Cup playoffs was an aberration. There’s too much talent in that 165-pound frame.
Jason Day: He’s been sporadic even when healthy but there’s a lot of gas left in the tank, evidence by three top 10s on the West Coast Swing.
Si Woo Kim: If, for nothing else, we’d like to see a driver off the deck in crunch time again.
Rickie Fowler: He’s got to get more self-confidence. If that happens, look out.
Matt Kuchar: Don’t scoff about him being 45 years old. Just keep an eye on him.
Webb Simpson: Anyone who can shoot 18-under for 72 holes at this course only six years ago will remain a threat if he can stick a tee in the ground.
Adam Scott: He was the youngest to win the Players in 2004, a year before Fred Funk was the oldest. What’s the point? Scottie still has some steam left in his 40s.
Under 30 Flight: Watch out for Ludvig Aberg
Ludvig Aberg: He’s got the perfect and mental makeup to have success at the Stadium Course ... to say nothing of all the shots.
Will Zalatoris: Missed all of 2023 with a back injury but has returned and posted a couple of nice finishes on the Western Swing, then got in the mix at Bay Hill.
Jake Knapp: Has burst on the scene during the Tour's spring schedule with a victory in Mexico. Some observers say he's got a similar swing to two-time Players champion Fred Couples. Sounds like that would work.
Viktor Hovland: The defending FedEx Cup champion from Norway has tied for ninth and third in his last two Players starts. It may only be a matter of time.
Nicolai Hojgaard: The 22-year-old Dane has won three times on the DP World Tour since he was 20, including last season's DP World Tour with a final-round 64 that beat back Hovland and Tommy Fleetwood. That's some stern stuff.
Austin Eckroat: Another product of the Oklahoma State golf factory who broke through to win his first at the Cognizant Classic.
Saith Theegala: Not much production in his first two Players, a missed cut and a solo 74th. But he snared his first Tour victory last fall and he's added two top fives since then.
Tom Kim: He's made 10 of his last 11 cuts with four top-10s, including his third career victory. Plus, he'd be a live wire in contention on the weekend and an immediate crowd favorite.
Cameron Young: He's been nibbling on the fringes of something special for the better part of three seasons now and had a good showing on the West Coast.
Nick Dunlap: Went from Alabama sophomore to Tour winner in one week at The American Express. Goes deep and has all the shots. Hasn’t been on the Tour long enough to have much fear but since winning at La Quinta, he's struggled.
Hideki Matsuyama leads a stout International Flight
Hideki Matsuyama: The muscular native of Japan and 2021 Masters champion had two top 10s in his last three Players starts and in the ill-fated 2020 tournament, canceled after one round, he tied the course record with a 63. Closed out a victory in the Genesis Invitational with a final-round 62 and said he didn't play his best. Wonder what that must look like?
Nick Taylor: Became even more of a national hero in Canada when he made an eagle bomb to win the Canadian Open in a playoff against Fleetwood. Then he won the WM Phoenix Open with a birdie in a playoff against Charley Hoffman, after a first-round 60.
Min Woo Lee: An Australian by birth and the son of Korean natives, Lee became an instant Stadium Course gallery favorite by contending through 54 holes last year, before finishing in a tie for sixth. He has more than 200,000 followers on Instagram and 100,000 on TikTok. He can also play some golf and won the 2023 Australian PGA.
Tommy Fleetwood: A winner of 10 worldwide events, the Englishman knocked on the Stadium Course door in 2018 and 2019 before tying for seventh and fifth.
Byeong Hun An: The South Korean is playing pretty well this season and showed some pluck at Bay Hill when he rallied from a back-nine 40 in the third round and made six birdies in an all-hole span in Sunday for a 68 to move into the top 10.
Justin Rose: That tie for sixth at The Players last year was no fluke. The steady veteran from England has won 25 tournaments worldwide, led by the 2013 U.S. Open, and remains a threat anywhere, anytime at the age of 43.
Adam Hadwin: We're waiting for the reality show starring Hadwin, his wife Jessica and their adorable daughter. Jessica Hadwin's best social media posts involve her husband's lack of home repair skills. The native of Canada is a lot better with a golf club in his hand. He's got a 59 on his resume, has won in the U.S., Canada and Chile and has finished T22, T9 and T13 in his last three Players. Also, who can't love a guy who gets to the PGA Tour from Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan?
Corey Conners: The Canadian has three top-10s in the Masters and finished solo seventh in the 2021 Players. He sure loves San Antonio, Texas — both of his Tour victories are there in the Texas Open.
Matthieu Pavon: He did what Jean van de Velde and Thomas Levet couldn't — he was the first native of France to win on the PGA Tour in 117 years when he captured the Farmers Insurance Open. Then he finished solo third at Pebble Beach.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout: The South African has won 10 worldwide tournaments before turning 30 and hung around in last year's Players before a final round 74. He finished second to Dunlap in The American Express. His last name score in Scrabble is worth 24 points.
Major Champions Flight: Watch out for Wyndham Clark
Wyndham Clark: Since he won his first Tour title at the Wells Fargo last May, he's won three in all and last week's runner up at Bay Hill put him second on the FedEx Cup points list behind Scheffler.
Matthew Fitzpatrick: He's a proven winner with two on the PGA Tour and nine on the DP World Tour. One measure of the man is some of the players who have finished second when he's won: Scheffler, Jordan Spieth, Will Zalatoris, Tyrrell Hatton, Shane Lowery and Lee Westwood.
Shane Lowry: Watch out for the native of Clara, Ireland. He was solo third at Bay Hill and tied for fourth at PGA National. His two PGA Tour titles are a major (the 2019 Open Championship and a World Golf Championship) and he's been pretty good at The Players in recent years. Also, no one seemed to enjoy a hole-in-one at No. 17 as much as he did.
Collin Morikawa: Look at the total package and it's a game that should translate well to the Stadium Course, where he posted a tie for 13th last season. He's played solidly, if not spectacularly so far this season.
Brian Harman: The St. Simons Island, Ga., resident has been a winner at the junior, college, amateur and professional level and last year grabbed the Open by the throat and won by six. Harman has three top 10s in The Players and has made seven of his last eight cuts.
Keegan Bradley: Yeah, in retrospect, he probably should have been on the U.S. Ryder Cup team last year. A bulldog when he's in contention but still looking for the follow-hit to his 2011 PGA title when he became only the third player to win in his first major championship start.
Jordan Spieth: Since contending deep into the weekend in his first Players start in 2014, the three-time major champion has missed five of eight cuts. You've got to think that luck will change at some point.
Lucas Glover: The 2009 U.S. Open champion roared back from some tough years with two victories last fall. He's flashed at The Players with a third in 2010 and a tie for sixth in 2017 and has the experience of 15 starts behind him.
Gary Woodland: Boy, would this be one of the greatest comeback stories of the last few years, winning The Players after undergoing brain surgery. It already was when he made his first start this year and then made the cut at the Genesis Invitational.
Francesco Molinari: The past Open champion hung around the leaderboard in The Players during his first seven starts, with four top-10 finishes between 2010-2017. He's been outside the top-42 since then but has made three of five cuts and shouldn't be underestimated.
Veterans (with no majors or a Players) Flight: Is it Patrick Cantlay time?
Patrick Cantlay: Yeah, he's a bit too deliberate for most tastes and has yet to win a major. But he's got a FedEx Cup championship and that's not nothing.
Chris Kirk: A six-time winner and a nerveless putter when he gets it going. Kirk shared the 54-hole Players lead in 2015 but has yet to finish among the top 10. One of the more courageous comeback stories on the PGA Tour.
Tony Finau: You've got to think a big one is going to come at some point. The big-hitting Utah native has 10 top 10s in major championships, with seven coming in a stretch of 11 starts. He hasn’t figured out the Stadium Course yet but his tie for 10th last year was a promising sign.
Max Homa: He's got too much talent to have such a rotten record in major championships. The Players is another matter and he's improved from a missed cut in his first start in 2021 to a tie for 13th in 2022 and a tie for sixth last year.
Billy Horschel: The hometown favorite has made a bunch of cuts at the Stadium Course but is still looking for his first top-10 finish. His performance in Cognizant Classic at PGA National (a tie for ninth, with bookend rounds of 66s) was a very good sign.
Xander Schauffele: The consistency is there, with 41 consecutive cuts made, the longest active streak on the PGA Tour. He's got a game perfect for the U.S. Open, with six of seven top 10s and a tie for 14th. That kind of control should translate to a Players victory one day but he's struggled since tying for second in his first career start at the Stadium in 2018.
Eric Cole: Years of laboring on minitours paid off last year when he finished among the top 10 in four of his last five starts and finished 31st on the money list and 43rd on the FedEx Cup points list. He's been steady this season and is 22nd on the FedEx Cup.
Tom Hoge: He set the 18-hole record with a 62 last season. Sprinkle some of those birdies around the other three rounds and he might threaten to win this thing.
Sam Burns: He was right there at the 54-hole mark in the 2022 Players. Still doesn't have a top 10 in a major or The Players but he did win the 2023 match play and thumped Cameron Young 6 and 5 in the finals.
Harris English: He's missed the cut in his last seven Players starts for which he's been eligible. But the feisty Valdosta, Ga., native has a lot of game with four Tour victories and three top 10s in the U.S. Open.
Russell Henley: Quietly putting together a good season with a couple of fourths (including last week at Bay Hill). A streaky putter who runs them off in batches once he gets his confidence.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Defending Players champion Scottie Scheffler heads list of top contenders
