Players Championship 2023 Leaderboard: Live Scores and Standings from Thursday
The 2023 Players Championship is underway at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. The tournament kicked off at 6:50 a.m. ET on Thursday morning, as Robby Shelton, Austin Smotherman and Min Woo Lee teed off from Hole No. 1, while Danny Willett, Brandon Wu and Davis Thompson teed off from the 10th hole.
Unlike last year, there was no weather delay, and the forecast remains clear throughout the weekend—though some outlets are anticipating rain on Friday.
The Players Championship is one of the biggest non-major events on the PGA Tour and features a star-studded field. Some of the top golfers in the world will be in action at TPC Sawgrass, and several play groups will tee off in the early afternoon.
Kurt Kitayama—fresh off a win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational—Will Zalatoris and Xander Schauffele are scheduled for a 12:45 p.m. start from Hole No. 1. Max Homa, Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth will follow them at 12:56.
The top-ranked golfer in the world, Jon Rahm, started just before 8 a.m. on Hole No. 10, along with Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy.
Fans can check out the full field here.
Results for the opening round will trickle in throughout the day, and fans who want to keep track of the latest scores and standings can follow PGATour.com's live leaderboard. The event is being live-streamed on ESPN+, and television coverage will begin at 12 p.m. ET on Golf Channel.
Here's a quick look at all the scheduling information you need, along with some of the latest early buzz from the 2023 Players Championship.
2023 Players Championship
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When: March 9-12
Where: TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
TV: NBC, Golf Channel
Prize Pool: $25 million
TV Coverage
Thursday, March 9: 12-6 p.m. ET on Golf Channel
Friday, March 10: 12-6 p.m. ET on Golf Channel
Saturday, March 11: 1-6 p.m. ET on NBC
Sunday, March 12: 1-6 p.m. ET on NBC
*Daily Live Stream on ESPN+
Early Favorites (via DraftKings Sportsbook as of 10 a.m. Thursday)
Jon Rahm 11-1
Scottie Scheffler 12-1
Rory McIlroy 12-1
Patrick Cantlay 12-1
Tony Finau 15-1
Justin Thomas 18-1
Live Leaderboard
We Could Have a Repeat Champion
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The Players Championship has never seen a back-to-back champion, and it won't happen again this year. The 2022 winner, Cameron Smith, defected to LIV Golf last year, as did runner-up Anirban Lahiri and third-place finisher Paul Casey.
However, we could well see a repeat champion in 2023. The impressive field features eight players—Justin Thomas, Rory McIlroy, Webb Simpson, Si Woo Kim, Jason Day, Rickie Fowler, Matt Kuchar and Adam Scott—who have a chance to win their second Players Championship.
Will it be easy? Of course not. Tiger Woods is the last repeat winner at TPC Sawgrass, and he won his second Players back in 2013. Before Woods, Steve Elkington was the last player to win a second time, and that happened back in 1997.
With $4.5 million going to this weekend's winner, you can bet that everyone will be eager to claim a victory—whether it's their second or not—and they'll look for any advantage they can find.
McIlroy, for example, will look to carry over some momentum from his second-place finish (tied) at Bay Hill.
"Last week was definitely a positive," McIlroy told reporters. "A step in the right direction."
Rahm stumbled at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, finishing tied for 39th, but he should have plenty of momentum from his stellar start to the year. He's already playing for his fourth PGA win of 2023.
There's a Battle for No. 1
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Over the weekend, we should see a heated battle for the tournament championship and a hefty chunk of prize money. However, another battle could be brewing for the title of world's best.
Rahm holds the No. 1 spot in the PGA world rankings. However, Scottie Scheffler is right behind him in the No. 2 spot, and McIlroy is ranked third. If one of them manages to win the Players Championship, they'll retain or move into the top spot of the world rankings.
It's a competition-within-the-competition that even the players are set to enjoy.
"Rory and Jon are both such talented players that any time I can be spoken in the same breath as those guys it's special for me, especially growing up watching a guy like Rory play golf for a long time," Scheffler said, per Carl Markham of the Independent.
While Rahm's struggled with the course and off the tee at Bay Hill, he did recover a bit on the final day.
"I shot even par the last day," Rahm said, per Ryan Young of Yahoo Sports. "It's not an easy golf course … I moved up the leaderboard. That was pretty good, I think."
McIlroy finished at eight under, within a stroke of Kitayama, while Scheffler was right behind him at seven under. Expect all three golfers to bring their top game to this weekend's competition.
Early Play Is Highlighted by Both Low and High Scores
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It's still early on Day 1, so we'll have to see how the course plays throughout the weekend, and whether rain and wind impact the tournament as they did a year ago.
Through the late morning, however, many of the scores have been low. We've also seen some incredible shots, including a hole-in-one on the fabled 17th island green by Hayden Buckley:
Buckley was five under through his first 10 holes, while Min Woo Lee was five under through 12 and Taylor Pendrith was five under through 11. Chad Ramey was four under through only seven holes.
However, not everyone fared well during morning play. McIlroy opened with a double-bogey and remained at two over through seven holes. Sungjae Im was two over through six holes, while Tommy Fleetwood was two over through 10.
Scheffler was even through seven holes, while Rahm was one under through eight.
It's worth noting that Buckley, Pendrith and McIlroy started their rounds at the 10th hole, while Woo Lee started at No. 1—so it hasn't been a case of one side of the course playing easier than the other. It will be interesting to see if things even out over the next two days or if a contingent of golfers manages to break away from the pack.
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