Players Championship 2020: Tee Times, Pairings and Predictions for Friday

The first round of The Players Championship belonged to Hideki Matsuyama.

He tied the course record at TPC Sawgrass with a nine-under 63 to take a two-shot lead.

Whether he can replicate his performance Friday will be the major storyline of the second round. Here is a look at the full list of tee times and pairings (in ET), per PGATour.com, as well as a couple of Friday predictions as action continues in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

Friday Tee Times and Groupings

• 7:40 a.m. on Tee 1: Retief Goosen, Talor Gooch and Sam Ryder
• 7:40 a.m. on Tee 10: Luke List, Carlos Ortiz and Kiradech Aphibarnrat
• 7:51 a.m. on Tee 1: Matt Jones, Adam Schenk and Jazz Janewattananond
• 7:51 a.m. on Tee 10: Patrick Rodgers, Sam Burns and Bernd Wiesberger
• 8:02 a.m. on Tee 1: Kyle Stanley, Martin Laird and Wyndham Clark
• 8:02 a.m. on Tee 10: Peter Malnati, Bud Cauley and Victor Perez
• 8:13 a.m. on Tee 1: Cameron Smith, Keegan Bradley and Ian Poulter
• 8:13 a.m. on Tee 10: Viktor Hovland, Collin Morikawa and Matthew Wolff
• 8:24 a.m. on Tee 1: Brendon Todd, Sebastian Munoz and Ryan Palmer
• 8:24 a.m. on Tee 10: Matt Kuchar, Henrik Stenson and Sergio Garcia
• 8:35 a.m. on Tee 1: Kevin Kisner, Troy Merritt and Danny Willett
• 8:35 a.m. on Tee 10: Adam Scott, Justin Rose and Xander Schauffele
• 8:46 a.m. on Tee 1: Andrew Landry, Tyler Duncan and Billy Horschel
• 8:46 a.m. on Tee 10: Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka and Jon Rahm
• 8:57 a.m. on Tee 1: Brendan Steele, Adam Long and Si Woo Kim
• 8:57 a.m. on Tee 10: Brandt Snedeker, Jim Furyk and Tommy Fleetwood
• 9:08 a.m. on Tee 1: Joaquin Niemann, Shane Lowry and Aaron Wise
• 9:08 a.m. on Tee 10: Andrew Putnam, Tony Finau and Zach Johnson
• 9:19 a.m. on Tee 1: Chris Stroud, Nick Watney and Byeong Hun An
• 9:19 a.m. on Tee 10: Kevin Na, Jason Day and Patton Kizzire
• 9:30 a.m. on Tee 1: Charley Hoffman, Vaughn Taylor and Harold Varner III
• 9:30 a.m. on Tee 10: Emiliano Grillo, Matthew Fitzpatrick and Roger Sloan
• 9:41 a.m. on Tee 1: Mackenzie Hughes, Rafa Cabrera Bello and Erik van Rooyen
• 9:41 a.m. on Tee 10: Kevin Streelman, Bronson Burgoon and Mark Hubbard
• 12:45 p.m. on Tee 1: Russell Henley, J.J. Spaun and Denny McCarthy
• 12:45 p.m. on Tee 10: Brian Harman, Rory Sabbatini and Sepp Straka
• 12:56 p.m. on Tee 1: Brian Stuard, Matt Every and Brian Gay
• 12:56 p.m. on Tee 10: Scott Brown, Lucas Glover and Cameron Tringale
• 1:07 p.m. on Tee 1: Jhonattan Vegas, Scottie Scheffler and Matt Wallace
• 1:07 p.m. on Tee 10: Aaron Baddeley, Scott Stallings and Michael Thompson
• 1:18 p.m. on Tee 1: Sungjae Im, Gary Woodland and Bryson DeChambeau
• 1:18 p.m. on Tee 10: J.B. Holmes, Brice Garnett and Ryan Armour
• 1:29 p.m. on Tee 1: Patrick Reed, Patrick Cantlay and Hideki Matsuyama
• 1:29 p.m. on Tee 10: Bubba Watson, Jason Dufner and Jimmy Walker
• 1:40 p.m. on Tee 1: Webb Simpson, Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson
• 1:40 p.m. on Tee 10: Chez Reavie, Graeme McDowell and Daniel Berger
• 1:51 p.m. on Tee 1: Justin Thomas, Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth
• 1:51 p.m. on Tee 10: Jim Herman and Sung Kang
• 2:02 p.m. on Tee 1: Tyrrell Hatton, Max Homa and Paul Casey
• 2:02 p.m. on Tee 10: Cameron Champ, Nate Lashley and Kevin Tway
• 2:13 p.m. on Tee 1: Marc Leishman, J.T. Poston and Francesco Molinari
• 2:13 p.m. on Tee 10: Dylan Frittelli, Scott Piercy and Pat Perez
• 2:24 p.m. on Tee 1: Nick Taylor, Lanto Griffin and Keith Mitchell
• 2:24 p.m. on Tee 10: Corey Connors, Charles Howell III and Russell Knox
• 2:35 p.m. on Tee 1: Branden Grace, Harris English and Joel Dahmen
• 2:35 p.m. on Tee 10: Ryan Moore, Danny Lee and Abraham Ancer
• 2:46 p.m. on Tee 1: Chesson Hadley, Jason Kokrak and Tom Hoge
• 2:46 p.m. on Tee 10: Adam Hadwin, Kyoung-Hoon Lee and Christiaan Bezuidenhout

Friday Predictions

Hideki Matsuyama Continues to Roll

Since the start of October, Matsuyama has finished in the top 20 at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, the CJ Cup at Nine Bridges, the Zozo Championship, the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions, the Sony Open, the Waste Management Phoenix Open, the Genesis Invitational and the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship.

He is playing some of the best golf on tour and continued his individual momentum with a brilliant performance Thursday.

Matsuyama started on the back nine and wasted no time establishing himself as a contender with four straight birdies. He notched four more birdies after he made the turn and finished his round with a lengthy eagle putt on No. 9.

"I've been working hard and have a lot of confidence now in my swing," he said, per Sean Martin PGATour.com. "Today I made some putts and that seems to be the difference of late. That was really the catapult to me to have a good round today."

Martin noted there is a precedent in place for parlaying this early success at the Players into a championship, as three of the previous four players to shoot a first-round 63 eventually won the tournament (Greg Norman in 1994, Martin Kaymer in 2014 and Jason Day in 2016).

Expect no different from Matsuyama given how well he has played of late.

Webb Simpson Establishes Himself as Matsuyama's Biggest Threat

Sometimes thriving at one of golf's biggest tournaments is a matter of experience, and Webb Simpson understands how to navigate the course.

The 2018 champion was dialed in Thursday and shot a four-under 68 to put himself into the top 10 of the leaderboard.

Simpson was steady with five birdies and just one bogey, which is exactly the type of consistency needed in the early rounds to remain well within striking distance. According to PGATour.com, he did not miss a single putt within 10 feet.

Avoiding giving strokes back in those situations and taking advantage of birdie opportunities is the recipe for success for someone who ranks seventh on the tour in putts per round, per his PGA Tour profile.

Look for Simpson, who won the Waste Management Phoenix Open and finished in third place at the Sony Open, to continue making pressure-packed putts and challenge Matsuyama for the crown as the tournament continues.