A detailed view of the tee marker on the 12th hole prior to THE PLAYERS Championship 2026 at THE PLAYERS Stadium course at TPC Sawgrass on March 11.
The stage is set for the opening round of The Players Championship as the PGA Tour’s flagship event returns to TPC Sawgrass. Often referred to as golf’s “fifth major,” the tournament features one of the strongest fields of the season and begins Thursday with a full slate of tee times from both the first and 10th tees.
As always, the opening round at Sawgrass will follow the traditional two-tee start format, allowing the large field to move efficiently through the Stadium Course. Groups will begin teeing off at 7:40 a.m. ET, with waves running throughout the morning before the afternoon groups take the course beginning at 12:30 p.m. ET.
With a mix of former champions, major winners, and rising stars in the field, several groupings stand out immediately as must-watch pairings. From established veterans to some of the Tour’s most exciting young talents, the first round promises plenty of intrigue as players navigate one of golf’s most challenging venues.
Featured Morning Pairings to Watch
Here are several notable Round 1 tee times for Thursday at TPC Sawgrass, per Golf.com:
Tee No. 1
7:40 a.m. – Mark Hubbard, Thorbjørn Olesen, Mac Meissner
7:52 a.m. – Bud Cauley, Vince Whaley, Chandler Phillips
8:04 a.m. – Emiliano Grillo, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Max Greyserman
8:16 a.m. – Kevin Yu, Cam Davis, Gary Woodland
8:28 a.m. – Ricky Castillo, Ryan Gerard, Patrick Cantlay
8:40 a.m. – Adam Schenk, Garrick Higgo, Matt McCarty
8:52 a.m. – Brian Harman, Maverick McNealy, Davis Riley
9:04 a.m. – Sami Valimaki, Lucas Glover, Matt Fitzpatrick
9:16 a.m. – Michael Brennan, Harris English, J.T. Poston
9:28 a.m. – Haotong Li, Zecheng Dou, Jordan Smith
12:30 p.m. – Lee Hodges, Andrew Putnam, Sam Stevens
12:42 p.m. – Erik van Rooyen, Keith Mitchell, Michael Kim
12:54 p.m. – Taylor Moore, Joel Dahmen, Ryo Hisatsune
1:06 p.m. – Jacob Bridgeman, Ben Griffin, Adam Scott
1:18 p.m. – J.J. Spaun, Sepp Straka, Shane Lowry
1:30 p.m. – Sahith Theegala, Rickie Fowler, Jordan Spieth
1:42 p.m. – Xander Schauffele, Rory McIlroy, Hideki Matsuyama
1:54 p.m. – Chris Gotterup, Justin Rose, Min Woo Lee
2:06 p.m. – Brian Campbell, Karl Vilips, Aaron Rai
2:18 p.m. – Matti Schmid, Max McGreevy, Takumi Kanaya
2:30 p.m. – Zach Bauchou, Sudarshan Yellamaraju, A.J. Ewart
Tee No. 10
7:40 a.m. – Mackenzie Hughes, Eric Cole, Rico Hoey
7:52 a.m. – Max Homa, Daniel Berger, Michael Thorbjornsen
8:04 a.m. – Rasmus Højgaard, Danny Walker, Kristoffer Reitan
8:16 a.m. – Jhonattan Vegas, Taylor Pendrith, Alex Noren
8:28 a.m. – Akshay Bhatia, Brooks Koepka, Tony Finau
8:40 a.m. – Collin Morikawa, Ludvig Åberg, Si Woo Kim
8:52 a.m. – Scottie Scheffler, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Thomas
9:04 a.m. – Viktor Hovland, Russell Henley, Robert MacIntyre
9:16 a.m. – Aldrich Potgieter, Jake Knapp, Sungjae Im
9:28 a.m. – Patton Kizzire, Seamus Power, Johnny Keefer
12:30 p.m. – Tom Hoge, Denny McCarthy, Nicolai Højgaard
12:42 p.m. – Patrick Rodgers, Kevin Roy, Marco Penge
12:54 p.m. – Chad Ramey, Alex Smalley, Pierceson Coody
1:06 p.m. – Kurt Kitayama, Harry Hall, Stephan Jaeger
1:18 p.m. – Keegan Bradley, Ryan Fox, Chris Kirk
1:30 p.m. – Andrew Novak, Nick Taylor, Wyndham Clark
1:42 p.m. – Steven Fisk, William Mouw, Joe Highsmith
1:54 p.m. – Cameron Young, Davis Thompson, Sam Burns
2:06 p.m. – Nico Echavarria, Jason Day, Corey Conners
2:18 p.m. – Matthieu Pavon, S.H. Kim, Austin Smotherman
How to Watch Rounds 1 and 2 of The Players Championship
According to CBS Sports, fans have several ways to follow the opening two rounds of The Players Championship, whether through television, streaming, or radio coverage.
Round 1 – Thursday, March 12
Start time: 7:30 a.m. ET
TV coverage: 1-7 p.m. ET on Golf Channel
Live streaming: 7:30 a.m.-7 p.m. ET on PGA Tour Live
Streaming features:
Featured Groups
Featured Holes (Nos. 3, 12, 16, 17)
Radio coverage: 12-7 p.m. ET on PGA Tour Radio
Round 2 – Friday, March 13
Start time: 7:30 a.m. ET
TV coverage: 1-7 p.m. ET on Golf Channel
Live streaming: 7:30 a.m.-7 p.m. ET on PGA Tour Live
Streaming features:
Featured Groups
Featured Holes (Nos. 3, 12, 16, 17)
Radio coverage: 12-7 p.m. ET on PGA Tour Radio
Alyssa Polczynski Alyssa Polczynski is a multimedia journalist covering Major League Baseball for Heavy.com. She has experience as an editorial producer for MLB.com and contributed to the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). More about Alyssa Polczynski
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Players Championship Round 1 Tee Times and How to Watch on TV
Players Championship Round 1 Tee Times and How to Watch on TV