One of the key events of the PGA Tour takes place this week at TPC Sawgrass when the best golfers in the world compete at the 2026 edition of The Players Championship. The event features one of the largest prize pools on the PGA Tour at $25 million. Of that, $4.5 million goes to the winner. The runner-up at The Players Championship earns $2.725 million. Last year, Rory McIlroy won The Players, beating J.J. Spaun in a three-hole playoff after each finished at -12. McIlroy also won the 2025 Masters, making him one of seven players to win The Players and another major in the same year. McIlroy also won The Players in 2019. Other two-time winners are Fred Couples, Steve Elkington, Hal Sutton, Davis Love III, and Tiger Woods.
The Players Championship was first held in 1974. Before 2023-2024, no player had won back-to-back titles. Scottie Scheffler broke that run with a one-stroke win over three other competitors in 2024. Jack Nicklaus (1974, 1976, 1978) is the only player to win The Players Championship three times.
This year’s version of The Players Championship runs from Thursday, March 12, through Sunday, March 15.
The 123-player field of The Players Championship features 46 of the top 50 competitors on the Official World Golf Ranking. The number of competitors was formerly 144. Seven past champs will play in this year’s event. Fourteen players will compete at The Players for the first time.
| To Win 2026 The Players Championship |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scottie Scheffler | +400 | +450 | +365 |
| Rory McIlroy | +1200 | +1200 | +1100 |
| Collin Morikawa | +1800 | +1800 | +2500 |
| Ludvig Aberg | +2500 | +2200 | +2800 |
| Tommy Fleetwood | +2500 | +2200 | +2500 |
| Xander Schauffele | +2500 | +2000 | +2300 |
| Cameron Young | +3000 | +3000 | +3100 |
| Si Woo Kim | +3000 | +2800 | +3500 |
| Hideki Matsuyama | +3500 | +3500 | +4000 |
| Akshay Bhatia | +4000 | +4500 | +4500 |
| Chris Gotterup | +4000 | +4500 | +4500 |
| Min Woo Lee | +4000 | +3500 | +4800 |
| Russell Henley | +4000 | +3000 | +4000 |
| Sepp Straka | +4000 | +4000 | +5000 |
| Viktor Hovland | +4000 | +4500 | +4500 |
| Jake Knapp | +4500 | +4500 | +5000 |
| Matt Fitzpatrick | +4500 | +3500 | +4500 |
| Patrick Cantlay | +5000 | +6000 | +5000 |
| Rickie Fowler | +5000 | +5000 | +5000 |
| Robert MacIntyre | +5000 | +4000 | +5000 |
| Shane Lowry | +5000 | +6000 | +5000 |
With wins at The Players in 2023 and 2024, Scottie Scheffler was the betting favorite to win the 2025 edition of this event. Scheffler fell short. He finished in a tie for 20th at eight strokes under. Oddsmakers expect a bounce-back performance from the 29-year-old at the 2026 Players, installing the winner of the 2025 PGA Championship and the 2025 Open Championship as the betting favorite for the 2026 Players.
Currently the No. 1 player in the world in the World Golf Ranking, Scheffler opened the 2026 season with a win at The American Express. That victory gave him his 20th career PGA Tour victory. The win was Scheffler’s seventh triumph in his past 13 starts. Scheffler is coming off his worst performance of the year. He finished tied for 24th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in early March.
On the year, Scheffler ranks third in strokes gained (1.914), second in strokes gained off the tee (0.743), 88th in strokes gained: approach to green (0.039), and 29th in strokes gained: putting (0.547).
Checking in at No. 2 in the world rankings, defending champ at The Players, Rory McIlroy is looking to join the small group of back-to-back winners at The Players. The 36-year-old McIlroy had a fantastic year in 2025, winning three events and becoming the sixth player in history to complete the Grand Slam, the first since Tiger Woods in 2000.
McIlroy has played in only three events in 2026, with his best finish coming at The Genesis Invitational, where he tied for second. In his most recent outing, McIlroy withdrew from the Arnold Palmer Invitational before the start of the third round because of a back injury. Todd Lewis of The Golf Channel reported that McIlroy withdrew from the tournament as a precautionary measure ahead of The Players and The Masters.
With three events behind him in 2026, McIlroy ranks first in strokes gained (2.333), ninth in strokes gained off the tee (0.623), sixth in strokes gained: approach to green (0.974), and 50th in strokes gained: putting (0.330).
Collin Morikawa earned his Pro Tour card in 2019. Over the course of his career, the 29-year-old has seven tour wins, including a victory at the 2026 Pebble Beach Pro-Am in mid-February. Morikawa had his best finish at The Players in 2025 when he was tied for 10th. In his most recent outing, Morikawa placed fifth at the recent Arnold Palmer Invitational. He is currently the No. 4 ranked player in the world.
Morikawa is playing with consistency heading into this week’s event. His worst finish in his past three starts came at The Genesis Invitational, where he was tied for seventh. While Morikawa has not won at TPC Sawgrass, his style of play is excellent for that course.
At this point in the 2026 season, Morikawa ranks eighth in strokes gained (1.530), 23rd in strokes gained off the tee (0.542), fifth in strokes gained: approach to green (1.066), and 105th in strokes gained: putting (-0.116).
The only player to have won this event three times is Jack Nicklaus. The legendary golfer won The Players Championship in 1974, 1976, and 1978. With that type of history, it’s hard to believe that Scottie Scheffler or Rory McIlroy, despite being two of the best in the game right now, will win the event in 2026.
The betting pick is that Collin Morikawa wins the 2026 edition of The Players Championship.
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