Watching Scottie Scheffler's historical quest for a three-peat at The Players Championship
Scottie Scheffler Chasing History at The Players Championship
A year on from breaking records as the first player to defend The Players Championship title, world No. 1 Scheffler sets his sights on writing golf history once again at Florida's TPC Sawgrass.
Watch The Action
For US fans, action kicks off Thursday from 1 p.m. ET on the Golf Channel, with NBC taking over from 2 p.m. ET on Saturday and Sunday. Stream the action via PGA Tour Live on ESPN+. Sky Sports Golf will broadcast the tournament for UK viewers, starting from 11:30 a.m. GMT on Thursday and Friday before moving to a 1 p.m. start time at the weekend.
The golfing trinity - Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, and Xander Schauffele - will tee off together in the first two rounds, starting at 1:29 p.m. ET (5:29 p.m. GMT) and 8:24 a.m. ET (12:24 p.m. GMT) on Thursday and Friday respectively.
Scheffler's Quest
A win at the 51st edition of golf's unofficial "fifth major" would make Scheffler the third-time champion, joining the legendary Jack Nicklaus. Nicklaus achieved this feat across the tournament's early editions before it moved permanently to Sawgrass' Stadium Course in 1982. No player has won The Players more than twice since 1982.
"Last week was a week I struggled on the greens," Scheffler admitted, reflecting on his T-11 finish at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. "But if the ball had gone in the hole a bit more, I would have had a chance to win, which is always nice."
Victory at last year's tournament set the stage for a season of unprecedented domination by Scheffler, who added a second Masters win and Olympic gold to his resume on his way to nine titles across 2024. However, Scheffler missed the PGA Tour's Hawaii curtain raiser in January due to an injury sustained while preparing Christmas dinner.
The Challengers
Xander Schauffele's 2024 season might have gone relatively unnoticed amid Scheffler's historic run, but this year has been marked by a rib injury that kept him out of action since The Sentry in January. He returned last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and closed the tournament without recurrence of the injury.
Collin Morikawa, on the other hand, faced a barren 2024, without a PGA Tour title since winning the Zozo Championship in October 2023. He came close at the Arnold Palmer Invitational but shots even par in the final round to let Russell Henley take the win by one shot.
Morikawa expressed frustration after the final round but recognized improvements compared to 2023. "I'm not ripping everything up and starting over," he said, "but there's just little things. Obviously, I wasn't hitting it as well, I wasn't putting as well. But I still had my chances to close it out." It's time to see if any of these challengers can dethrone the reigning champion. Let's watch the action unfold!
Despite Scheffler's rib injury sustained while cooking Christmas dinner, he will join forces with Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffle in the first two rounds of The Players Championship. Regardless of his recent struggles on the greens, Scheffler aims to make golfing history by becoming the third-time champion, emulating the legendary Jack Nicklaus, who achieved this feat prior to the tournament's permanent move to Florida's TPC Sawgrass.
