The Players Championship announced two feature groups for the first two rounds of the tournament on during NBC’s broadcast of the Arnold Palmer Invitational on March 8, with a pair of two-time champions at the Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass in each one.
Defending champion Rory McIlroy, who also won in 2019, will play with fellow Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama and two-time major champion Xander Schauffele. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who became the first to win back-to-back Players titles in 2023 and 2024, will headline the other feature group with defending FedEx Cup champion Tommy Fleetwood and 2021 Players champion and two-time PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas.
McIlroy and Scheffler were in the same feature group last year but the Tour is splitting them up this go-around. McIlroy opened with rounds of 67-68 and Scheffler shot 69-70. McIlroy eventually beat J.J. Spaun in a three-hole playoff on a Monday finish and Scheffler tied for 20th in his bid to win the tournament three years in a row.
The first two rounds will be March 12-13.
The times and starting holes for those groups and the rest of the 123-player field will be announced on March 10, the first day fans can begin coming the Stadium Course to watch practice rounds and later in the day (4:30 p.m.) attend the Military Appreciation Day ceremony and a concert by Ludacris at the 17th hole.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Players Championship reveals feature groups for first two rounds
Reporting by Garry Smits, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
