“March is Going to Be Major” was the slogan introduced in early February by the PGA Tour and its marketing department as the centerpiece of the main ad campaign leading up to The Players Championship.
Whether you agree with what the ad hints at and implies or not, you can’t really argue that the marketing tactic hasn’t been a success. It immediately sparked controversy online and led to ongoing debates about whether The Players Championship is a “major” and whether it could ever become the “fifth major.”
Everyone has weighed in: fans, players, and media members. Even PGA Tour player Michael Kim spoke up on X/Twitter, replying to a post from Dylan Dethier by saying, “I’d honestly be prouder of winning the Players over the PGA.”
While I personally find that statement a bit crazy, it does highlight how some players view The Players Championship and also how somewhat lost and out of sorts the PGA Championship currently feels within the major championship hierarchy.
Personally, I think it would be foolish to introduce a fifth major, and I’m very opposed to that idea. If someone wanted to make the argument for replacing the PGA Championship entirely with The Players and moving it back to May, I’d at least be willing to hear the discussion. But overall, my preference is for things to stay exactly as they are.
We should have the four majors and The Players. The Players remains an elevated, premier event on the schedule, but just a step below the majors in terms of importance to a player’s career and legacy.
With that debate out of the way, let’s dive into some of the storylines I find most intriguing heading into the 2026 edition of The Players Championship.
How Tough Will the Course Play?
Since 2021, when The Players moved back to March, TPC Sawgrass has generally played softer. That could be due to weather leading into the tournament, or perhaps the course simply being watered heavily so it looks lush and vibrant for television.
This year, however, reports from players and media on site suggest the course may play tougher than it has in recent years. The common theme being reported is that the rough is thicker, the greens appear firmerwith more bounce, and they already have a slightly browner tint to them.
We’ll likely see these “new” conditions early in the tournament, although rain is currently forecast for Thursday afternoon. Ideally, it misses TPC Sawgrass or only brings a minimal amount of rain.
Regardless of the weather, I’m very interested to see how the thicker rough and firmer greens impact scoring. It’s always more enjoyable watching these pros compete under tougher conditions that truly reward shot-making and shot value, and punish the mistakes, especially in high-pressure situations.
Is the 2026 Players Championship Wide Open?
Honestly, I have no idea who is going to win this tournament.
Of course there are favorites, and we generally know who the top players in the world are, but which versions of them will actually show up this week?
For much of the past couple of seasons, it has felt like every tournament was Scottie Scheffler’s to lose. But he’s coming in off a couple of poor showings by his standards. Add in the fact that Rory McIlroy withdrew from the Arnold Palmer Invitational last week due to back issues and didn’t arrive at TPC Sawgrass until Wednesday for his title defense. It doesn’t exactly inspire confidence that either of them will be hoisting the trophy on Sunday.
They are clearly the two best players in the world right now, but as I sit here writing this, I don’t feel especially confident picking either one.
That leads us to other big names like Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau, but they’re on LIV and not in the field this week.
Looking further down the OWGR list, you see players like Collin Morikawa, who has been resurging; Tommy Fleetwood, who was one of the hottest players in the world at the end of 2025 but has looked average so far in 2026; Russell Henley, who is playing great but still leaves questions about whether he can actually win an event of this magnitude; Chris Gotterup, who has been excellent but lacks experience at Sawgrass; Xander Schauffele, who has been inconsistent; Viktor Hovland, who remains all over the place; and Ludvig Aberg, who appears to be trending upward but can still be unpredictable.
You get the point. There are a lot of question marks entering this week, and I think that makes the tournament feel wide open.
I was listening to No Laying Up’s Player’s Preview podcast recently, and they raised an interesting point that the Tour may currently be lacking “dudes.” Right now, the only true “dudes” are Scottie and Rory. With both of them carrying question marks heading into the week, it creates a huge opportunity for someone else.
Players like Hovland, Aberg, Bhatia, Min Woo Lee, Gotterup, Fleetwood and others have a real chance this week to elevate their resumes and cement themselves more firmly in the conversation of the games premier players and maybe even into “dude status”.
Will the Big Dogs Show Up?
This ties directly into the previous point.
Last year’s leaderboard was saved in many ways by Rory McIlroy winning, because outside of him there weren’t many big names seriously in the mix. Akshay Bhatia was probably the next biggest name near the top, but for a tournament of this magnitude, that wasn’t quite what fans expect. And remember, this was before J.J. Spaun won the U.S. Open, so his name didn’t carry nearly the same weight at the time.
The final top eight looked like this:
1st — Rory McIlroy
2nd — J.J. Spaun
T3 — Akshay Bhatia, Lucas Glover, Tom Hoge
T6 — Danny Walker, Bud Cauley, Corey Conners
For such a massive event, thank goodness Rory was there at the top. No offense to the other players, but it lacked star power.
Compare that to the 2024 leaderboard:
1st — Scottie Scheffler
T2 — Xander Schauffele, Wyndham Clark, Brian Harman
5th — Matt Fitzpatrick
T6 — Si Woo Kim, Hideki Matsuyama
8th — Ludvig Aberg
That leaderboard featured six major champions among the top eight(Xander didn’t have one yet at the time), which is a stark contrast.
So what will we get this year? Hopefully something closer to the 2024 version.
Rory vs. Scottie: Race to Three
This would have been my main storyline heading into the week, but with Rory’s health in question, it doesn’t feel quite as exciting as it otherwise would.
Still, it’s worth noting that no one has ever won three Players Championships at TPC Sawgrass. Tiger Woods has two, Fred Couples has two, Davis Love III has two, and both Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler currently sit at two.
So the question becomes: who will be the first to reach three?
Winning three Players Championships at Sawgrass would be an incredible accomplishment, especially considering it’s something even Tiger never managed to do.
If Rory’s back injury lingers, Scheffler may have the inside track. But we’ll have to see how things unfold.
Either way, I’m very excited for The Players Championship to get underway. It’s a fantastic appetizer for major championship season, which is now right around the corner.
