The Players 2023: At The Players, Jon Rahm will face off against his world No. 1 rivals after spending the opening two rounds of the tournament at TPC Sawgrass paired with Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler.
For the second year in a row, Rahm leads the world rankings heading into the PGA Tour’s signature event. The Spaniard is seeking to continue his amazing run, which has seen him win five times in a row.
The 28-year-old was in first place after the first day of the Arnold Palmer Invitational last week but fell behind after consecutive rounds of 76 at Bay Hill. He eventually finished tied for 39th, but he is still ranked number one in the world despite having his worst performance at a major since the Scottish Open in July of last year.
McIlroy finished the event tied for second and one stroke behind Kurt Kitayama, barely missing out on a victory that would have elevated him above Rahm. Scheffler also had a chance to reclaim the world number one spot but tied for fourth.
After his play at Bay Hill, McIlroy stated, “I saw some promising indicators. For the majority of the season, games are starting to take shape. Hence, even if I didn’t win, I’m still content with how things turned out.”
The world’s top three golfers will exit as one of the Featured Groups on Thursday and Friday, according to the tournament authorities’ announcement on Sunday evening, giving McIlroy and Scheffler another opportunity to pass Rahm this week in Florida.
After his triumph at the WM Phoenix Open last month, Scheffler is vying for his second victory of the year. McIlroy, who won The Players in 2019, is attempting to become the first player since Tiger Woods to win the tournament twice.
Featured groups for THE PLAYERS Championship.
🏆 @McIlroyRory
⭐️ @JonRahmpga
⭐️ Scottie Scheffler🏆 @JustinThomas34
⭐️ @JordanSpieth
⭐️ @maxhoma23 #THEPLAYERS pic.twitter.com/r86drfwSuU— THE PLAYERS (@THEPLAYERSChamp) March 5, 2023
For the first two rounds, the trio received an early-late draw with a 7.56am local time (12.56pm GMT) on Thursday and a 12.56pm (5.56pm GMT) on Friday.
The winner of the year 2021, Justin Thomas, will play in the other Featured Group for the first two days of the Presidents Cup alongside three-time major champion Jordan Spieth and teammate Max Homa.
In addition, two-time major champion Collin Morikawa is paired with past Sawgrass champions Adam Scott and Rickie Fowler, while Ryder Cup teammates Matt Fitzpatrick, Viktor Hovland, and Shane Lowry play together in the opening two rounds.
The initial 144-player field, which was announced on Friday, featured 43 of the top 50 golfers in the world and all but one of the top 50 players in the current FedExCup standings. All of this season’s PGA Tour winners will also be competing at the $25 million event, where the winner will receive $4.5 million.
For golf championship, golf tournament, golf live score, live golf match today, The Players 2023, latest golf news, golf club, live golf match, golf daily score and other golf news follow Livematchupdates.com.
