While the Players Championship is already the flagship event on the PGA Tour, the next few days at TPC Sawgrass will also whet the appetite for the Masters next month.
The PGA Tour season is starting to get into another gear. Both Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele have returned from injury after playing little to no part in the opening weeks of the year.
Of course, Scheffler will be looking to make more history at the Players Championship this week. The 28-year-old became the first ever winner to retain their title at TPC Sawgrass with his victory in 2024. And should he win again in the coming days, he will join Jack Nicklaus as the only other three-time winner of the event.
But he will face some fierce competition. Rory McIlroy made a statement with his victory at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Meanwhile, Schauffele will be hoping to step up his comeback having made his return at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele and Rory McIlroy all looking to win the Players Championship
McIlroy has won at Sawgrass before, while Schauffele has finished second twice – including to Scheffler last year.
But when asked on the Golf Channel Podcast which player will be in the best position going into the weekend, Rex Hoggard suggested that he is expecting a big week for the world number one.
“I am going to say Scottie just because he is back to back here and he is going for the three-peat. I think there is a lot to watch there. We go back to the stat line last Sunday and that was the stat line that we’re used to seeing from Scottie Scheffler. I think he was first in the field strokes gained tee to green, second in the field off the tee and 40-something strokes gained putting. That is quintessential Scottie. He has spent a lot of time over the last couple of days working on his putting. He obviously knows how to play this golf course. It is a ball striker’s golf course. This course was made for him. So I am going to put him ahead of Rory but not by a heck of a lot. I think you can point to Rory in his last two starts after winning at Pebble Beach and there have been things, Torrey Pines did not seem to be his cup of tea, and then last week he decided to experiment with his woods when he probably shouldn’t be experimenting with his woods,” he said.
“I guess the one I am most curious about would be Xander. Coming off the injury, coming off of last week, where he didn’t do anything to blow either one of us away other than stay upright for 72 holes. He made the cut, didn’t seem to have any obvious set backs. Came into this week with a little bit of momentum. Does he pick up where he left off or does he still has some rough?”
Hoggard would then go a step further shortly after, predicting that Scheffler will indeed make history and win.
“I am going to go with Scottie. I know the putting is not great. He has played this golf course in really difficult conditions and proven that he knows how to do it. I truly believe that he figures it out. Everything falls into place. Last week being the example that everything is back where he wants it. Clearly there was part of his game that got set back because of the injury during the off season and he wasn’t on schedule, that’s understandable. We are seeing the same thing from Xander Schauffele and Jordan Spieth, both dealt with injuries during the off season, but last week was really good evidence. Bay Hill played so hard and exacting and the way hit the ball exactly as we would expect,” he added.
How Scheffler, Schauffele and McIlroy have performed at TPC Sawgrass
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the difficulty of TPC Sawgrass, none of Scheffler, Schauffele or McIlroy have a flawless record at the event, with 10 missed cuts between them.
Scheffler missed the cut in 2021, having made his debut the year before the tournament was cancelled after one round. Meanwhile, McIlroy has missed six cuts in 14 completed events, and Schauffele has missed three in six.
You would imagine that each man will be desperate to win this week. But perhaps it would be fair to assume that they would also simply be very happy to see their game heading in the right direction ahead of Augusta National.
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