Rose Zhang highlights list of three amateurs invited to Symetra Tour opener in Mesa https://ift.tt/3t5UEFj
Three amateurs have been invited to the season-opening event on the Syemtra Tour, including No. 1-ranked Rose Zhang. The Carlisle Arizona Women’s Golf Classic takes place March 18-21 in Mesa, Arizona. Two Arizona State players – fifth-year senior Olivia Mehaffey and freshman Ashley Menne – join Zhang in the field.
Zhang, the 2020 U.S. Women’s Amateur champion who signed with Stanford, last competed in December at the 2020 U.S. Women’s Open in Houston where she made the cut. In addition to the Women’s Amateur title, Zhang won three AJGA invitationals last year and finished tied for 11th at the ANA Inspiration.
The 17-year-old suffered a wrist injury over the summer after practicing in her garage during the COVID-19 lockdowns. Zhang told Golfweek that she took all of January off to rest her wrist and will still likely take breaks in between events.
“It was just uncomfortable,” said Zhang, who is set to join Mehaffey later this month in the upcoming Augusta National Women’s Amateur.
Olivia Mehaffey watches her second shot on the first hole during the first round at the 2020 U.S. Women’s Open at Champions Golf Club (Jackrabbit Course) in Houston, Texas on Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020. (Chris Keane/USGA)
Mehaffey, a 23-year-old from Northern Ireland, is a four-time All-American at ASU. She won the 2019 Pac-12 Championship and competed in three LPGA majors last year.
Menne hails from Surprise, Arizona, and is a three-time AIA Division I Individual State champion. She posted two top-15 finishes this spring for the Sun Devils.
The 132-player field will compete in a 72-hole stroke-play format with a cut to low 60 and ties. The pros in the field will compete for a $200,000 purse.
Last year at Longbow Golf Club Sarah White, playing on a sponsor exemption from her performance on the Women’s All Pro Tour, beat the field to earn her Symetra Tour card.
In this edition of Forward Press, Golfweek’s David Dusek chats with senior writer Beth Ann Nichols about Austin Ernst’s win at the LPGA Drive On Championship, Morgan Pressel’s debut on Golf Channel, a look ahead to this year’s Solheim Cup at Inverness in Toldedo, Ohio, and much more.
As always, you can download the Forward Press podcast and listen on all of your favorite platforms, including: iTunes | Stitcher | Spotify | Castbox | Radio Public.
Did you like what you heard? You can catch up on previous episodes of the Forward Press podcast here.
PGA Tour commish Jay Monahan returns to Players after 'gut-wrenching' 2020 decision https://ift.tt/3eBYKBl
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan started a personal tradition when he became executive director of The Players Championship in 2008 of watching the first tee shot in the first round every year.
He continued that as he was promoted up the line to senior vice president of business development and executive vice president and chief marketing officer, then ascending to commissioner in 2017.
Monahan missed last year’s first tee shots but like everything else about the 2020 Players, it was an aberration.
Not only does he plan on watching the first shots of this year’s tournament on Thursday, but he will cherish the moment, for certain.
“I’m going to be excited,” he said on Tuesday during his annual State of the PGA Tour news conference at The Players Championship media center. “I’ve always made it … and that’s a special moment for our tournament chair, all the Red Coats [past chairmen], all the volunteers and all of our staff, because at that point in time the show is on. Last year, for obvious reasons, we were up at TPC Sawgrass in the boardroom where we spent the entire day. It was the one time I wasn’t there for it.”
PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan is broadcast on a screen on the 18th green, during the first round of The Players Championship on March 12, 2020, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Those meetings were marathon discussions that eventually led to The Player being canceled because of the looming COVID-19 pandemic. Only one round was played and the Tour went on a three-month hiatus.
Since the Tour returned in June, it hasn’t missed a single tournament — 36 and counting. The Tour proved it can conduct tournaments safely during a pandemic and one year later, its Gold Standard event will be completed, from first shot to last.
“Just proud, most importantly, to be back here a year later, proud of our players, proud of all the caddies, everybody that has worked so hard to get us back to this point in time, and, candidly, to do so in a really inspiring way,” he said. “I think this is an important week for us every single year but particularly so this year.”
Monahan called the decision to cancel the 2020 players, “gut-wrenching,” but pointed out that it was insignificant with what has happened since the pandemic broke out.
“It goes without saying that what we experienced that day would pale in comparison to what our world would experience in the coming days, weeks and months,” he said.
Monahan said he is especially thankful for the First Coast constituency that looks forward to the Players every year — and also depends on it for economic and charitable reasons.
“Northeast Florida is our home,” he said of the PGA Tour — which recently moved into its new headquarters. “We live here, we work here, and our kids go to school here. And as an organization with more than 1,000 employees, we contribute to the social, charitable and economic impact. Each one of us is proud to make our community stronger.”
Despite being able to stage the Players Championship this year, Monahan said now isn’t the time for letting down the Tour’s guard.
If anyone was thinking that, there were two cold slaps on Tuesday: just before Monahan took the podium at the media center, the Tour released the news that the RBC Canadian Open would be canceled for the second year in a row because of continuing health and safety issues in Canada; and later in the day, 2015 Masters champion Danny Willett was forced to withdraw because he tested positive for COVID-19.
While states such as Florida are opening up businesses and relaxing mask mandates, Monahan said the Tour will continue its current set of protocols, which is to admit a limited number of fans, requiring masks of all fans, volunteers and Tour staff — even outdoors and testing players and caddies every week.
“We see some light at the end of the tunnel, with the COVID-19 vaccine being accessible on a widespread basis over the coming weeks and months,” he said. “But until the pandemic is in our rearview mirror, our commitment to health and safety continues at The Players.”
Zach Johnson addresses the media after the cancellation of the 2020 Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass. Photo by Adam Hagy/USA TODAY Sports
Monahan said the Tour will continue testing players, caddies and tournament staff and will consult the CDC and health officials in tournament markets. He said the Tour can start “to pull back,” when he knows a high percentage of his players have been vaccinated but he is not ready to require it.
“It’s hard to determine when that will be, but clearly we see light at the end of the tunnel,” he said. “I think players are eager to get vaccinated and are certainly studying this.
He said there is no timetable for allowing full attendance at a Tour event.
“I think that hopefully, we’re getting to a point sooner rather than later,” he said.
Players Championship Fantasy Golf Power Rankings https://ift.tt/3cbZnP0
A star-studded PGA Tour field is in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, this week for the Players Championship. TPC Sawgrass once again plays host to the Tour’s unofficial fifth major. Below, we look at the fantasy golf power rankings and odds for the 2021 Players Championship, with PGA Tour picks and predictions.
Brooks Koepka withdrew Sunday afternoon due to a knee injury. He’s this week’s most notable omission as Rory McIlroy tries to defend his 2019 Players Championship title. Just two of the top-40 golfers in the Golfweek/Sagarin world rankings aren’t in attendance.
Last year’s tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic after just one round.
Tied for 12th in his debut at this event in 2019 while gaining 2.02 strokes per round from tee-to-green. He’s an excellent fit for this course but his 2021 form has been largely unimpressive.
29. Jordan Spieth (+3000)
Continues to move back up the world rankings with a T-4 finish last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. It was his third top-5 finish in five events this year, but it required a Saturday ace and a hole-out from a bunker.
28. Louis Oosthuizen (+6600)
A risky fantasy play or bet this week following a Thursday morning withdrawal last week, Oosthuizen was a co-runner-up here in 2017 and is putting extremely well early in 2021.
27. Lee Westwood (+10000)
Last week’s runner-up was third in the field with 1.57 Strokes Gained: Approach and led the field with 3.30 SG: Tee-to-Green at Bay Hill Club & Lodge. Those same facets of his game will translate well to TPC Sawgrass.
26. Will Zalatoris (+7000)
The Korn Ferry Tour graduate is up to No. 46 in the Official World Golf Ranking. He has four top-20 finishes and no missed cuts in six events this year.
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25. Harris English (+9000)
Ignore his poor course history of 0.61 strokes lost to the field per round at TPC Sawgrass and make English a contrarian pick. His game is above average across the board, and he has 21 rounds played at this venue.
24. Jason Kokrak (+7000)
Tied for eighth last week despite losing 0.46 strokes per round on the greens. He’s a Bermudagrass expert and should bounce back quickly with the flat stick.
23. Scottie Scheffler (+4500)
Missed the cut in his first two events of 2021 on the mainland but since has two top-10 finishes, including a fifth-place showing against an elite field at the WGC-Workday Championship.
22. Sungjae Im (+5000)
Struggled with the short game last week but gained 1.90 strokes per round with his putter. He can lean on the flat stick once again while remaining on the same surface.
21. Jason Day (+5000)
Finished T-31 at Bay Hill last week and will again be playing an event he has won before. He hasn’t truly been in contention this season, but he has made three straight cuts and is staying healthy after long battling injuries.
20. Joaquin Niemann (+6600)
Posted back-to-back runner-up finishes in Hawaii to start 2021 and safely made the cut in two events on the mainland. He qualified for this event for the first time last year but only got to play one round. His iron play should translate well.
19. Matthew Fitzpatrick (+5000)
Three straight finishes of T-11 or better to start his 2021 PGA Tour schedule following mixed results in two European Tour events. His T-41 finish in 2019 was his best finish in four appearances in this event.
18. Paul Casey (+5000)
The veteran Englishman returned to play following a two-week break to tie for 10th last week. He was sharp with the irons while gaining 1.26 strokes per round on approach to the green.
17. Patrick Reed (+4000)
Has oddly struggled at TPC Sawgrass over his career but seems a natural fit for the course. He has a strong short game and is an accurate driver. He bested many of this week’s top contenders to win the Farmers Insurance Open in late January.
16. Hideki Matsuyama (+4000)
Held the first-round lead last year when play was called off. He’s coming off top-20 showings at the WGC-Workday Championship and Arnold Palmer Invitational and is starting to find a better putting stroke.
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15. Cameron Smith (+6000)
Shares the PGA Tour lead in par 5 scoring average with Bryson DeChambeau at 4.38. He’ll need to do his scoring there with just two of 10 par 4s at TPC Sawgrass playing below par in 2019.
14. Tommy Fleetwood (+4500)
Finished inside the top 10 in back-to-back years in 2018 and 2019 in this event. He tied for 10th last week at Bay Hill despite a Sunday round of plus-5, 77.
13. Daniel Berger (+4000)
Tied for 35th in a strong field at the WGC event in his follow-up to winning the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. He has gained 1.07 strokes on the field per round over 19 laps of TPC Sawgrass.
12. Tyrrell Hatton (+4000)
Hatton was a combined 11-under par Friday and Saturday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, but he was 5-over both Thursday and Sunday. His putter betrayed him, but it has been a strength in the 2020-21 season.
11. Tony Finau (+2500)
Those playing fantasy golf don’t need Finau to win, and he has been as consistent as anyone on Tour in securing top finishes. He has gained 3.03 strokes per round on the average Tour pro over his last 20 rounds, according to Data Golf.
Returns to play after withdrawing from the WGC-Workday Championship due to illness. There shouldn’t be any lingering concerns for Golfweek’s fourth-ranked golfer.
9. Collin Morikawa (+2200)
Took last week off following his victory at the WGC event. Will make his official debut in this event, but unfamiliarity with courses hasn’t been a concern.
8. Viktor Hovland (+2500)
Like Morikawa, he has played only one competitive round at TPC Sawgrass but has also been immune to first-time jitters at many of the Tour’s biggest events. He was 11-over par last weekend after opening with a 69-68.
7. Rory McIlroy (+1600)
Continues to struggle in crunch time and finished just 3-under par at Bay Hill after opening with a minus-6, 66. He still tied for 10th and remains a better fantasy pick than a bet.
6. Bryson DeChambeau (+1600)
Added distance isn’t expected to carry the same advantage at the shorter and more intricate TPC Sawgrass. If he has a weakness, it continues to be his iron play.
5. Justin Thomas (+2000)
Tied for third here in 2016 but finished just T-35 in 2019. He’s averaging 1.13 SG: Approach per round this season, but he’s one of the riskier selections in this top tier with shaky history at TPC Sawgrass.
4. Xander Schauffele (+2200)
Golfweek’s top-ranked golfer was a co-runner-up in 2018 but missed the cut in 2019. Like Finau, he has struggled to close, but he has two T-2 finishes in five events this year.
3. Webb Simpson (+2200)
The 2018 Players champion followed it up with a T-16 finish in 2019. He’s fourth on Tour in driving accuracy, T-9 in par 5 scoring and third in bogey avoidance.
2. Dustin Johnson (+1200)
No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking, The Players has been one of the few marquee tournaments to evade Johnson’s trophy case. He has averaged 1.04 strokes gained per round over 39 rounds played here and should be motivated.
1. Jon Rahm (+1500)
Has a top finish of T-12 in 2019 in three appearances at this event but won last year’s Memorial Tournament at the comparable Muirfield Village Golf Club. His putter has been his lone weakness this season.
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Marquee groups for the opening two rounds are: Patrick Reed, Jon Rahm, Jordan Spieth; Bryson DeChambeau, Collin Morikawa, Dustin Johnson; Sergio Garcia, Webb Simpson, McIlroy; Viktor Hovland, Patrick Cantlay, Justin Thomas; Phil Mickelson, Charles Howell III, Tony Finau.
From tee times to TV and streaming info, here’s everything you need to know for the first round of the Players Championship. All times are listed in Eastern Standard Time.
PGA Tour Live: 7-45 a.m.-6 p.m. Twitter: 7:45-9 a.m.
RADIO
PGA Tour Radio on SiriusXM: 12-6 p.m.
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Field of green: Players Stadium Course weathers cold winter, in pristine condition https://ift.tt/3chmPKH
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida — It’s been more than a decade since the Jacksonville area has had a colder winter.
TPC Sawgrass director of agronomy Jeff Plotts said he and his team were still able to get the Players Stadium Course “worthy of the best players in the world” for this week’s Players Championship.
Indeed, Plotts said there is a benefit to some cold weather for a March Players, as long as it doesn’t get too extreme. And the 18 nights of frost that he counted on the property during the winter — more than in the previous five years combined since he became the superintendent — helped keep the bermuda grass from growing and battling the winter rye for supremacy on the fairways and greens.
“The cold kind of helped suppress the bermuda and allowed the cool-season grass to come out stronger,” Plotts said. “All in all, everything is in good shape.”
The brilliant sunshine so far this week has only accentuated the deep emerald color of the playing surface and the weather forecast only gets better, with sunny days and temperatures in the 70s for Ponte Vedra Beach.
The last two champions put their seal of approval on the job Plotts and his staff did.
“The conditions out here this week are absolutely perfect,” said 2019 champion Rory McIlroy.
“The course is in as good of shape as any course I’ve ever played,” said Webb Simpson, the last man to win The Players in May, in 2018. “Really excited for this year’s tournament and the conditions we’re going to see.”
There isn’t much wind in the forecast, which Plotts said might render the course a bit tamer for the best field in golf.
“We were hoping for a little wind but the early forecast is for not a great deal,” he said. “We will get the typical afternoon breeze off the coast but I don’t see anything much above 10 mph.”
The conditions impressed PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, who made it a point to single out Plotts in his State of the Tour news conference on Tuesday.
“The Stadium Course is in peak condition, thanks to Jeff and his team,” Monahan said. “They have worked tirelessly to prepare for this championship.”
Plotts and his staff were on their way to pretty much the same thing last year before the tournament was canceled after one round.
“We were really primed to give those guys the best golf course conditions they had ever played here,” Plotts said. “It was really a shame.”
It appears the weather will be much the same as the days the tournament missed last year, except a bit cooler.
Advance rules official Stephen Cox said the philosophy of keeping the rough at 3 inches or less — as it was in the May era from 2007-2018 — remains intact this year, which officially is the second Players in March.
When the tournament was in March from 1982-2006, the rough frequently topped out at 5 inches, leaving players little choice but to play the balls out somewhere in the fairway.
Reaching the green? Nearly impossible.
“It’s a slightly different strategy now,” he said. “As opposed to guys having to hack it out, we want to allow them to have options. They may not be able to control the ball flight, but they can get a club on it.”
The result is that the scoring average of 71.513 in 2019 wasn’t appreciably different from the 71.409 in May of 2018, which ended a streak of seven years in a row in which the field averaged over-par.
In six of seven Players Championships from 1995 to 2002, the field averaged higher than 73 strokes, capped by the 1999 tournament that David Duval won at 3-under (the highest score for a winner at the Stadium Course), with the field scoring average at 74.672.
There have been very few cosmetic changes to the golf course since 2020. The only one that players might notice is on the Island Green at No. 17. The green was resurfaced during the summer for improved drainage.
“We’ve got things flowing off the green better,” Plotts said. “The green is in excellent shape.”
Dustin Johnson marches to a better beat at the Players Championship this time of year https://ift.tt/2OAKb62
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Here’s some unwelcome news for those in the field of the Players Championship – Dustin Johnson has gotten more comfortable playing the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass.
More specifically, he loves playing the course in March.
“The golf course plays a little better,” Johnson said Tuesday after a practice round. “Obviously the rough’s a little thicker, it plays longer, but the greens are a little more receptive, you can actually hit some shots. So I think the course plays better overseeded and playing this time of year and I definitely like it better.
“I definitely feel like I play it a little better, too.”
The world No. 1 and reigning Masters champion will be making his 12th start in the Players and he’d like to forget about his first eight. While he gathered up wins each year at other venues, he only finished in the top 30 once in his first eight starts at TPC Sawgrass. In his first 22 rounds, he broke par just five times.
He got the hang of it a little better in 2017 and 2018 when he tied for 12th and 17th. Then, in 2019, the tournament switched dates from May to March and Johnson tied for fifth and broke 70 in every round for the first time.
“Obviously I like playing this time of year better,” Johnson said. “I definitely look forward to coming to the Players. It’s one of our biggest events. We always say it’s kind of the fifth major, so it’s got a great field, it’s at a great venue.
“It plays tougher but the conditions are better. The golf course is in fantastic condition and I feel like the game’s in pretty good form coming in.”
After winning four times and finishing runner-up three time in nine starts, Johnson tied for eighth in the Genesis Invitational north of Los Angeles and tied for 54th in the World Golf Championships-Workday Championship at The Concession in his last two starts.
Nothing to be alarmed about, he said.
“Didn’t drive it my best and so I played pretty poorly. Pretty simple,” he said of his last start.
The fix sounded just as simple.
“A little bit of practice,” he said. “Ball position was getting a little too far back, which causes me to hit it kind of both ways and so fixed the ball position and drove it great today, so hopefully that will continue, because I went for a long time where I was really driving it really well.
“If I’m missing it left, generally something’s off and so that’s kind of what I was doing at Concession, and even at L.A. So just takes a little bit to work but fixed it and feel pretty good over the driver now.”
Feels pretty good standing on the TPC Sawgrass turf in March, too.
Lynch: Time for Justin Thomas to turn from atonement tour to old winning ways https://ift.tt/38ruzZv
It’s often readily apparent what ails someone on the PGA Tour. Strokes Gained metrics can be as accurate as a surgeon’s scalpel in that respect, exposing a wayward driver or a balky putter. Sometimes causation isn’t so conspicuous. Perhaps a player isn’t devoting the necessary attention to his game because he’s spending too much time in doctors offices with a sick family member, or racking up billable hours with a divorce lawyer. Statistics can’t measure such factors, but their impact on performance can be every bit as deleterious as injuries and swing flaws.
On Tuesday at the Players Championship, Justin Thomas met the media and—unlike Rory McIlroy, who vacated the podium just before him—admitted that he’s not really searching for anything in his game. “I’m just trying to keep it as simple as possible,” he said. “I think it’s easy to search for too much or think that I need to find something when I maybe don’t, if that makes sense.”
At face value, that’s an innocuous statement for most professional golfers, but a revealing one coming from a famously driven competitor who has been producing cruddy results for two months. Since January 9, to be exact. That was the third round of the Sentry Tournament of Champions, during which Thomas was caught on camera muttering a homophobic slur after missing a four-footer for par.
Justin Thomas walks off the 18th hole during the first round of the 2021 Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua. (Photo: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports)
He owned the aftermath, was fulsome in his apology and pledged to atone for the mistake. But he has not been the same player since. He eked out a third-place finish that week. In three events since, he has logged a missed cut at the Genesis Invitational and a pair of uninspired showings at the Waste Management Phoenix Open and the WGC-Workday Championship.
Thomas’s recent performances say less about his form than about the bruising impact of being confronted by a social media mob imbued with what the author Philip Roth memorably described as “the ecstasy of sanctimony.”
In that maelstrom, Thomas was dumped by one of his sponsors, Ralph Lauren. Another sponsor, Citi, publicly scolded him with a statement that veered closer to condescension than compassion. Easy to see why his mind might still be lingering on those self-inflicted distractions.
“I have definitely been better. But at the same time it’s a good opportunity for me to try to grow and learn and get stronger because of it,” Thomas said. “I think it’s kind of put a lot of things in perspective, and unfortunately for my golf, it’s taken a toll on that a little bit.”
“You know, at the end of the day I’m like an iPod Nano; I just keep shuffling,” he added, with a humorous flourish worthy of Jimmy Fallon.
TPC Sawgrass isn’t hospitable terrain even for players who are focused, and Thomas’s record here is mixed. In five appearances he has only one top-10 finish (T3, five years ago) but he’s never missed a cut and no one has made more birdies here since 2015, 98 in all. He didn’t add to that tally last year since the Players Championship was called after one round as the COVID-19 pandemic began its deadly march across the country. Just as he did last year, Thomas has returned to a house near the course that he is sharing with Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth. He got in Sunday, and got a little emotional too.
“The last time I was up there and Rickie and I were sitting on this couch with his wife and we’re trying to figure out, what are we going to do, what’s going to happen, what’s going on. I’ve never seen anything like this,” he recalled. “It definitely brought back some very odd, bizarre memories, but it’s crazy to think it’s been a year. It’s crazy to think we’re still in it.”
A view of the 17th green at TPC Sawgrass after the cancellation of the 2020 Players Championship. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)
The pandemic was the backdrop to a challenging professional landscape, one to which Thomas adjusted better than most. After the PGA Tour resumed play in June after three months locked down, Thomas won the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational and had seven other top 10s—including three seconds—through the end of the year. The dawn of ’21 brought an altogether more personal challenge.
Thomas has been asked about the fallout from the homophobic f-bomb at most press conferences since Maui. He hasn’t shrunk from the inquiries. At every asking, he owns it, expresses his regret and talks about his need to learn from it. What Thomas can’t say—but what needs saying nonetheless—is that it’s time for him to move beyond it, to compartmentalize whatever personal progress he hopes to make from the professional performance he needs to deliver.
He can work on being a better person at home. Out here, he needs to refocus on the business at hand.
“It can go astray so fast,” he said Tuesday. “Maybe just have some things go on in your personal life…” He was talking about the ephemeral nature of the professional golfer’s existence and the many things—the specter of injuries, the fickleness of form, the fugaciousness of confidence—that can upend a career.
“That’s just all on you. You’re the only one out there that’s going to play each and every day, each and every week, each and every year. You really just have to make the best out of what you have.”
That’s a governing principle for Thomas, the idea of ownership, taking responsibility for his failures as much as his successes. It’s a mindset he will need competing on one of the most demanding venues on Tour. Pete Dye’s masterpiece at TPC Sawgrass is a medieval rack upon which the world’s best golfers are stretched to find where they break and where they hold. Of the 154 men in the field this week, Thomas stands alone in already having faced and survived that examination in 2021.
The Players Championship field by the rankings https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
As usual, a deep field has turned up at TPC Sawgrass for the Players Championship. Dustin Johnson, No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking, and Xander Schauffele, No. 1 in the Golfweek/Sagarin Pro Rankings, top the field. The top 16 players in the Sagarins are all in attendance and so are the top 11 players in the OWGR.
The entire Players Championship field is broken down below according to the Golfweek/Sagarins and the OWGR.
So far in the 2020-21 Tour season, the average ranking of the winner heading into the week in which he won a PGA Tour event has been 102.19 in the Golfweek/Sagarins and 111.76 in the OWGR.