THE PLAYERS Championship 2017: 5 groups to watch in Rounds 1 & 2

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Aug 11, 2015; Sheboygan, WI, USA; Jordan Spieth (left) and Phil Mickelson walk to the 3rd tee during a practice round for the 2015 PGA Championship golf tournament at Whistling Straits -The Straits Course. Mandatory Credit: Thomas J. Russo-USA TODAY Sports /

4. Hideki Matsuyama, Phil Mickelson, Jordan Spieth

Round 1: 10th tee, 8:27 a.m. ET

Round 2: 1st tee, 1:52 p.m. ET

While Phil Mickelson may be the most accomplished player overall in this group, he’s the lowest of the three in the world rankings at No. 20, which is still quite impressive given the fact that Lefty is 46 years old. Phil hasn’t been playing the most stellar golf of his career recently but it’s never a good idea to count him out of anything and seeing as how he won THE PLAYERS back in 2007, he obviously knows how to get around TPC Sawgrass and once made 11 consecutive cuts at this tournament. The problem is that he hasn’t played on the weekend here in four years but he’ll for sure still be entertaining as always.

World No. 5 Jordan Spieth once had a chance to win THE PLAYERS back in 2014, his first appearance at Sawgrass. Four shots back after the opening round, the then-20-year-old fired a second-round 66 to get himself within a shot of the lead and was tied for the lead at 12-under with Martin Kaymer after day three. However, after a hot start to his final round with birdies at two and four to take the outright lead, the youngster faltered in the middle of his round and shot a 74, finishing in a tie for fourth, three strokes behind Kaymer. He hasn’t made the cut here since but does have a recent win at Pebble Beach and finished tied for 11th at The Masters.

In his last 15 starts, world No. 4 Hideki Matsuyama has been on fire. In that span, he’s racked up five wins, two second-place finishes, a fifth-place finish and has missed just one cut. Coming off a tie for 11th at The Masters, the Japanese superstar, who currently sits in third place in the FedExCup standings, is primed for a run at THE PLAYERS this week. The 25-year-old has made just three appearances at the Stadium Course but has made the cut all three times and has improved his position each year, going from 23rd in 2014 to 17th in 2015 to a seventh-place finish just a year ago. Matsuyama has proved that he can play well at Sawgrass and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him near the top of the leaderboard as the tournament rolls along.

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