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

2. Jason Day, Rickie Fowler, Henrik Stenson

Round 1: 10th tee, 8:16 a.m. ET

Round 2: 1st tee, 1:41 p.m. ET

This is easily one of the best groups at THE PLAYERS. Jason Day is ranked third in the world, Henrik Stenson is ranked seventh in the world and Rickie Fowler is ranked ninth in the world. And let’s not forget that all three have won this event before and that Day and Fowler are the last two winners at TPC Sawgrass. That’s going to make for some pretty amazing golf over the next two days…we hope anyway.

Jason Day is not playing the best golf of his career right now but given the personal circumstance he’s had to endure lately with his mother, that’s pretty understandable. After dropping out of the WGC-Match Play after just six holes, he took some time off before returning and made the cut on the number at The Masters but fought back valiantly with a 3-under 69 on Saturday in the first group out and still managed to finish in a tie for 22nd. He missed the cut at the Zurich a couple of weeks back, playing alongside Rickie Fowler, and has been a little wayward off the tee but he’s still one of the best in the world and he’ll look to draw from his experience a year ago to fight through these next four days. A win would make Day the first man in history to repeat as PLAYERS Champion.

Rickie Fowler got his week off to a nice start by acing the 17th in his practice round on Wednesday and he’ll look to ride that momentum into the opening round. And let’s not forget how well he’s been playing this season. After tying for fourth in Phoenix, he won the Honda Classic, tied for 16th at the WGC-Mexico Championship, finished solo 12th at the Arnold Palmer, tied for third in Houston and tied for 11th at The Masters. Sure, he had that MC at the Zurich but that doesn’t really count, does it? He’s red-hot, has won here before and is a major contender this week.

Henrik Stenson isn’t quite as hot. Since finishing in the top eight in three consecutive tournaments, including second-place finishes at the Hero World Challenge and Dubai, he’s withdrawn from the WGC-Mexico and missed the cut at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the Shell Houston Open and The Masters. The only saving grace from that stretch is his T-7 at the Valspar. But as it is with everyone else in this group, he knows how to get it done at Sawgrass. Yes, it’s been eight years but a four-shot victory at THE PLAYERS stays with you and he’ll need to rely on that to have a chance on the weekend.