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The Players Championship: Groups to Watch on Thursday & Friday

By Tim Letcher

MAMARONECK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 18: (L-R) Bryson DeChambeau of the United States and Dustin Johnson of the United States walk off the 11th tee during the second round of the 120th U.S. Open Championship on September 18, 2020 at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
MAMARONECK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 18: (L-R) Bryson DeChambeau of the United States and Dustin Johnson of the United States walk off the 11th tee during the second round of the 120th U.S. Open Championship on September 18, 2020 at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /
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With one of the best fields in all of golf, the Players Championship tees off on Thursday at famous TPC Sawgrass in Florida. The top 11 players in the world are playing this week, which should make for a fun week for golf fans.

Here are the top five pairings for the first two days of this year’s Players Championship.

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Jon Rahm, Patrick Reed, Jordan Spieth (Thursday, 12:49 ET; Friday, 7:29 ET) – Rahm is the second-ranked player in the world who is about due to win. Reed is now the number eight player in the world and was the winner earlier this season at Torrey Pines. Spieth continues to knock on the door each week but can’t seem to get over the top and into the win column just yet.

Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson, Collin Morikawa (Thursday, 1:00 ET; Friday, 7:40 ET) – DeChambeau is fresh off a win at Bay Hill last week, his second triumph of the season. Johnson is the world’s number one player, the defending Masters champ and the defending FedEx Cup champ. Morikawa won the most recent World Golf Championship event two weeks ago.

Patrick Cantlay, Viktor Hovland, Justin Thomas (Thursday, 7:29 ET; Friday, 12:49 ET) – Cantlay has already won this season (Zozo Championship) and has a second and a T3. Hovland also won earlier this season (Mayakoba Golf Classic) and has a pair of T2s. Thomas, the third-ranked player in the world, has a second, a third and a fourth this season but has yet to win.

Sergio Garcia, Rory McIlroy, Webb Simpson (Thursday, 7:40 ET; Friday, 1:00 ET) – Garcia won here in 2008 and has also finished second twice, most recently in 2015. McIlroy is the defending champion, even though his title came in 2019. His game is close and he could win at any point. Simpson was the winner at TPC Sawgrass in 2018 and has four Top 10s this season.

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Paul Casey, Tyrrell Hatton, Xander Schauffele (Thursday, 8:02 ET; Friday, 1:22 ET) – Casey is ranked 19th in the world and has three consecutive top-10 finishes. Hatton finished T21 in his title defense at Bay Hill last week but has a win on the European Tour already this season. Schauffele is due. He has five top-five showings this season, including three runner-ups. It’s just a matter of time before he wins.

With such a strong field, it’s hard to say whether the winner will be in one of these groups. But as you tune in to watch on Thursday and Friday, keep an eye on these five pairings.

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