Heading into the 51st edition of The Players Championship, the biggest storyline—as it should be— is whether Scottie Scheffler can continue to make history at Pete Dye's famed Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass.
A year ago, Scheffler became the first player ever to record back-to-back victories at the PGA Tour's flagship event.
And if the world No. 1 can somehow manage to pull off a three-peat this week, he'd become only the second to take this tournament on three occasions. The only other player to do so is Jack Nicklaus.
Now, there's obviously no guarantee that Scheffler joins this historic club, given the strength of this 144-player field. So, we'll just have to see how things play out.
However, golf fans are guaranteed a little piece of history at 2:35 p.m. Eastern on Thursday afternoon when Laurie Canter becomes the first former LIV Golf player to tee it up in an event sanctioned solely by the PGA Tour.
From a technical standpoint, Canter and Bernd Wiesberger already broke through what was once thought to be an unbreakable barrier, as both participated in the Genesis Scottish Open last July.
But let's get real here. While the PGA Tour co-sanctions that prestigious tourney, the Scottish Open will always be seen as a DP World Tour event, especially seeing how it's one of five events that make up the Rolex Series.
The Players Championship, though, is a PGA Tour-only event, so we're officially calling Canter the first former player from the Saudi-backed series to prove there is a pathway back to the big events here in the United States.
That path could potentially be a lot easier, of course, if the PGA Tour and LIV Golf can ever figure out this merger they've been working on for nearly two years. But we won't dive into that mess here.
Instead, let's have a look at how Canter made his way to TPC Sawgrass.
How former LIV Golf player Laurie Canter made it to The Players Championship
After roughly a decade of bouncing between the Challenge Tour and the DP World Tour, Canter joined LIV Golf ahead of its inaugural event in his home country of England in 2022.
The Somerset native appeared in seven events that season, earning just over $3.5 million. He didn't fare quite as well in 2023 but still collected $2.15 million in 10 starts.
Given his status in the standings, Canter was forced to compete in the promotions event and lost a playoff to determine the final spot on a team roster for the 2024 season.
He was brought back as a wild-card player but appeared in just two events, tying for 15th in Mayakoba and tying for 21st in Las Vegas, before being replaced by the returning Anthony Kim.
With LIV Golf no longer an option, Canter made a full-time return to the DP World Tour, paying the subsequent fines to regain membership. And he quickly made his presence felt, notching his first career victory on the circuit last July at the European Open en route to a 24th-place finish on the Order of Merit.
Just over a month ago, he captured victory number two with a win at the Bahrain Championship, defeating Dan Brown and Pablo Larrazábal in a playoff, and nearly notched win number three a little over a week ago, finishing second at the South African Open after losing a playoff to Dylan Naidoo.
With that runner-up finish, Canter jumped from No. 53 in the Official World Golf Ranking to No. 42, thus securing his spot at TPC Sawgrass, as all eligible players in the top 50 of the OWGR earn an exemption into The Players Championship.
As it stands now, rules state that anyone who participated in any LIV Golf events is banned from competing on the PGA Tour for one year after their last LIV appearance. But as Canter last teed it up for LIV in February 2024 in Vegas, his ban no longer applies.
As mentioned, Canter will begin his week at Sawgrass on Thursday at 2:35 p.m. Eastern and will play alongside Trey Mullinax and Ryo Hisatsune.