Sports
Scottie Scheffler targets third Players title with ailing McIlroy defending
Scottie Scheffler hits from the 18th fairway during the second round of the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fl. Friday March 14, 2025. [Doug Engle/Florida Times-Union] PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — The Players Championship has made a habit of delivering high drama at an iconic venue which suits a wide array of golfers, and this week’s edition promises more of the same as World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler bids for a rare third victory in the event.
Among other leading contenders are World No. 2 and defending champion Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, who is looking to shrug off a back injury that led to a later arrival at TPC Sawgrass following his withdrawal from last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational, and fifth-ranked Justin Rose, who won his 13th PGA Tour title last month at the Farmers Insurance Open.
The elite field is one of the strongest in the game with the top 10 golfers in the world rankings — and 47 of the top 50 — assembled at Sawgrass for the tournament’s 52nd edition.
However, Scheffler will command much of the fan interest as he hunts his 21st career tour title at a venue where he triumphed in 2023 and 2024. Only golfing great Jack Nicklaus has won the PGA Tour’s flagship event three times, and Scheffler will be looking to match him.
“I don’t know if my approach to this tournament has changed very much, but I think it suits my game because you have to play a variety of shots,” Scheffler said ahead of Thursday’s opening round when he will play alongside World No. 3 Tommy Fleetwood and 14th-ranked Justin Thomas in a marquee grouping. “I think that’s something that I’ve always enjoyed about the game of golf is being able to try to curve the ball different directions and hit different spins.”
While Scheffler has not quite replicated his dominant form from last year so far this season, he can still point to a victory at The American Express in January and two other top-10 finishes in his five starts.
“When it comes to my golf game and my expectations of myself, my expectations are based around what I want for me mentally on the golf course as being committed to what I can do, and controlling that aspect,” said the 29-year-old Texas resident. “Throughout this season I’ve been really good in some spots and then some other spots I feel like I can improve in terms of my commitment to the shot.”
Scheffler has long admired the varied test of golf at TPC Sawgrass where surprise winners, such as Craig Perks and Fred Funk, and expected champions, like Tiger Woods and McIlroy, have emerged triumphant.
“When you look at this golf course, you see a variety of winners, and you also don’t see one style of player winning this tournament a bunch of times,” said Scheffler. “It’s so unique in a sense of, the way modern golf is kind of trending … this place you kind of take some steps back where the areas to hit into are small.
“And there’s certain holes where you can definitely take advantage of your length if you’re a longer hitter. But there’s also some holes where you got to get the ball in play, and you have to be able to curve the ball both directions.”
Two-time champion McIlroy will command just as much fan interest as Scheffler but his tournament prospects were still hanging in the balance after he arrived at TPC Sawgrass late Wednesday afternoon to test his back and swing on the practice range.
The Northern Irishman is the defending champion; he won the 2025 tournament in a playoff with J.J. Spaun.
McIlroy pulled out of the Arnold Palmer Invitational on Saturday before the third round after feeling “a small twinge” in his back while warming up in the gym. Prior to arriving at Sawgrass on Wednesday, he had been at home recovering and receiving treatment.
Rose, 45, will be bidding for his second PGA Tour win this season after romping to victory by seven strokes at the Farmers. Like Scheffler, Rose relishes competing at Sawgrass where he has recorded three career top-10s in 20 starts, including a T4 in 2014.
“It’s a course that I love, actually,” smiled Rose. “It’s one of the best courses that we play on tour. I think it’s very fitting for this championship. It suits all types of players.
“But it’s tricky as well. I feel like it’s a venue that I’ve sort of would like to figure out a bit better this year, that is for sure. I’ve had some good weeks here, some great rounds, but I would love to put four together this week.”
Englishman Fleetwood, the 2025 FedEx Cup champion, will make his ninth Players appearance and will aim to improve on a best finish at TPC Sawgrass of T5 in 2019.
“It’s just nice to be back,” he said. “It’s always a tournament that everybody gets really excited about. I think the biggest compliment you can give the golf course is that everybody holds it very high on their list, and I think that there’s always a wide spread of opinion.
“There’s been some big tournaments already this year but I think The Players, where it sits now, always marks the start of a big period coming.”
This week, a field of 123 golfers will tee it up at TPC Sawgrass in pursuit of a winner’s check for $4.5 million. Traditionally, the field totaled 144 but it was shrunk this year to a base of 120 players. With Brooks Koepka eligible for the tournament based on his return to the PGA Tour through the Returning Members Program, two more players were added to make it an even 41 threesomes for the first two rounds.
–Mark Lamport-Stokes, Field Level Media
Sports
Golf Glance: Elite field for The Players' $25M purse; LIV returns to Singapore
Scottie Scheffler tees off on the 17th hole during the second round of the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach on Friday March 14, 2025. Scheffler is the only back-to-back winner of The Players. The smallest field in the history of The Players Championship tackles the iconic TPC Sawgrass with the PGA Tour’s largest purse at stake, while Jon Rahm looks to keep his red-hot LIV Golf streak going in Singapore.
PGA TOUR
THIS WEEK: The Players Championship, Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., March 12-15
Course: TPC Sawgrass (Par 72, 7,352 Yards)
Purse: $25M (Winner: $4.5M)
Defending Champion: Rory McIlroy
FedEx Cup Leader: Collin Morikawa
HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday-Friday: 1-7 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); Saturday: 2-7 p.m. (NBC); Sunday: 1-6 p.m. (NBC)
Streaming (ESPN+): Thursday-Friday: 7:30 a.m.-7 p.m. ET; Saturday: 8 a.m.-7 p.m.; Sunday: 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m.
X: @ThePlayers
NOTES: Each of the past six winners of The Players entered the week inside the top 10 in the Official World Golf Ranking, and this week’s field includes 46 of the top 50 players. … This is the first of five events this season that offer 750 FedExCup points to the winner, and the winner earns a five-year PGA Tour exemption. … Seven of the first nine events have been won by players in their 20s. … Five of the past six Players were decided by no more than one shot. … Joel Dahmen, Taylor Moore, Seamus Power and Andrew Putnam qualified for the field through their FedExCup ranking through the Cognizant Classic. … Only three players have converted the 54-hole lead/co-lead into a victory at The Players since 2016: Jason Day (2016), Webb Simpson (2018) and Scottie Scheffler (2023). … Brooks Koepka is in the field as part of his return to the PGA Tour via the Returning Member Program. To round out threesomes, the field was expanded to 123 with the addition of Patton Kizzire and Seamus Power. It still marks the smallest field in tournament history. … 2021 Players champion Justin Thomas will make his second start in his return from November back surgery. … Fourteen players are making their tournament debut, including seven tour rookies… Greg Norman holds the tournament scoring record of 264 set in 1994.
BEST BETS: Scottie Scheffler (+435 at DraftKings) won at TPC Sawgrass in 2023-24 and seeks to join Jack Nicklaus as the only three-time winners of The Players. … Rory McIlroy (+1475) is also a two-time winner of The Players, but did not arrive at TPC Sawgrass until Wednesday after withdrawing from the Arnold Palmer due to back spasms. … Collin Morikawa (+2050) leads the FedExCup standings following his T-7 at the Genesis and solo fifth at the Arnold Palmer in addition to his win at Pebble Beach. … Ludvig Aberg (+2900) is coming off a T3 at Bay Hill and finished solo eighth here in 2024 before missing the cut last year. … Chris Gotterup (+4700) offers intriguing odds for the only two-time winner on tour so far this season. … Sepp Straka (+5600) provides longshot odds despite entering the week ranked ninth in the world. He had a T-2 at Pebble Beach and finished T-13 last week.
Last Tournament: Arnold Palmer Invitational (Akshay Bhatia)
Next Tournament: Valspar Championship, Palm Harbor, Fla. (March 19-22)
LIV GOLF LEAGUE
THIS WEEK: LIV Golf Singapore, March 12-15
Course: Sentosa Golf Club (Par 71, 7,406 Yards)
Purses: Individual: $30M (Winner: $4M); Team: $10M (Winners: $3M)
Defending Champions: Individual: Joaquin Niemann; Team: Fireballs GC
2026 Season Leaders: Individual: Jon Rahm; Team: Ripper GC
HOW TO WATCH
TV: Wednesday: 9-11 p.m. ET (Fox Sports app), 11 p.m.-2 a.m. (FS1); Thursday: 9-11:30 p.m. (Fox Sports app), 11:30 p.m.-2 a.m. (FS1); Friday: 9:30-10:30 p.m. (FS2), 10:30 p.m.-2:30 a.m. (FS); Saturday: 9 p.m.-2 a.m. (FS1)
X: @livgolf_league
NOTES: This is the fourth of 14 events this season as LIV Golf returns to Singapore for the fourth consecutive year. … Rahm has four runner-ups and a win in his past five LIV events. … HyFlyers GC captain Phil Mickelson will miss his fourth consecutive event due to an undisclosed family matter and will be replaced by Wade Ormsby. … The daily shotgun start includes 13 teams and 57 total players, including five wild cards. … Thomas Detry (No. 61) and Elvis Smylie (No. 73) have two events remaining to climb into the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking and earn a spot into the Masters.
Last Event: LIV Golf Hong Kong (Individual: Rahm; Team: 4Aces GC)
Next Event: LIV Golf South Africa, Steyn City, March 19-22
LPGA TOUR
THIS WEEK: OFF.
Race to CME Globe Leader: Jeeno Thitikul
Last Tournament: Blue Bay LPGA (Mi Hyang Lee)
Next Tournament: Fortinet Founders Cup, Menlo Park, Calif., March 19-22
DP WORLD TOUR
THIS WEEK: OFF.
Race to Dubai Leader: Patrick Reed
Last Tournament: Joburg Open (Dan Bradbury)
Next Tournament: Hainan Classic, Hainan Island, China, March 19-22
PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS
THIS WEEK: OFF.
Charles Schwab Cup leader: Stewart Cink
Last Tournament: James Hardie Pro Football Hall of Fame Invitational (Zach Johnson)
Next Tournament: Cologuard Classic, Tucson, Ariz., March 20-22
–Field Level Media
Sports
Reports: Oregon State to tab Michigan assistant Justin Joyner as coach
Michigan forward Will Tschetter (42) talks to assistant coach Justin Joyner during the second half against Washington at Crisler Center in Ann Arbor on Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. Oregon State is expected to hire Michigan assistant Justin Joyner as its next head coach, multiple media outlets reported on Wednesday.
Joyner effectively will replace head coach Wayne Tinkle. The university announced on Feb. 26 that it planned to part ways with Tinkle at the end of the 2025-26 season.
The Beavers (17-16, 9-9 West Coast Conference) saw their season come to an end with a 65-56 setback to Gonzaga on Monday in the semifinals of the conference tournament.
Joyner, 38, is no stranger to the West Coast, having spent seven seasons at Saint Mary’s before working as an assistant with Dusty May in Michigan. Joyner’s wife, Tracy, is the women’s soccer coach at Oregon.
Tinkle completed his 12th season leading the Beavers, over which he has amassed a 177-206 record. He led Oregon State to just two NCAA Tournament appearances but made a famous run in one of them, taking the Beavers to the first Pac-12 tournament championship in program history and their first Elite Eight appearance since 1982 during the 2020-21 season.
Tinkle, 60, previously was the head coach at Montana, his alma mater, from 2006-14, leading the Grizzlies to NCAA Tournament appearances as the Big Sky Conference champion in 2010, 2012 and 2013.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Report: FIFA cuts operating budget by more than $100M
FIFA President Gianni Infantino holds the FIFA World Cup trophy at the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 22, 2026. FIFA has slashed more than $100 million from its operating budget for this summer’s World Cup in North America, The Athletic reported.
In its annual report in 2024, FIFA’s projected budget for the 2023-26 cycle included $1.12 billion for operational expenses out of a total budget of $3.756 billion. The $1.12 billion included $280 million for technical services, $159 million for event transport, $145 million for safety and security, and $79 million for guest management.
However, four different sources told The Athletic that FIFA’s staff at its U.S. headquarters in Miami are feeling strains after learning that cuts to the operating budget — including areas of safety, logistics, security and accessibility — had “comfortably exceeded” $100 million.
A FIFA spokesperson issued a statement to The Athletic for Tuesday’s story.
“FIFA is constantly reviewing budget efficiencies to ensure costs are controlled, so that as much revenue as possible can be invested in the development of football around the world. This should not surprise anyone, as budget reviews are routinely applied prior to all our tournaments and events,” read the statement.
The 48-team World Cup is taking place at 16 venues across the U.S., Mexico and Canada from June 11 to July 19.
The U.S. Congress has allocated $625 million from the federal government to help venues with security costs, however those funds have not yet been distributed due to a partial government shutdown that is impacting the Department of Homeland Security.
The FIFA statement addressed concerns about safety and security.
“FIFA will never compromise on the operational success, nor on key aspects such as safety and security, of its biggest tournament, and to suggest otherwise is false and misleading. FIFA is investing considerable resources to ensure an outstanding experience. FIFA will be deploying a total workforce of approximately 5,000 individuals to ensure smooth operations,” read the statement.
–Field Level Media
Golf Glance: Elite field for The Players' $25M purse; LIV returns to Singapore
Reports: Oregon State to tab Michigan assistant Justin Joyner as coach
