The First Look: THE PLAYERS Championship

• COURSE: TPC Sawgrass (PLAYERS Stadium), 7,189 yards, par 72. Already lauded as a course that plays no favorites and deftly tests all parts of a player’s game, the Stadium Course offers two new tests this year for the game’s best players. The narrow water hazard between Nos. 6 and 7 has been expanded into a rectangular lake, removing several trees in the vicinity. More significant is No. 12, which has been turned into a drivable par-4 with both fairway and green sloping toward a new water hazard on the left. What hasn’t changed is the hole that receives the most attention – the iconic 17th, measuring 137 yards over water to a green connected only by narrow rear pathway. • FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 600 points. • CHARITY: More than 300 Northeast Florida charities receive assistance from THE PLAYERS Championship, among them Wolfson Children’s Hospital, American Cancer Society and Epilepsy Foundation of Florida. Last year’s event raised a record $8.5 million for charity, bringing its total to more than $84 million since the event first arrived outside Jacksonville in 1977. • FIELD WATCH: World No. 1 Dustin Johnson and newlywed No. 2 Rory McIlroy join defending champion Jason Day to headline what is annually the year’s strongest roster. The lineup features 24 of the top 25 in the current world rankings and 55 of the top 60. … Bernhard Langer, 59, is the oldest player in THE PLAYERS field for the third consecutive year. The Hall of Famer will make his 26th start at TPC Sawgrass, getting in by virtue of last year’s victory at the Constellation SENIOR PLAYERS Championship. … One additional berth is available for the winner of this week’s Wells Fargo Championship, if he hasn’t already qualified. • 72-HOLE RECORD: 264, Greg Norman (1994). • 18-HOLE RECORD: 63, Fred Couples (3rd round, 1992), Greg Norman (1st round, 1994), Roberto Castro (1st round, 2013), Martin Kaymer (1st round, 2014); Jason Day (1st round, 2016); Colt Knost (2nd round, 2016). • LAST YEAR: Day tied the Stadium Course record with an opening 63 and hardly looked back, becoming just the fifth wire-to-wire winner in the event’s history as he completed a four-shot triumph. Day’s total of 15-under-par 273 was the lowest score at TPC Sawgrass in 10 editions since THE PLAYERS moved to a May date. The chase pack never got closer than two shots in the final round, after Day’s bogey at the par-5 ninth hole. The Aussie birdied two of his next three, though, to post his third victory in a nine-week span, alongside wins at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard and World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play. Kevin Chappell used late birdies at Nos. 16 and 17 to take runner-up honors, matching their 1-2 finish at Bay Hill. • STORYLINES: Johnson, owner of three straight wins before the Wells Fargo Championship, could use an uptick at TPC Sawgrass. Before last year’s share of 28th, his previous seven starts had yet to yield a top-30 finish. Johnson has broken 70 just once in an opening round – a 68 in 2014. … New Masters champion Sergio Garcia, the 2008 PLAYERS winner, makes his first start since Augusta National. It’s been 14 years since he missed a cut at TPC Sawgrass – but the past two Masters winners (Jordan Spieth, Danny Willett) missed THE PLAYERS cut after slipping on the green jacket. … McIlroy tees it up in competition for the first time as a married man, wedding Erica Stoll in a lavish affair 2 ½ weeks ago at Ashford Castle in Ireland. The reigning FedExCup champion has finished outside the top 10 just once anywhere since East Lake, failing short of knockout play at the WGC Dell Technologies Match Play. • SHORT CHIPS: A total of 36 balls found the water surrounding No. 17 last year, slightly below average (39.5) since the PGA TOUR began keeping count 14 years ago. Two years earlier produced the all-time low of 28 splashdowns. The record is 93, when the event first moved to May in 2007. … Paul Azinger (1987) is the only man to birdie No. 17 in all four regulation rounds. Rickie Fowler birdied it three times in a day, during the final round and playoff of his 2015 triumph. … Day became just the second of the past 10 champions who managed to close the deal after holding the 54-hole lead. Martin Kaymer was the other, holding off Jim Furyk after a rain delay in 2014. • TELEVISION: Thursday-Friday, 1-7 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday-Sunday, 2-7 p.m. (NBC). • PGA TOUR LIVE: Thursday-Friday, 7:30 a.m.-7 p.m. (featured groups), 9 a.m.-7 p.m. (17th hole). Saturday-Sunday, 8:30 a.m.-7 p.m. (featured groups), noon-7 p.m. (17th hole). • RADIO: Thursday-Friday, noon-7 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 1-7 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com). For more on all the courses in the TPC network, visit TPC.com.  Play where the pros play. To book your tee time at TPC Sawgrass, visit TeeOff.com.

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