All-star lineup set to tee off at Players Championship

48 of the top 50 in this week's World Golf Rankings are set for The Players

Jason Day will be back to defend the title he won after holding sole possession of the lead after each round and winning by four strokes. 

It marked Day's 10th career PGA Tour title in his 181st professional start at the age of 28 years, 6 months, 3 days. Day became the fifth player since 1980 to win 10 or more times on the PGA T before his 29th birthday, joining Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson and David Duval.

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Day will join 47 of the top 50 in the World Golf Rankings committed to The Players Championship, setting up a strong field and potential drama at the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass.

World No. 1 Jason Day, No. 2 Jordan Spieth, No. 3 Rory McIlroy and No. 4 Bubba Watson highlight a field that includes 33 of the 34 players who have combined to win the 45 PGA Tour events since Fowler’s victory at the Stadium Course, plus the 14 players who have combined to win the last 18 major championships.

History is against Day making a repeat performance: no one has won The Players twice in a row in the 42-year history of the PGA Tour’s marquee tournament, with Nick Price’s fifth-place effort in 1994 the best finish for a defending champion.

It’s an impressive list of first-time participants at this year’s Players, with five of this season’s PGA Tour winners, Wesley Bryan, Cody Gribble, Mackenzie Hughes, Jon Rahm and Cameron Smith, headlining the group. There are a total of 18 first-time Players participants. 

If the winner of the Wells Fargo Championship is not already qualified for The Players, he will join the field and replace the lowest-ranked player the field of 144 players. Patrick Rodgers would become the first alternate.

There are 55 international players representing 23 countries.

Day will be joined by eight other Players winners: Rickie Fowler (2015), Martin Kaymer (2014), Matt Kuchar (2012), K.J. Choi (2011), Henrik Stenson (2009), Sergio Garcia (2008), Phil Mickelson (2007), Adam Scott (2004).

Two-time winner Tiger Woods, whose comeback date from a prolonged back injury is still up in the air, will miss The Players for the second time in three years since his 2013 victory.

For the third consecutive year, Bernhard Langer, 59, is the oldest player in the field after earning an exemption for winning the 2016 Constellation Senior Players Championship. This will be Langer’s 26th start in The Players. Last year, he missed the cut with 72-72--144. Mark O’Meara holds the best finish by a player who earned a spot via the PGA Tour Champions victory, finishing 74th in 2011.

Qualified for The Players, but not competing are  Brandt Snedeker (wrist), Jon Curran (rib), Colt Knost (wrist), John Senden (family medical issue), Tiger Woods (back) and Thomas Pieters.

Full field listed below:

Aaron Baddeley
Blayne Barber
Ricky Barnes
Daniel Berger
Zac Blair
Jonas Blixt
Jason Bohn
Keegan Bradley
Scott Brown
Wesley Bryan
Rafa Cabrera-Bello
Chad Campbell
Patrick Cantley
Paul Casey
Alex Cejka
Kevin Chappell
K.J. Choi
Ben Crane
Jason Day
Graham DeLaet
Luke Donald
Jason Dufner
Ken Duke
Ernie Els
Harris English
Matt Every
Derek Fathauer
Tony Finau
Ross Fisher
Matthew Fitzpatrick
Rickie Fowler
Jim Furyk
Sergio Garcia
Fabian Gomez
Robert Garrigus
Brian Gay
Lucas Glover
Fabian Gomez
Branden Grace
Cody Gribble
Emiliano Grillo
Bill Haas
Adam Hadwin
James Hahn
Brian Harman
Tyrrell Hatton
David Hearn
Russell Henley
Jim Herman
Charley Hoffman
Morgan Hoffmann
J.B. Holmes
Billy Horschel
Charles Howell III
Mark Hubbard
Mackenzie Hughes
John Huh
Billy Hurley III
Yuta Ikeda
Freddie Jacobson
Dustin Johnson
Zach Johnson
Sung Kang
Smylie Kaufman
Martin Kaymer
Jerry Kelly
Si Woo Kim
Chris Kirk
Kevin Kisner
Patton Kizzire
Russell Knox
Brooks Koepka
Jason Kokrak
Matt Kuchar
Martin Laird
Bernhard Langer
Danny Lee
Marc Leishman
Spencer Levin
David Lingmerth
Luke List
Andrew Loupe
Jamie Lovemark
Shane Lowry
Peter Malnati
Ben Martin
Hideki Matsuyama
Graeme McDowell
William McGirt
Rory McIlroy
Troy Merritt
Phil Mickelson
Bryce Molder
Francesco Molinari
Ryan Moore
Kevin Na A
lex Noren
Sean O'Hair
Louis Oosthuizen
Ryan Palmer
Rod Pampling
Pat Perez
Scott Piercy
D.A. Points
Ian Poulter
Jon Rahm
Chez Reavie
Patrick Reed
Kyle Reifers
Patrick Rodgers
Justin Rose
Charl Schwartzel
Adam Scott
Webb Simpson
Vijay Singh
Cameron Smith
Jordan Spieth
Kyle Stanley
Brendan Steele
Shawn Stefani
Henrik Stenson
Robert Streb
Kevin Streelman
Brian Stuard
Daniel Summerhays
Hudson Swafford
Vaughn Taylor
Justin Thomas
David Toms
Cameron Tringale
Harold Varner III
Jhonattan Vegas
Johnson Wagner
Jimmy Walker
Bubba Watson
Boo Weekley
Lee Westwood
Bernd Wiesberger
Danny Willett
Gary Woodland

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