Players Championship live golf scores, results, highlights from Thursday’s Round 1 leaderboard

By | March 9, 2023

The unofficial fifth major is back.

The Players Championship returns to TPC at Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. Last year’s winner, will not, however. Cameron Smith joined LIV Golf last summer, and because of that, he and several other golfers who also left for LIV are prohibited from competing in the tournament.

MORE: Smith might attend Players Championship as a fan, despite ban

That doesn’t mean the field will be missing all its previous winners. Past champions Justin Thomas (2021), Rory McIlroy (2019), Webb Simpson (2018), Si Woo Kim (2017), Jason Day (2016) and Rickie Fowler (2015) will all be competing, looking to join Jack Nicklaus, Fred Couples, Steve Elkington, Hal Sutton, Davis Love III and Tiger Woods as the only players with multiple wins in the event.

MORE: Inside TPC Sawgrass’ infamous Island Green

The Sporting News will be tracking live scores and highlights from Thursday’s Round 1 leaderboard. Follow for results from the first day of the tournament.

MORE: Watch the Players Championship live with fuboTV (free trial)

Players Championship leaderboard 2023

Rank Player Score (hole)
1 Chad Ramey -8 (F)
2 Collin Morikawa -7 (F)
3 Taylor Pendrith -5 (F)
T4 Scottie Scheffler -4 (F)
T4 Min Woo Lee -4 (F)

Players Championship live updates, highlights from Thursday’s Round 1

(All times Eastern)

3:30 p.m. β€” One of the more surprising strugglers of the afternoon wave is world No. 6 Xander Schauffele, who is +3 as he makes the turn. He’ll be very disappointed with his start to the weekend. 

3:20 p.m. β€” There haven’t been too many big moves yet among the players in the afternoon wave, but Davis Riley and Justin Lower are leading the way right now at -4. Riley has played just six holes, while Lower has played ten. 

2:47 p.m. β€” In addition to its famous island green, the 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass features one of the smallest bunkers on tour. It might be tiny, but it can be a real headache for golfers β€” just ask Austria’s Matthias Schwab, who couldn’t escape it on his first attempt today. 

2:13 p.m. β€” Thomas nearly holes the ensuing pitch shot after taking a drop, but it’ll be a double bogey for him at No. 4. that drops him back down to even par for the day. 

2:05 p.m. β€” Disaster for Thomas at the 4th hole as he pitches it into the water from just off the green. A very uncharacteristic mistake from him, and he’ll more than likely drop at least one shot here. 

1:34 p.m. β€” Justin Thomas with some early fireworks! He chips in from across the green for birdie on the par 5 second hole to quickly move to -2! Spieth follows him up with a long birdie putt of his own to move to -1. 

1:17 p.m. β€” Ramey makes a solid par on the last hole to finish with a round of -8 (64). What a great start to the week for him! He could well be our overnight leader after day one. 

1:14 p.m. β€” Scottie Scheffler finishes his round with a birdie to post 68 (-4) and move into a tie for fourth place. Rory McIlroy, on the other hand, drops yet another shot to finish the day with a 76 (+4). He’ll need a great day tomorrow to even make the weekend. 

1:07 p.m. β€” Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth and Max Homa are now on the golf course as the afternoon wave gets underway. They’ll be the marquee group as the first round winds down in Ponte Vedra. 

1:01 p.m. β€” Ramey hits a beautiful tee shot on No. 17 to inside two feet and rolls in the putt for a fantastic birdie. He now holds the solo lead at -8. Ramey is a 30-year-old pro from Fulton, Miss., who has one win (2022 Corales Puntacana Championship) in his PGA Tour career. 

12:58 p.m. β€” Morikawa has a very makable birdie putt on his last hole of the day, but he pulls it left from about seven feet. He settles for a par to post an opening-round 65. We’ll wait and see if Ramey β€” or anyone else β€” can leap ahead of him before the day is done. 

12:52 p.m. β€” Morikawa missed his birdie putt, so he remains at -7 as he heads to his last hole of the day. Meanwhile on No. 16, Chad Ramey gets up and down for birdie on the par 5 to move into a tie for the lead. He’ll make the walk around the pond to No. 17 as he looks to close out strong. 

12:26 p.m. β€” Morikawa makes a difficult tee shot on the long par 3 8th hole look easy by knocking it inside 20 feet. He’ll have a good chance to extend his lead at the top with another birdie.

12:17 p.m. β€” What a round Morikawa has going! A nice putt for birdie on No. 6 has pushed him into the solo lead at -7. 

11:24 a.m. β€” Another bogey for McIlroy drops him all the way down to +4 and close to the very bottom of the leaderboard. He has really been off his game in the early going. 

11:22 a.m. β€” Min Woo makes his first mistake of the day, coming up short and finding the water on the famous 17th hole. He’ll have his work cut out for him to avoid a double bogey.

11:16 a.m. β€” Min Woo Lee has been receiving treatment out on the course for what looks to be some sort of calf issue. A physiotherapist was out massaging his leg and he had to take a seat in the fairway briefly. Despite the ailing calf, he rolls in a birdie on the 16th hole to take the solo lead at -6. 

10:58 a.m. β€” Morikawa hits an absolute beauty on his second shot into the par 5 second hole, setting up a short eagle putt. He drains it and suddenly he has moved into a tie for the lead!

10:51 a.m. β€” After a great shot out of the pine straw at hole No. 1, Scheffler rolls in a 12-foot putt for his first birdie of the day to move to -1. Meanwhile, McIlroy misses a short one for par and he has now dropped to +3. A miserable start to the week for the Northern Irishman. 

10:43 a.m. β€” Collin Morikawa just made his third birdie of the day after sticking it close to move to -3. 

10:38 a.m. β€” The biggest names out on the course currently are Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy. They represent arguably the three best golfers in the world today, and they’re making the turn to hole No. 1 right now. Rahm is at -2, Scheffler is at even and McIlroy is struggling a bit at +2 right now. 

10:25 a.m. β€” The biggest highlight of the day so far belongs to Hayden Buckley, who hit a perfect shot on the famous island green 17th hole for an incredible hole-in-one. That’s how you do it. 

10:11 a.m. β€” Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of The Players Championship 2023! It’s a beautiful Thursday morning at TPC Sawgrass and the first wave of players is already well underway in their opening round. 

What channel is the Players Championship on today?

  • TV channel: Golf Channel, NBC
  • Live stream: ESPN+, fuboTV

Golf Channel and NBC will be the television homes of the 2023 Players Championship. Golf Channel will broadcast the first two rounds of the event, while NBC will finish out the weekend coverage on Saturday and Sunday.

ESPN+ will carry featured groups and select holes. For those looking to watch the main televised action, fuboTV will carry both Golf Channel and NBC coverage. The streaming service offers a free trial.

Here’s the TV schedule for this weekend’s tournament:

Date Time (ET) TV channel
Thursday, March 10 Noon-6 p.m. Golf Channel
Friday, March 11 Noon-6 p.m. Golf Channel
Saturday, March 12 1-6 p.m. NBC
Sunday, March 13 1-6 p.m. NBC

Players Championship tee times 2023

  • Round 1 (Thursday, March 9)
Time (ET) Tee Group
6:50 a.m. 1 Robby Shelton, Austin Smotherman, Min Woo Lee
6:50 a.m. 10 Danny Willett, Brandon Wu, Davis Thompson
7:01 a.m. 1 Kevin Streelman, Denny McCarthy, Matthew NeSmith
7:01 a.m. 10 Adam Long, Hayden Buckley, Taylor Montgomery
7:12 a.m. 1 Byeong Hun An, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Doug Ghim
7:12 a.m. 10 Tommy Fleetwood, Taylor Pendrith, Callum Tarren
7:23 a.m. 1 Michael Thompson, Brendon Todd, Keith Mitchell
7:23 a.m. 10 Si Woo Kim, Webb Simpson, Tyrrell Hatton
7:34 a.m. 1 Kevin Kisner, Nick Taylor, Corey Conners
7:34 a.m. 10 Tony Finau, Tom Kim, Patrick Cantlay
7:45 a.m. 1 Trey Mullinax, Cam Davis, Tyler Duncan
7:45 a.m. 10 Collin Morikawa, Adam Scott, Rickie Fowler
7:56 a.m. 1 Adam Svensson, Joel Dahmen, Robert Streb
7:56 a.m. 10 Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy
8:07 a.m. 1 J.J. Spaun, Chad Ramey, Luke List
8:07 a.m. 10 Justin Rose, Billy Horschel, Hideki Matsuyama
8:18 a.m. 1 Russell Henley, Mackenzie Hughes, Brian Harman
8:18 a.m. 10 Nico Echavarria, Sungjae Im, Harris English
8:29 a.m. 1 Emiliano Grillo, Mark Hubbard, Matt Wallace
8:29 a.m. 10 Jhonattan Vegas, Peter Malnati, Ryan Fox
8:40 a.m. 1 Nate Lashley, Troy Merritt, Kelly Kraft
8:40 a.m. 10 Adam Hadwin, Patrick Rodgers, Greyson Sigg
8:51 a.m. 1 Aaron Baddeley, David Lingmerth, Ben Martin
8:51 a.m. 10 Nick Hardy, Eric Cole, Harrison Endycott
11:50 a.m. 1 Kevin Tway, Russell Knox, Chesson Hadley
11:50 a.m. 10 David Lipsky, S.H. Kim, Tyson Alexander
12:01 p.m. 1 Andrew Putnam, Maverick McNealy, Doc Redman
12:01 p.m. 10 Kramer Hickok, Lee Hodges, Will Gordon
12:12 p.m. 1 Beau Hossler, Adam Schenk, Stephan Jaeger
12:12 p.m. 10 Ben Griffin, Matthias Schwab, Justin Lower
12:23 p.m. 1 Lucas Herbert, Aaron Wise, Jason Day
12:23 p.m. 10 Sepp Straka, Garrick Higgo, Stewart Cink
12:34 p.m. 1 Matt Fitzpatrick, Viktor Hovland, Shane Lowry
12:34 p.m. 10 Chez Reavie, Tom Hoge, Francesco Molinari
12:45 p.m. 1 Kurt Kitayama, Will Zalatoris, Xander Schauffele
12:45 p.m. 10 J.T. Poston, Lucas Glover, Matt Kuchar
12:56 p.m. 1 Max Homa, Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth
12:56 p.m. 10 K.H. Lee, Martin Laird, Gary Woodland
1:07 p.m. 1 Sam Burns, Cameron Young, Sahith Theegala
1:07 p.m. 10 Ryan Brehm, Ryan Armour, Scott Stallings
1:18 p.m. 1 Chris Kirk, Seamus Power, Keegan Bradley
1:18 p.m. 10 Ryan Palmer, Patton Kizzire, Alex Smalley
1:29 p.m. 1 Sam Ryder, Davis Riley, Taylor Moore
1:29 p.m. 10 Dylan Frittelli, Jerry Kelly, Wyndham Clark
1:40 p.m. 1 Alex Noren, Thomas Detry, Max McGreevy
1:40 p.m. 10 Scott Piercy, James Hahn, Nick Watney
1:51 p.m. 1 Joseph Bramlett, Justin Suh, Andrew Novak
1:51 p.m. 10 Aaron Rai, Dylan Wu, Erik Barns
  • Round 2 (Friday, March 9) 
Time (ET) Tee Group
6:50 a.m. 1 David Lipsky, S.H. Kim, Tyson Alexander
6:50 a.m. 10 Kevin Tway, Russell Knox, Chesson Hadley
7:01 a.m. 1 Kramer Hickok, Lee Hodges, Will Gordon
7:01 a.m. 10 Andrew Putnam, Maverick McNealy, Doc Redman
7:12 a.m. 1 Ben Griffin, Matthias Schwab, Justin Lower
7:12 a.m. 10 Beau Hossler, Adam Schenk, Stephan Jaeger
7:23 a.m. 1 Sepp Straka, Garrick Higgo, Stewart Cink
7:23 a.m. 10 Lucas Herbert, Aaron Wise, Jason Day
7:34 a.m. 1 Chez Reavie, Tom Hoge, Francesco Molinari
7:34 a.m. 10 Matt Fitzpatrick, Viktor Hovland, Shane Lowry
7:45 a.m. 1 J.T. Poston, Lucas Glover, Matt Kuchar
7:45 a.m. 10 Kurt Kitayama, Will Zalatoris, Xander Schauffele
7:56 a.m. 1 K.H. Lee, Martin Laird, Gary Woodland
7:56 a.m. 10 Max Homa, Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth
8:07 a.m. 1 Ryan Brehm, Ryan Armour, Scott Stallings
8:07 a.m. 10 Sam Burns, Cameron Young, Sahith Theegala
8:18 a.m. 1 Ryan Palmer, Patton Kizzire, Alex Smalley
8:18 a.m. 10 Chris Kirk, Seamus Power, Keegan Bradley
8:29 a.m. 1 Dylan Frittelli, Jerry Kelly, Wyndham Clark
8:29 a.m. 10 Sam Ryder, Davis Riley, Taylor Moore
8:40 a.m. 1 Scott Piercy, James Hahn, Nick Watney
8:40 a.m. 10 Alex Noren, Thomas Detry, Max McGreevy
8:51 a.m. 1 Aaron Rai, Dylan Wu, Erik Barns
8:51 a.m. 10 Joseph Bramlett, Justin Suh, Andrew Novak
11:50 a.m. 1 Danny Willett, Brandon Wu, Davis Thompson
11:50 a.m. 10 Robby Shelton, Austin Smotherman, Min Woo Lee
12:01 p.m. 1 Adam Long, Hayden Buckley, Taylor Montgomery
12:01 p.m. 10 Kevin Streelman, Denny McCarthy, Matthew NeSmith
12:12 p.m. 1 Tommy Fleetwood, Taylor Pendrith, Callum Tarren
12:12 p.m. 10 Byeong Hun An, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Doug Ghim
12:23 p.m. 1 Si Woo Kim, Webb Simpson, Tyrrell Hatton
12:23 p.m. 10 Michael Thompson, Brendon Todd, Keith Mitchell
12:34 p.m. 1 Tony Finau, Tom Kim, Patrick Cantlay
12:34 p.m. 10 Kevin Kisner, Nick Taylor, Corey Conners
12:45 p.m. 1 Collin Morikawa, Adam Scott, Rickie Fowler
12:45 p.m. 10 Trey Mullinax, Cam Davis, Tyler Duncan
12:56 p.m. 1 Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy
12:56 p.m. 10 Adam Svensson, Joel Dahmen, Robert Streb
1:07 p.m. 1 Justin Rose, Billy Horschel, Hideki Matsuyama
1:07 p.m. 10 J.J. Spaun, Chad Ramey, Luke List
1:18 p.m. 1 Nico Echavarria, Sungjae Im, Harris English
1:18 p.m. 10 Russell Henley, Mackenzie Hughes, Brian Harman
1:29 p.m. 1 Jhonattan Vegas, Peter Malnati, Ryan Fox
1:29 p.m. 10 Emiliano Grillo, Mark Hubbard, Matt Wallace
1:40 p.m. 1 Adam Hadwin, Patrick Rodgers, Greyson Sigg
1:40 p.m. 10 Nate Lashley, Troy Merritt, Kelly Kraft
1:51 p.m. 1 Nick Hardy, Eric Cole, Harrison Endycott
1:51 p.m. 10 Aaron Baddeley, David Lingmerth, Ben Martin

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