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TPC Sawgrass demands every part of your game be on point. There is no bias for bombers, or lefties, or precision putters. To win THE PLAYERS, you need everything to show up in some form or fashion. As such, momentum coming into the event is a critical factor. With the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard wrapped up, it’s time take a look at some of those players heading to Pete Dye’s masterpiece in the right direction. Related: Featured Groups | Nine things to know about TPC Sawgrass | Pete Dye: The genius who loathed plans 1. Rory McIlroy – The defending PLAYERS champion may well have played his final three rounds at Bay Hill over par, but he was not alone. What he did do was finish in fifth place, making it six for six for the current FedExCup champion and World No. 1 in top-five finishes on the PGA TOUR this season. McIlroy was third at the ZOZO Championship in Japan, won the World Golf Championships – HSBC Champions in China, finished third at the Farmers Insurance Open, and then recorded fifth-place finishes in his last three starts at The Genesis Invitational, World Golf Championships – Mexico Championship and Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. A year ago, THE PLAYERS was also his seventh start of the season, and he showed up at TPC Sawgrass on the back of five consecutive top-six results. You might say he’s trending again. “There’s a lot of similarities between the start of this year and the start of last year. A lot of chances not converting, but knowing that the game’s pretty much there,â€� McIlroy says. “My win percentage on TOUR is like 10 percent and I think that’s pretty high for anyone not being Tiger Woods. So it’s one of those things. I’ve had chances and I wish I had converted one of them over the last few weeks, but I’m still in good form. I’m playing some good golf. And hopefully if I just keep putting myself in those positions, it’s only a matter of time.â€� 2. The Englishmen – No Englishmen has won THE PLAYERS Championship, but the country’s top players might be in the best collective shape to break that drought yet. Tyrrell Hatton showed tremendous mettle to hold it together in tough conditions at Bay Hill to claim his first PGA TOUR victory to go with his four European Tour wins. A week earlier, Tommy Fleetwood was in contention down the stretch until a water ball on the 72nd hole at The Honda Classic. Matt Fitzpatrick was the only player on the weekend at Bay Hill to post a round in the 60s, with his 69 on Sunday. Then there are others with strong pedigree like Justin Rose, Paul Casey, Danny Willett and Matt Wallace who will also be ready to give it their all. “Time will tell. It’s hard to kind of think about next week at the moment with the sort of potential celebrations we have got later today. I don’t think I’ll be in any fit state at least until Wednesday,â€� Hatton smiled. “But next week’s going to be interesting and hopefully an Englishman can finally win that trophy.â€� 3. Bryson DeChambeau – The bulked up Bryson had a few pundits snickering when he finished in 52nd place at the Waste Management Phoenix Open early last month. Some said his body transformation would be the death of his game. But since then, DeChambeau has finished fifth at The Genesis Invitational, runner-up at the World Golf Championships – Mexico Championship and fourth at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, where he led the field in Driving Distance (301.8 yards) and Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee (+7.200). “I drove it pretty well this week, besides a couple holes out here today. And for me that’s a true testament of how hard I’ve been working on my driving to get it right, and then iron play is getting slowly better, and putting, I’m still not there with,â€� DeChambeau says. “I had two three-putts today and that really was the deciding factor for the total round of shooting a deep one out there today. But at the same point in time, I’m going to take a lot of good positives away from this and go into THE PLAYERS with some great momentum.â€� 4. Collin Morikawa – The new leader on the PGA TOUR for consecutive cuts made now faces a huge test to keep it going. The 23-year-old has made 21 straight cuts, including all 20 of his professional starts on the PGA TOUR, to top the list. He already has a win to his name at last season’s Barracuda Championship, but now faces his first trip to Sawgrass. His T9 at Bay Hill, a third top-10 this season, leaves him feeling like a first-timer who can make a splash. “I want to get to the next level of contending every week, not just making cuts and finishing whatever,â€� Morikawa said. “For me, it’s what can I pinpoint, where can I save a shot or two or three through the tournament, because it really matters out here. It makes a big difference.â€� 5. Sungjae Im – Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year in 2018. PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year in 2019. International team Presidents Cup star last December. Winner of The Honda Classic and a third-place finisher at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Despite a missed cut at TPC Sawgrass on debut last season, this is one young star you should not sleep on.

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Round 4 of the Rocket Mortgage Classic begins Sunday from Detroit Golf Club. Tony Finau and Taylor Pendrith share the lead at 21-under heading into Sunday. Here’s everything you need to know to follow the action, including Featured Groups for PGA TOUR LIVE and newly expanded and extended coverage on ESPN+. Click here for more details. Leaderboard Full tee times HOW TO FOLLOW (All times ET) Television: Saturday-Sunday, 1 p.m.-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3 p.m.-6 p.m. (CBS). Radio: Saturday-Sunday, 1 p.m.-6 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio) For outside of the U.S., click here for GOLFTV powered by the PGA TOUR PGA TOUR LIVE PGA TOUR Live is available exclusively on ESPN+ • Main Feed: primary tournament-coverage featuring the best action from across the course • Marquee Group: new “marquee group” showcasing every shot from each player in the group • Featured Groups: traditional PGA TOUR LIVE coverage of two concurrent featured groups • Featured Holes: a combination of par-3s and iconic or pivotal holes FEATURED GROUPS SUNDAY Marquee Group Will Zalatoris, Nate Lashley Featured Groups Adam Scott, Cameron Tringale Webb Simpson, Roger Sloan Featured Holes: No. 5 (par 3), No. 11 (par 3), No. 15 (par 3), No. 17 (par 5) MUST READS Finau looks for second win in two weeks at Rocket Mortgage Classic For Davis Love III, a missed cut but an unqualified success U.S. Presidents Cup Mark Hubbard explains ’embarrassing’ hole-in-one at Rocket Mortgage Classic Tony Finau’s heart-warming, and hilarious, ball markings Four! Patrick, Nick, Caroline, Jack Cantlay following own paths Five Things to Know: Detroit Golf Club

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A decade ago, as Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas were finishing up decorated college careers and testing the waters in pro golf, Tiger Woods was, well, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy had captured a pair of majors in eight-shot routes that were reminiscent of the sort of the dominance Woods had displayed in earlier days. How to Watch Capital One’s The Match: Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy vs. Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth Fast forward to today and Spieth and Thomas are set to face Woods, the 82-time TOUR winner who’s currently battling plantar fasciitis, and McIlroy, the reigning FedExCup champion and world No. 1. The four players will square off in The Match, a 12-hole contest under the lights at Pelican Golf Club in Belleaire, Florida on Saturday, Dec. 10 (TNT, 6 p.m.). “If you told me and Justin back in 2012, when we were in school, that we’d be playing a match against those two, we’d say things have gone pretty well,” said Spieth, who went 5-0-0 at the Presidents Cup in September, racking up all but one of those points with Thomas as a teammate. “We’d be pretty excited to play with those guys. I don’t want to lose sight of that.” This will be the seventh iteration of The Match, and the third time Woods will be a participant. It will mark the debut for the other three, although Thomas was an on-course commentator in 2020. All four players have been world No. 1, and all four have won the FedExCup, McIlroy (three) and Woods (two) having done so a combined five times. Thomas and Spieth have been a successful pairing in the Presidents and Ryder Cup since 2018, combining to go 8-2-0. They could be the favorites because of Woods’ injured right foot, which kept him out of the Hero World Challenge, a tournament he hosts, in the Bahamas last week. Although he said he has been told to stay off his feet, Woods anticipated he’ll be a go for The Match because he can ride a cart. “I can hit the golf ball and hit whatever shot you want,” Woods said. “I just can’t walk.” Any team would be in for a fight against Spieth and Thomas, who have combined for 28 PGA TOUR wins and five majors. They often rent houses and eat together on the road and have momentum after going 4-0-0 at the recent Presidents Cup and 1-1-0 at the 2021 Ryder Cup, both of which were won by their U.S. Team. They were even 3-1-0 in the United States’ loss at the 2018 Ryder Cup, when nearly nothing went right for the Americans outside Paris. “One, he’s an unbelievable player,” Spieth said of Thomas, whom first met while he and Thomas represented the United States as 14-year-olds in a junior tournament in France, “so it really helps to have someone that talented who’s on your side. That’s the No. 1 key. The other thing is knowing what to say, or when to say nothing, which is sometimes better.” In fact, all four players enjoy an easy familiarity. Thomas and Woods went 2-0-0 at the 2019 Presidents Cup, where Woods was the playing captain, and McIlroy has seldom been more prominent than he was this year, when he came from behind to win an unprecedented third FedExCup before capturing THE CJ CUP in South Carolina to recapture the No. 1 ranking. Spieth, a Dallas resident, is the lone participant in The Match who doesn’t make his home in south Florida. “I think we all are obviously very close,” Thomas said, “and we have an opportunity to just honestly go out like we would us four, go play a practice round and have some kind of match. I’m sure it will be very entertaining. It’s just going to be fun for us. “Even if it wasn’t on TV,” he continued, “us four would have a blast going out and playing 12 holes together, let alone under the lights at what sounds like a really cool golf course.” Spieth figures The Match will feature plenty of friendly banter. Woods describes Thomas as the little brother he never had. Spieth said he and Thomas always tend to “keep it light in between shots.” Spieth said he watched Thomas try his hand as an on-course commentator for The Match in 2020, when there were few live sporting events on TV as America grappled with the first waves of the pandemic. Spieth was curious how Woods would play and remembers Tom Brady’s hole-out from the fairway. This time around, he will be on the other side of the television screen. “It’ll feel like a dream foursome,” Spieth said, “or a Wolf game at home, or a match you’d love to set up for the Tuesday of the Masters. I don’t think it’ll be like a normal round. It’s about having fun, the banter. If you play well, you play well, but it’s about being entertainers for the night.”

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