We have reached the midway point at TPC Sawgrass where Min Woo Lee and Akshay Bhatia surged up the leaderboard on Friday to share the lead at 11-under going into Moving Day at The Players Championship. Rory McIlroy is close behind at 9-under along with Collin Morikawa and Alex Smalley, while J.J. Spaun trails just one shot behind the leaders in third place.
The standout performance on Friday came from Justin Thomas, who bounced back from an opening-round 78 with a remarkable 10-under 62, matching the course record at TPC Sawgrass. His impressive 16-shot improvement between the first and second rounds is the largest in the event’s history. Despite his resurgence, Thomas remains seven shots off the lead after his initial struggles.
The cut line was set at 1-under, resulting in notable names such as Hideki Matsuyama, Adam Scott, Ludvig Åberg, Max Homa, and Tony Finau being eliminated early. Wyndham Clark also withdrew during the second round while trailing the projected cutline by five shots.
As we head into the third round of The Players Championship, here are the tee times (all in ET):
8:25 a.m. — Shane Lowry, Danny Walker
8:35 a.m. — CT Pan, Justin Lower
8:45 a.m. — Tom Kim, Mac Meissner
8:55 a.m. — Daniel Berger, Xander Schauffele
… (and so on)
To watch The Players Championship, tune in to ESPN+ for early coverage each day, with NBC picking up live coverage towards the end of the third and fourth rounds this weekend. The event is also available on Peacock. Here are the broadcast times (all ET):
Saturday, March 15 | Third Round
8 a.m. — 7 p.m. | ESPN+
2-7 p.m. | NBC
Sunday, March 16 | Third Round
7:30 a.m. — 6 p.m. | ESPN+
1-6 p.m. | NBC
