Tiger Woods won the 2013 Players Championship, but will not be able to defend his title due to back surgery. Phil Mickelson, Adam Scott and Matt Kuchar are all former winners of the Players Championship and could contend again this year.
The total purse for this event has been increased to $10 million with $1.8 million going to the winner. Only the PGA Championship will match that amount.
The Players annually attracts the best field of any tournament on tour and it is played on one of the most difficult courses Pete Dye ever created.
Here are some players that bear watching this year.
Patrick Reed has two wins this season and has a ton of confidence. He is a very streaky player and a win at the Players Championship would be huge for him.
He never saw a pin position he didn’t like and his aggressive style of play is always fun to watch.
Jordan Spieth is another of the young players that could add a Players trophy to his mantle. After winning the 2013 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year award, he has continued his good play this year and finished runner-up to Bubba Watson at the Masters.
Spieth enjoys the bright lights of the big events and this could be his week to win one of the biggest.
Luke Donald has not been the same golfer since he won the money titles on both the PGA and European Tours in 2011. He swing has been undergoing some tweaking to improve his driving accuracy and it seems to have also affected his fabulous short game.
The small difficult greens at TPC Sawgrass demand a better-than-average short game and Donald certainly is one of the best in the world with a wedge or a putter in his hand.
Jim Furyk has never won a Players Championship, but is a member at TPC Sawgrass and lives nearby. He is coming off a final round seven-under par 65 at the Wells Fargo which earned him a runner-up to J.B. Holmes.
He can control his golf ball around the tight fairways and knows the golf course. Look for him to be near the top of the leaderboard on Sunday.
Rory McIlroy has not won on the PGA Tour since 2012 and is long overdue. He is playing much better of late and this could be the week he returns to the winner circle.
This is only a small sampling of the talent that will be on display this week at TPC Sawgrass. The Players Championship is not a major, but it sure has a major feel about it.