We’ve reached the halfway point at TPC Sawgrass.
Min Woo Lee and Akshay Bhatia flew up the leaderboard on Friday, and hold a share of the lead at 11-under entering moving day at The Players Championship. Rory McIlroy isn’t far behind after a solid start for him. He sits at 9-under with Collin Morikawa and Alex Smalley, though J.J. Spaun sits alone in third just a shot back from the leaders.
The biggest shock on Friday, however, came from Justin Thomas. After an opening-round 78, Thomas rallied with a 10-under 62 to get right back into the mix. His round matched the course record at TPC Sawgrass, and his 16-shot swing was the largest improvement between the first and second rounds in the event's history. But, after his 6-over 78 on Thursday, Thomas is still seven shots off the lead.
The cut line closed at 1-under. That left several big names — including Hideki Matsuyama, Adam Scott, Ludvig Åberg, Max Homa and Tony Finau — heading home early. Wyndham Clark withdrew during the second round, too. He was five shots back from the projected cutline when he left the course.
Here’s everything you need to know entering the third round of The Players Championship.
Third round tee times
All times ET
8:25 a.m. — Shane Lowry, Danny Walker8:35 a.m. — CT Pan, Justin Lower8:45 a.m. — Tom Kim, Mac Meissner 8:55 a.m. — Daniel Berger, Xander Schauffele9:05 a.m. — Rico Hoey, Jesper Svensson9:15 a.m. — Aaron Rai, Sungjae Im9:25 a.m. — Russell Henley, Corey Conners9:35 a.m. — Matt Kuchar, Joel Dahmen9:50 a.m. — Austin Eckroat, Keegan Bradley10 a.m. — Matthieu Pavon, Camilo Villegas10:10 a.m. — Ben An, Kurt Kitayama10:20 a.m. — Ryan Fox, Denny McCarthy10:30 a.m. — Hayden Springer, Will Chandler10:40 a.m. — J.T. Poston, Chris Kirk10:50 a.m. — Jordan Spieth, Tom Hoge11 a.m. — Ryan Gerard, Joe Highsmith11:15 a.m. — Jhonattan Vegas, Trey Mullinax11:25 a.m. — Chandler Phillips, Si Woo Kim11:35 a.m. — Isaiah Salinda, Sami Valimaki11:45 a.m. — Sahith Theegala, Davis Thompson11:55 a.m. — Davis Riley, Justin Thomas12:05 p.m. — Cam Young, Carson Young12:15 p.m. — Robert MacIntyre, Bud Cauley12:25 p.m. — Matt McCarty, Stephan Jaeger12:40 p.m. — Max McGreevy, Beau Hossler12:50 p.m. — Patrick Cantlay, Sam Ryder1 p.m. — Taylor Moore, Rickie Fowler1:10 p.m. — Taylor Pendrith, Scottie Scheffler1:20 p.m. — Sepp Straka, Charley Hoffman1:30 p.m. — Harris English, Billy Horschel1:40 p.m. — Jacob Bridgeman, Emiliano Grillo1:55 p.m. — Tommy Fleetwood, Jake Knapp2:05 p.m. — Lucas Glover, Will Zalatoris2:15 p.m. — Collin Morikawa, Alex Smalley2:25 p.m. — J.J. Spaun, Rory McIlroy2:35 p.m. — Min Woo Lee, Akshay Bhatia
How to watch The Players Championship
The Players Championship will start on ESPN+ each day, and NBC will take live coverage of the ends of the third and fourth rounds this weekend. It can also be seen on Peacock.
All times 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
