2026 Players Championship Thursday TV Coverage: Watch Round 1

The 2026 Players Championship begins Thursday morning with the first round on the Course at TPC Sawgrass. Here’s everything you need to know to watch the tournament on Thursday, including full TV coverage of the Players Championship, broadcast information and Round 1 times.

How to watch The Players Championship on Thursday

Only six players have won two Players Championship titles at TPC Sawgrass’s historic Stadium Course since the tournament moved there permanently in 1982. No one has won three times at TPC Sawgrass.

This week, World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler will try to be the first. Scheffler won back-to-back Players Championships in 2023 and 2024, then watched Rory McIlroy squander his chance to win a three-peat last year.

But now Scheffler has a chance to add a third Players title in four years, a feat no other golfer has accomplished. The four-time champion won in his debut season this year, but a win this week would make him a heavy favorite to claim his third Masters title a month from now.

Rory McIlroy, meanwhile, will make a “game time” decision to play or not on Thursday. A back injury could force McIlroy to retire.

Scheffler will get his Players campaign underway early Thursday, entering the opening round at 8:52 am ET.

You can watch the first round of The Players Championship on TV with the Golf Channel starting at 1pm ET on Thursday. PGA Tour Live on ESPN+ will offer exclusive coverage beginning Thursday at 7:30 a.m. ET, along with featured team and hole coverage throughout the day on Thursday.

Below you will find everything you need to know to watch the first round of the 2026 Players Championship.

How to watch on TV on Thursday

The Golf Channel will provide TV coverage of the first round of the 2026 Players Championship on Thursday from 1-7 pm ET.

How to stream online on Thursday

You can stream the first round of the 2026 Players Championship with PGA Tour Live on ESPN+, which will offer live coverage beginning at 7:30 a.m. ET Thursday in addition to team coverage and featured holes.

2026 Players Championship Round 1 tee times (ET)

It is No. 1

7:40 am – Mark Hubbard, Thorbjørn Olesen, Mac Meissner
7:52 am – Bud Cauley, Vince Whaley, Chandler Phillips
8:04 am – Emiliano Grillo, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Max Greyserman
8:16 am – Kevin Yu, Cam Davis, Gary Woodland
8:28 am – Ricky Castillo, Ryan Gerard, Patrick Cantlay
8:40 am – Adam Schenk, Garrick Higgo, Matt McCarty
8:52 am – Brian Harman, Maverick McNealy, Davis Riley
9:04 am – Sami Valimaki, Lucas Glover, Matt Fitzpatrick
9:16 am – Michael Brennan, Harris English, JT Poston
9:28 am – Haotong Li, Zecheng Dou, Jordan Smith
12:30 pm – Lee Hodges, Andrew Putnam, Sam Stevens
12:42 pm – Erik van Rooyen, Keith Mitchell, Michael Kim
12:54 pm – Taylor Moore, Joel Dahmen, Ryo Hisatsune
1:06 pm – Jacob Bridgeman, Ben Griffin, Adam Scott
1:18 pm – JJ Spaun, Sepp Straka, Shane Lowry
1:30 pm – Sahith Theegala, Rickie Fowler, Jordan Spieth
1:42 pm – Xander Schauffele, Rory McIlroy, Hideki Matsuyama
1:54 pm – Chris Gotterup, Justin Rose, Min Woo Lee
2:06 pm – Brian Campbell, Karl Vilips, Aaron Rai
2:18 pm – Matti Schmid, Max McGreevy, Takumi Kanaya
2:30 pm – Zach Bauchou, Sudarshan Yellamaraju, AJ Ewart

Number 10

7:40 am – Mackenzie Hughes, Eric Cole, Rico Hoey
7:52 am – Max Homa, Daniel Berger, Michael Thorbjornsen
8:04 am – Rasmus Højgaard, Danny Walker, Kristoffer Reitan
8:16 am – Jonathan Vegas, Taylor Pendrith, Alex Noren
8:28 am – Akshay Bhatia, Brooks Koepka, Tony Finau
8:40 am – Collin Morikawa, Ludvig Åberg, Si Woo Kim
8:52 am – Scottie Scheffler, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Thomas
9:04 am – Viktor Hovland, Russell Henley, Robert MacIntyre
9:16 am – Aldrich Potgieter, Jake Knapp, Sungjae Im
9:28 am – Patton Kizzire, Seamus Power, Johnny Keefer
12:30 pm – Tom Hoge, Denny McCarthy, Nicolai Højgaard
12:42 pm – Patrick Rodgers, Kevin Roy, Marco Penge
12:54 pm – Chad Ramey, Alex Smalley, Pierceson Coody
1:06 pm – Kurt Kitayama, Harry Hall, Stephan Jaeger
1:18 pm – Keegan Bradley, Ryan Fox, Chris Kirk
1:30 pm – Andrew Novak, Nick Taylor, Wyndham Clark
1:42 pm – Steven Fisk, William Mouw, Joe Highsmith
1:54 pm – Cameron Young, Davis Thompson, Sam Burns
2:06 pm – Nico Echavarria, Jason Day, Corey Conners
2:18 pm – Matthieu Pavon, SH Kim, Austin Smotherman