The Players Championship preview: The strongest field in golf?

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Like every year, golf starts its slow pilgrimage to Georgia and the first huge stop is Ponte Vedra Beach and TPC Sawgrass.

The Players Championship is the official start of the big boy golf season - the tournament is as iconic as it gets, one huge step above regular PGA Tour events. 

We love The Players. The course is one of the most iconic. We all know the perfectly manicured bunkers and wood-plank lined water hazards. The closing stretch always delivers - we can expect to see guys go eagle-birdie-birdie or crumble under the pressure.

People like to downplay the tournament stating that the course is gimmicky and reliant on goofy shots. That might be true, but regardless it's fun to watch and follow.

We know what's coming, we know it might not be the most accurate representation of who the best golfer is, but we love it either way.

For years The Players was one of the first tournaments where all top golfers showed up and battled it out, and deservingly, it had a major championship feel to it. This year, it's hard to ignore some absences but still, we are here to list some of the cool things that we are looking forward to:

1. The Course: We mentioned it previously, but it needs to be said again. TPC Sawgrass is cool. We have seen thousands of clips of it, played it on videogames, and fantasized about what would happen on the 17th hole. 

That hole is every child's fantasy brought to life. “What if all of it was water?” Well, Pete Dye had the vision and delivered on it

There are many other island greens on tour, but not one comes close to the prestige and aura of the 17th at TPC Sawgrass.

Other than that, the entire course is visually stunning and favors no specific playstyle, allowing for an even playing field between the bombers and the shorter players.

2. Scottie: Beard Scottie Scheffler is a thing - up there with Flu Game Jordan. What a week for him. We brought it up a couple of weeks ago: Whenever he figures out putting, he will dominate. And dominate he did. He came out looking like prime Tiger Woods and was a mile ahead of everyone else on Bay Hill. We are psyched to see where he can take his golf game and see if he can defend his title.
   

3. The winner: This might seem dumb, but we are really looking forward to seeing who rises up to the occasion and wins. Few, and I mean really few tournaments, have the pedigree of champions that The Players has. Let's go over the last 5:

2023: Scottie Scheffler

2022: Cameron Smith

2021: Justin Thomas

2020: Covid

2019: Rory McIlroy

This is the biggest argument against all criticism. It constantly delivers great champions

Elsewhere in golf:

We wanted to shout out Full Swing. Another banger from Netflix, that gives us an inside look at some of golf's coolest stories. We at GIR loved it.

The way it's structured, the players it highlights, the Ryder Cup - It’s all must-watch TV, that was made with love and keeping the games in mind.

Personal highlights: Joel and Gino, the Ryder Cup phone calls, Paulina Gretzky and every time Rory opened his mouth.

Final Thoughts

That wraps up today's diverse golf discussion!

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