The 2024 Players Championship is underway, having kicked off on Thursday morning at TPC Sawgrass. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the tournament, which is arguably the biggest non-major in golf.

Thursday's action began at 7:40 a.m. ET, as Ryan Moore, Chesson Hadley and Zac Blair teed off from hole No. 1, while Troy Merritt, Taylor Pendrith and Taylor Montgomery began at No. 10.

Several marquee groups will be featured throughout the day, and one to watch will be the trio of Scottie Scheffler, Rickie Fowler and Justin Thomas, set to begin at 1:40 p.m. ET.

Scheffler is the defending champion and the current world No. 1-ranked golfer. No. 2-ranked Rory McIlroy began his round at 8:35 a.m. ET alongside Viktor Hovland and Jordan Spieth.

The full field can be found here.

The TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course is a difficult one, and the competition should be fierce throughout the weekend. Fans who want to track the action can follow PGATour.com's live leaderboard.

Online coverage can be streamed on Peacock and ESPN+, while Thursday's TV coverage will begin at 1 p.m. ET on Golf Channel.

2024 Players Championship

When: March 14-17

Where: TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

TV: NBC, Golf Channel

Prize Pool: $25 million

TV Coverage

Thursday, March 14: 1-7 p.m. ET on Golf Channel

Friday, March 15: 1-7 p.m. ET on Golf Channel

Saturday, March 16: 2-7 p.m. ET on NBC

Sunday, March 17: 1-6 p.m. ET on NBC

*Daily Live Stream on ESPN+ and Peacock

Early Favorites (via DraftKings Sportsbook as of 9 a.m. Thursday)

Scottie Scheffler 5-1

Rory McIlroy 17-2

Xander Schauffele 14-1

Patrick Cantlay 18-1

Viktor Hovland 22-1

Max Homa 22-1

Live Leaderboard and Scores

PGATour.com

The 50th Anniversary

Whether fans follow the Players Championship in person, online or via broadcast, they can expect plenty of fanfare throughout the weekend.

As previously mentioned, this year marks the tournament's 50th anniversary. The inaugural event in 1974 took place at Atlanta Country Club, but the Players has been held at TPC Sawgrass since 1977.

Long a May event, the tournament returned to being played in March in 2019.

Though the Players isn't a major, it's a storied tournament with a large prize pool that generally attracts the best players on the PGA Tour. This year's tournament should serve as a celebration of the event's history and its future.

"How this event has grown in size, scope and impact over the past five decades is something we're extremely proud of," PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said Tuesday, per PGATour.com, "and we continue to focus on delivering the best championship to our players, fans and partners,"

By Sunday, one golfer will etch their name in the tournament's history. The race to the final round is going to be fun.

Scottie Scheffler Has a Chance to Make History

If Scheffler ends up winning the tournament, he'll certainly earn a place in Players Championship history. He won the 2023 tournament by five strokes over Tyrrell Hatton and now has a chance to do something that no other golfer has ever accomplished.

In its storied 50-year history, the Players Championship has never had a back-to-back winner.

Only six golfers have even won the Players more than once: Jack Nicklaus, Fred Couples, Steve Elkington, Hal Sutton, Davis Love III and Tiger Woods. Woods was the last to earn a repeat victory, and that happened in 2013.

Scheffler has a very real chance to buck the trend this year. He's playing at an extremely high level—hence, his world ranking at No. 1—and is fresh off a dominant performance at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

The 27-year-old won the Arnold Palmer by five strokes over Wyndham Clark and with an impressive final score of 15-under.

"He's best player in the world right now," Clark said of Scheffler, per CNN's Jack Bantock.

Scheffler certainly feels like the one to beat this weekend, though golfers like McIlroy are sure to make it interesting. McIlroy opened Thursday's action extremely hot, shooting three-under through the first three holes.

If Scheffler does manage to defend his title, he'll have battled to do it.

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