5 past The Players winners returning to compete this year ft. Rory McIlroy

Rory McIlroy and Jason Day ( via Getty images)

The Players Championship, one of the most important PGA Tour tournaments after the Majors, is the next stop on the PGA Tour. It will boast a purse of around $25 million, and the winner will receive a hefty share. The four-day tournament will start on Thursday and have a cut system after the first two rounds.

This will be the 51st edition of the tournament, which will take place at the TPC Sawgrass. Around 144 golfers will have a head-to-head competition to win the Players Championship, and there are also past champions of the event who will put up a tough fight.

Here's the list of five such past champions in the Players Championship field:

5 past The Players Championship winners in the 2025 edition of the tournament

#1. Rory McIlroy

Rory McIlroy was the 2019 winner of the Players Championship and will compete in this edition of the tournament. In 2019, the golfer scored 16 under 272 after shooting 67-65-70-70 in four rounds. This year, McIlroy played only three PGA Tour tournaments, and out of them, he won at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am with a score of 21 under 267.

McIlroy also played at The Genesis Invitational and the Arnold Palmer Invitational pres. by Mastercard to finish at T17 and T15 after shooting 3 under 285 and 3 under 285, respectively.

#2. Jason Day

Jason Day won the 2016 Players Championship with 15 under 273 after shooting 63-66-73-71 in the four rounds of the tournament. He played six PGA Tour events until now with two top 10 finishes, at The American Express and the Arnold Palmer Invitational pres. by Mastercard with a T3 and T8 after scoring 22 under 266 and 5 under 283, respectively.

#3. Scottie Scheffler

Scottie Scheffler won the 2023 Players Championship with a score of 17 under 271. He played only four PGA Tour events in 2025 until now, and his best finish came at the Genesis Invitational, where he landed at T3 with a score of 9 under 279. He had another top 10 finish in 2025 at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am with a T9 after scoring 15 under 273.

#4. Rickie Fowler

Rickie Fowler won the 2015 Players Championship with a score of 12 under 276, and a decade after his achievement. He will again give a fight to win the Players trophy. This year, he played five PGA Tour events and last appeared at the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches, where he landed at T18 with a score of 12 under 272.

#5. Justin Thomas

Justin Thomas won the 2021 Players Championship with a score of 14 under 274 after shooting 71-71-64-68 in the four rounds. He played in six tournaments this year and finished in second place in the American Express with 23 under.

Edited by Hitesh Nigam