The Players 2023 LIVE commentary: UK tee times, field, leaderboard, live stream and how to follow

Golf’s unofficial fifth Major, The Players Championship, is up and running with a stellar field eyeing glory at TPC Sawgrass.

Australia’s Open champion Cameron Smith won at the iconic golf course at Ponte Vedra Beach last year as he held off challenges from Anirban Lahiri, Paul Casey and Kevin Kisner.

However, Smith is not back to try and defend his title as LIV Golf players have not been invited to The Players this year.

Instead, Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler and Jon Rahm will be among those striving for victory.

TPC Sawgrass is famous the world over for its Island Green, par-3 17th that has produced countless memorable moments over the years.

It will no doubt create more drama this Sunday as golf’s best eye glory and gear up for the four Majors this summer.

The Players 2023: Date and how to follow

The Players is being held between Thursday, March 9 and Sunday, March 12.

Play will begin at 11:50am UK time over the opening two rounds.

It is taking place at the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass. The course is a par 72 and will measure 7,189 yards in length.

There will be 144 players in the field before the cut on Friday night.

talkSPORT 2 will have live commentary of all four days from Florida. Click here to tune in.

You can listen to talkSPORT 2 on DAB, by downloading the talkSPORT App and swiping left or simply asking your smart speaker to play talkSPORT 2

The action will also be shown on Sky Sports Golf throughout the week.

The Players 2023: Field and tee times

The Players is often hailed for having the most competitive field in golf with the top 50 players in the world rankings set to tee it up.

LIV Golf players have not been invited to the tournament meaning defending champion Smith will not take part.

Former Players champions Henrik Stenson, Sergio Garcia and Phil Mickelson will also miss out.

The groups and tee times for the opening two rounds have been confirmed and you can read the full list here.

There are two marquee groups with McIlroy, Scheffler and Rahm set to play together for the first two days. The trio have been locked in a thrilling battle to secure world number one status in recent weeks.

Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas and Max Homa have also been grouped together in another superstar line-up.

There is also a stellar European group with reigning US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick playing with Shane Lowry and Viktor Hovland.

The Players 2023: What has been said?

Reigning Players champion Smith says he’ll be going fishing this week instead of watching the action in Sawgrass.

He said: “I think it’ll be a pretty quiet week on the water.

“I think all the residents will be out watching the golf tournament. So I’ll be able to strap out and have the water to myself.”

On Tuesday, McIlroy was asked if Smith’s absence devalued the tournament.

He said: “Would it be better if the defending champion was here this week? Absolutely.

“But he made a decision that he felt was the best thing for him and he knew that decision was going to come with consequences – and one of the consequences is right now not being able to play on the PGA Tour.”

World number three McIlroy also admitted the emergence of LIV has forced change to drag the PGA Tour into the 21st century.

After months of discussion, the tour has come up with a new schedule which will include eight designated events with fields between 70 to 80 players, no cuts and more prize money.

McIlroy said: “I’m not going to sit here and lie, I think the emergence of LIV, or the emergence of a competitor to the PGA Tour, has benefited everyone that plays elite professional golf.

“I think when you’ve been the biggest golf league in the biggest market in the world for the last 60 years, there’s not a lot of incentive to innovate.

“This [LIV] has caused a ton of innovation at the PGA Tour and what was quite, I would say, an antiquated system is being revamped to try to mirror where we’re at in the world in the 21st century with the media landscape.

“The PGA Tour isn’t just competing with LIV Golf or other sports. It’s competing with Instagram and TikTok and everything else that’s trying to take eyeballs away from the PGA Tour as a product.

“So, yeah, you know, LIV coming along has definitely had a massive impact on the game but I think everyone who’s a professional golfer is going to benefit from it going forward.”