Players Championship 2023: Tee times and second-round schedule including Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm

A star-studded field will vie for one of the most prestigious titles in golf at The Players Championship.

Perhaps the most prized individual tournament outside of the majors, TPC Sawgrass again hosts the spring showpiece, with an extra layer of intrigue in 2023.

Cameron Smith becomes only the fourth player not to mount a defence of his Players crown, with the Australian - and indeed all defectors - unable to compete after joining the Saudi-backed breakaway LIV series.

Still, there are no shortage of contenders for the PGA Tour event, with Jon Rahm in supreme recent form and Rory McIlroy already a winner in 2023.

Here’s everything you need to know:

The 2023 Players Championship will be held from Thursday 9 March to Sunday 12 March at TPC Sawgrass in Jacksonville, Florida.

The opening groups for the first two rounds tee off from 6.50am ET (11.50am GMT), with the final groups underway at 1.51pm ET (6.51pm GMT).

Viewers in the United Kingdom can watch all of the action on Sky Sports Golf, with coverage due to begin at 11.30am GMT for the opening two rounds and 2pm GMT over the weekend. Subscribers can stream the event via the Sky Go app or player.

1st tee

6:50 a.m ET (11.50am GMT) -- David Lipsky, S.H. Kim, Tyson Alexander

7:01 a.m. (12.01pm) -- Kramer Hickok, Lee Hodges, Will Gordon

7:12 a.m. (12.12pm) -- Ben Griffin, Matthias Schwab, Justin Lower

7:23 a.m. (12.23pm) -- Sepp Straka, Garrick Higgo, Stewart Cink

7:34 a.m. (12.34pm) -- Chez Reavie, Tom Hoge, Francesco Molinari

7:45 a.m. (12.45pm) -- J.T. Poston, Lucas Glover, Matt Kuchar

7:56 a.m. (12.56pm) -- K.H. Lee, Martin Laird, Gary Woodland

8:07 a.m. (1.07pm) -- Ryan Brehm, Lanto Griffin, Scott Stallings

8:18 a.m. (1.18pm) -- Ryan Palmer, Patton Kizzire, Alex Smalley

8:29 a.m. (1.29pm) -- Dylan Frittelli, Jerry Kelly, Wyndham Clark

8:40 a.m. (1.40pm) -- Scott Piercy, James Hahn, Nick Watney

8:51 a.m. (1.51pm) -- Aaron Rai, Dylan Wu, Erik Barnes

11:50 a.m. (4.50pm) -- Danny Willett, Brandon Wu, Davis Thompson

12:01 p.m. (5.01pm) -- Adam Long, Hayden Buckley, Taylor Montgomery

12:12 p.m. (5.12pm) -- Tommy Fleetwood, Taylor Pendrith, Callum Tarren

12:23 p.m. (5.23pm) -- Si Woo Kim, Webb Simpson, Tyrrell Hatton

12:34 p.m. (5.34pm) -- Tony Finau, Tom Kim, Patrick Cantlay

12:45 p.m. (5.45pm) -- Collin Morikawa, Adam Scott, Rickie Fowler

12:56 p.m. (5.56pm) -- Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy

1:07 p.m. (6.07pm) -- Justin Rose, Billy Horschel, Hideki Matsuyama

1:18 p.m. (6.18pm) -- Nico Echavarria, Sungjae Im, Harris English

1:29 p.m. (6.29pm) --Jhonattan Vegas, Peter Malnati, Ryan Fox

1:40 p.m. (6.40pm) -- Adam Hadwin, Patrick Rodgers, Greyson Sigg

1:51 p.m. (6.51pm) -- Nick Hardy, Eric Cole, Harrison Endycott

10th tee

6:50 a.m. (11.50am) -- Kevin Tway, Russell Knox, Chesson Hadley

7:01 a.m. (12.01pm) -- Andrew Putnam, Maverick McNealy, Doc Redman

7:12 a.m. (12.12pm) -- Beau Hossler, Adam Schenk, Stephan Jaeger

7:23 a.m. (12.23pm) -- Lucas Herbert, Aaron Wise, Jason Day

7:34 a.m. (12.34pm) -- Matt Fitzpatrick, Viktor Hovland, Shane Lowry

7:45 a.m. (12.45pm) -- Kurt Kitayama, Will Zalatoris, Xander Schauffele

7:56 a.m. (12.56pm) -- Max Homa, Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth

8:07 a.m. (1.07pm) -- Sam Burns, Cameron Young, Sahith Theegala

8:18 a.m. (1.18pm) -- Chris Kirk, Seamus Power, Keegan Bradley

8:29 a.m. (1.29pm) -- Sam Ryder, Davis Riley, Taylor Moore

8:40 a.m. (1.40pm) -- Alex Noren, Thomas Detry, Max McGreevy

8:51 a.m. (1.51pm) -- Joseph Bramlett, Justin Suh, Andrew Novak

11:50 a.m. (4.50pm) -- Robby Shelton, Austin Smotherman, Min Woo Lee

12:01 p.m. (5.01pm) -- Kevin Streelman, Denny McCarthy, Matthew NeSmith

12:12 p.m. (5.12pm) -- Byeong Hun An, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Doug Ghim

12:23 p.m. (5.23pm) -- Michael Thompson, Brendon Todd, Keith Mitchell

12:34 p.m. (5.34pm) -- Kevin Kisner, Nick Taylor, Corey Conners

12:45 p.m. (5.45pm) -- Trey Mullinax, Cam Davis, Tyler Duncan

12:56 p.m. (5.56pm) -- Adam Svensson, Joel Dahmen, Robert Streb

1:07 p.m. (6.07pm) -- J.J. Spaun, Chad Ramey, Luke List

1:18 p.m. (6.18pm) -- Russell Henley, Mackenzie Hughes, Brian Harman

1:29 p.m. (6.29pm) -- Emiliano Grillo, Mark Hubbard, Matt Wallace

1:40 p.m. (6.40pm) -- Nate Lashley, Troy Merritt, Kelly Kraft

1:51 p.m. (6.51pm) -- Aaron Baddeley, David Lingmerth, Ben Martin

Rory McIlroy 9/1

Jon Rahm 10//1

Scottie Scheffler 10/1

Patrick Cantlay 14/1

Justin Thomas 18/1

Max Homa 20/1

Xander Schauffele 22/1

Collin Morikawa 22/1

Viktor Hovland 25/1

Jason Day 28/1

Tony Finau 28/1

Will Zalatoris 30/1

Tyrell Hatton 30/1

Cameron Young 28/1

Sung-Jae Im 28/1

Tom Kim 30/1

Jordan Spieth 33/1

Keegan Bradley 33/1

Shane Lowry 33/1

Keith Mitchell 35/1

Corey Conners 40/1

Rickie Fowler 40/1

Sahith Theegala 50/1

Tommy Fleetwood 50/1

Chris Kirk 55/1

Sam Burns 55/1

Si Woo Kim 55/1

Harris English 60/1

Hideki Matsuyama 60/1

Kurt Kitayama 60/1

Adam Scott 66/1

Justin Rose 66/1

Seamus Power 66/1

Tips and prediction

Jordan Spieth appears close, but there are still some wrinkles in his game he must iron out and TPC has never been especially kind to him with five cuts a T48 and T41 in his last seven appearances, although he finished T4 on debut in 2014.

An outsider has as big a chance as the stars based on history, given Smith was as long as 40/1 last year, while Webb Simpson (2018), Si Woo Kim (2017) and even Rickie Fowler (2015) triumphed with big prices.

While a repeat winner is rare, with Tiger Woods (2013) the only player to win multiple times since 2013. So if we ignore the big hitters at the top of the list of odds, we like Jason Day, given his return to form and big win here in 2016, not to mention T6 in 2011, T5 in 2018 and T8 in 2019. Look at his PGA Tour form, too: T7, 5, T9, T10. A breakthrough is coming it seems.