The five best groups for the first two rounds at the 2017 Players Championship
Another flagship PGA Tour event is on deck this week at TPC Sawgrass with some outrageous pairings
The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass has seen a significant number of renovations, and it is prepared for what should be another outstanding Players Championship. The tournament starts on Thursday, but the pairings were released on Monday, and there are some absolute gems.
The toughest field in golf also boasts some of the best threesomes on Thursday and Friday with a "should we alert NASA" trio of Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas leading the charge. Here are the five best groups over the first two days at Sawgrass.
1. Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas (1:52 p.m. on Thursday): Hide the children, call the international space station and prepare the rocket emojis because this is going to be a show.
2. Rickie Fowler, Henrik Stenson, Jason Day (8:16 a.m.): A group of three Players Championship winners including the last two in Fowler and Day. Stenson won in 2009. All three, though, are coming into the week without their best form. Stenson has missed four cuts in a row and Day and Fowler missed the cut as a team at the Zurich Classic a few weeks ago.
3. Jordan Spieth, Phil Mickelson, Hideki Matsuyama (8:27 a.m.): I imagine Mickelson enjoys gambling in yen. This group will be the "entertaining as hell" threesome between Spieth barking, Matsuyama club-dropping and Mickelson trying to hole everything he looks at.
4. Jon Rahm, Justin Rose, Martin Kaymer (1:30 p.m.): A delectable platter of international greatness. Kaymer is the top dog here historically with a Players victory and two majors, but Rahm and Rose are both playing at an outrageous level right now.
5. Sergio Garcia, Adam Scott, Matt Kuchar (1:41 p.m.): All three are former Players Championship winners, but only one is making his first start since taking the Masters. We are a Kuchar win at Augusta National away from this being a trio of one-time Masters and Players champs.
















