For the sixth year in a row, the Players Championship has produced a winner who has been among the top 10 in the world rankings.
The PGA Tour's premier event delivered a compelling finish once again -- this time with Rory McIlroy beating out J.J. Spaun in a three-hole playoff Monday -- and has set up the remainder of the golf season with plenty of intriguing storylines as the Masters and the rest of the major championships loom.
Here are four takeaways from this year's Players Championship.
McIlroy's hot start bodes well for Augusta and beyond
We have been down this road before and seen McIlroy struggle to translate any kind of early-season success to the Masters. But this kind of start to the season is unprecedented territory. For the first time in his career, McIlroy has won twice on Tour before the end of April. This marks the first time he will have multiple worldwide wins in the four months leading up to the Masters.
What does all of that mean? History tells us it could mean nothing. McIlroy's form at Augusta, even when he has been trending up, hasn't produced a victory or even a consistent trend of results. His last four appearances at the tournament are a missed cut, a backdoor second-place finish, another missed cut and a tie for 22nd. There's not exactly a trend there.
And yet over the past three seasons, no one has had more consistent elite performances at majors than McIlroy. In his past 12 major appearances, he has eight top-10 finishes. His sheer ability to be near the top of the leaderboard at the sport's biggest events is unparalleled. It also boggles the mind how he hasn't won one. And there lies the big question.
McIlroy is playing arguably some of the best golf of his career and certainly of any player in the world. The confidence derived by two comeback victories in marquee events cannot be understated. But even though it would be easy to say this is the momentum he needed going into his 11th year without a major, the reality is that it likely only serves to add more pressure to an already-pressurized situation. After all, this is someone who has had three heart-wrenching losses at majors in the past three years.
"People say pressure is a privilege, and it really is," McIlroy said Monday after winning the Players. "You want to feel like that on the course. That's why I spend the time that I do practicing and trying to master my craft, that you get yourself in those positions to see what you're made of."
Akshay Bhatia is (almost) ready for his close-up
At just 23 years old, Bhatia has slowly made his way through the pro ranks (he opted not to go to college and turned pro at 19) and he's now playing top-tier golf. Bhatia has already won two PGA Tour events (the 2024 Valero Open and 2023 Barracuda Championship) but while it feels like he has arrived, this week's performance at the Players, where he finished two shots back of McIlroy, was also a reminder that he still has some work to do.
Heading into Saturday tied for the lead, Bhatia's long, broomstick putter -- which has vastly improved his putting -- failed him. A short birdie miss on the second hole set the tone for the rest of the day, in which he lost almost a full stroke to the field on the greens and bogeyed 18 after another miss inside 10 feet. On Sunday, he missed three birdie putts within 12 feet on the last four holes that could have put him in a playoff with McIlroy and Spaun.
"I hit a lot of good putts, and it's a different feeling when you get more and more in contention. You just learn about your tendencies," Bhatia said. While disappointed, he recognized what an important step this last week was for him. "To be 23 and battling with Rory McIlroy, who I've looked up for years, is pretty cool."
Last season, Bhatia played in all four majors for the first time in his career. He missed two cuts and his best finish was a T-16 at the U.S. Open. It's still so early in his career, which makes his success already impressive, but his potential is even more tantalizing.
According to Data Golf, this season Bhatia is gaining strokes in every category but his short game. While there isn't one particular of his game that is truly elite yet, if he is able to square out his putting woes and sharpen up his short game, it wouldn't be a surprise to see him contend to win a major this year, maybe even next month.
Could frustration fuel or affect Scottie Scheffler?
While McIlroy finds himself lifting trophies and gaining confidence, the No. 1 player in the world is acquainting himself with a different emotion he didn't feel much of last season: frustration. Over the course of four days at TPC Sawgrass, Scheffler looked exasperated at times. He dropped his hands in disbelief, threw clubs a few times in anger and even tried to laughed through some painful moments.
That he still finished inside the top 20 is a testament to his overall talent and skill. Of course, Scheffler had a slow start to the year after missing two events with an injury he suffered on his right hand. That couldn't have helped in trying to get into a rhythm, but neither has the fact that his ball-striking isn't quite as dominant as it was last season. At least not yet.
Scheffler is seventh in strokes gained: approach (+1.06) while he was far and away the first in the category last season (+1.5). It doesn't feel like Scheffler will have trouble eventually getting all the way up to his customary form with more tournaments and rounds under his belt, but what may be more worrisome is his play around and on the greens. Last season, Scheffler was one of the five best in the world in strokes gained: around the green while he was able to get his putting to slightly above average.
This season, Scheffler has regressed in both of those categories, and you don't need stats to tell you what has been evident. He has been missing more short putts once again and failing to get up-and-down when he doesn't hit the green.
Don't tell Scheffler about these concerns, however. Even though the version of him that's on the course appears to be irked by his inconsistent play, Scheffler is still preaching patience. For Scheffler, a usually even-keeled but competitive individual, letting the frustration motivate him may not be a bad thing, either.
"I walk away from this week feeling close. I feel like there's some stuff that I need to work on at home, but I feel very close," Scheffler said Sunday. "I'm a competitive guy, and I felt like I could have played a lot better this week. I finished the week 4 under par. I felt like I played some better golf than that. But overall I don't feel far off by any means."
The Players is not the fifth major, but its identity should be clear
There is no real reason for why the Players Championship should be officially named golf's fifth major, but after spending this past week in Ponte Vedra, there's no real reason for why it should ever want to be.
Whether the Players has become comfortable in its own skin or simply leaned into what it actually is -- one of the best tournaments of the year at one of the best courses of the year -- this tournament has been able to craft an identity that's on an upward trajectory.
It begins with the course, which remains a pretty remarkable test for the world's best golfers. The way that TPC Sawgrass demands accuracy off the tee, only to then prompt creativity from most players once that fairway isn't hit, makes it as compelling as any major venue. McIlroy, who won despite hitting only 28 fairways this week, exhibited this to perfection.
The field may no longer be the strongest in golf with the advent of LIV, but it still attracts the top players. And for the past few years, it has produced numerous great winners while giving us compelling matchups between players at different levels, such as McIlroy and Spaun.
In some ways, the Players has tastefully combined aspects of the Waste Management Open atmosphere (to a far more controlled extent) with an elite course and some of the best players in the world to bring about a marquee event. It has the energy of a major without the moniker.
Some may see that as a detraction, but others view it as an asset. It's worth noting any player who is asked about the Players can't help but sing its praises.
There is no PGA Tour-PIF deal to speak of just yet, but once it does come and the tours are eventually united in some form, one event will be positioned to gain more than any other: the Players.