Rory McIlroy He was much criticized last year when he and Lee Westwood sat out the Players. Both are back this year. The No. 1-ranked player in the world has been brilliant this season, with the exception of the biggest event, the Masters (T40). McIlroy enters in fine form, finishing second last week at the Wells Fargo.
Phil Mickelson
Ten of the last 12 Players champions have come from behind on Sunday, including Mickelson, who passed Sean O’Hair in 2007 to win for the first time at Sawgrass. This has been an eventful week for Mickelson, who was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame on Monday.
Rickie Fowler
After winning for the first time on the PGA Tour last week at the Wells Fargo, Fowler tries to follow up. The win was the fourth combined this season for the “Golf Boys” — Fowler, Bubba Watson, Hunter Mahan and Ben Crane, who assembled last year for an infamous music video.
Tiger Woods
Which Tiger will show up this week? He missed the cut at the Wells Fargo and hasn’t broken 70 in his last eight rounds. But six weeks ago, Woods won the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Woods won the Players in 2001 but walked off the course with injuries the last two years.
K.J. Choi
The South Korean tries to become the first repeat champion in tournament history and the fifth straight international champion. Choi has been paired up in the first two rounds with former Players champions Tim Clark (2010) and Sergio Garcia (2008), the last PGA Tour win for both.
– Kevin Dunleavy
