The 2026 Players Championship produced several high-profile early exits at tpc sawgrass location, with Shane Lowry’s late Thursday collapse among the most dramatic. Lowry’s quadruple bogey on the 18th — the 1, 000th tee shot hit into the water on the finishing hole since 2003 — left him 4-over and unable to recover into the weekend. Several other established names also failed to advance or withdrew during the opening rounds.
Tpc Sawgrass Location: Surprise Exits And Key Moments
Lowry arrived at the 18th tee on Thursday at even par but surrendered the advantage with a shot that splashed into the island-water hazard, turning an even-par position into a quadruple bogey and a 4-over finish for the round. The result meant Lowry, who has five top-20s in 10 appearances at TPC Sawgrass and had been coming off a near-win two weeks earlier at the Cognizant Classic, would not play the weekend at the event.
Other Notable Misses And Withdrawals
One pre-tournament favorite withdrew early when Morikawa tweaked his back on his second hole on Thursday and did not complete 36 holes, earning an honorable mention on the list of notable absences. A first-round 77 ended Dahmen’s week after solid recent play. Kitayama, who had been playing well entering the week, failed to find form and missed the cut. Knapp, who had been in strong early-season form but was a late withdrawal from the prior week’s event, did not have his best stuff at tpc sawgrass location and missed advancing.
English — the No. 16-ranked player in the world who had not missed a cut since last year’s Arnold Palmer Invitational and had not finished worse than T28 in six starts this season — recorded a quadruple-bogey 8 on the 18th hole (his ninth of the day) on Friday, which ended his tournament. Griffin, one of the hottest players the previous season with multiple wins and a Ryder Cup appearance, has seen his play tail off to start this season; his best showing entering this week was a T19 at the Sony Open, and he was losing strokes off the tee and on approach.
Leaderboard Snapshot And Weekend Picture
Despite the notable exits, some top names narrowly advanced: Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy barely made the cut. Ludvig Aberg and Xander Schauffele are atop the leaderboard, and most of the tour’s big names have a Saturday tee time. The players who missed the cut or withdrew will not be part of the weekend field at TPC Sawgrass, leaving the tournament’s leaderboard to be decided over the remaining rounds.
