Players Championship field all but finalized with only one week to go

\The 146-man field is set for The Players Championship – with the possible exception of one of a handful of international players who can get to the TPC Sawgrass Players Stadium Course next week by winning the WGC-Cadillac Match Play at the Harding Park Golf Club in San Francisco beginning on Wednesday.

 

Ten non-members of the PGA Tour qualified for The Players off the top-50 on the World Golf Rankings through the Zurich Classic: Victor Dubuisson (22nd) of France, Jamie Donaldson (31st) of Wales, Anirban Lahiri (35th) of India, Branden Grace (39th) of South Africa, Bernd Weisberger (40th) of Austria, Stephen Gallacher (42nd) of Scotland, Joost Luiten (44th) of the Netherlands, Thongchai Jaidee (45th) of Thailand, Shane Lowry (48th) of Ireland and Danny Willett (49th) of England.

 

Dubisson, Donaldson and Gallacher were members of the winning European Ryder Cup team last year.

 

Those pros, along with the rest of the field, are required to commit to The Players by 5:00 p.m. on Friday or, if they're competing at that time, 30 minutes after the conclusion of their match at Harding Park. Already committed are defending champion Martin Kaymer, Masters champion Jordan Spieth, two-time Players champion Tiger Woods, 2007 Players champion Phil Mickelson and world No. 1-ranked Rory McIlroy.

 

The only remaining avenue to get into The Players is by winning this week. Seven players in the Match Play field have that opportunity: Marc Warren of Scotland, Alexander Levy of France, Tommy Fleetwood and Andy Sullivan of England, George Coetzee of South Africa, Mikko Ilonen of Finland and Miguel Angel Jimenez of Spain.

 

There also is the possibility of getting into The Players field off the alternates list, which is based on the current FedExCup points list through the Zurich Classic. That group is led by Daniel Berger (18th in FedExCup points), followed by Justin Thomas (40th), Martin Laird (48th), John Peterson (56th) and Tony Finau (67th).

 

Alternates would not be added unless the field falls below 144 players due to withdrawals. To date, only 2010 Players champion Tim Clark (elbow injury) has informed the PGA Tour he won't be playing.

 

The Players week begins on May 5 with Military Appreciation Day. Practice rounds will be that day and May 6, with competitive rounds May 7-10.

 

2015 PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIERS

 

Listed by priority of eligibility category

 

Tournament winners since 2014 Players: Martin Kaymer, Brendon Todd, Adam Scott, Hideki Matsuyama, Ben Crane, Kevin Streelman, Justin Rose, Angel Cabrera, Brian Harman, Rory McIlroy, Tim Clark, Geoff Ogilvy, Hunter Mahan, Chris Kirk, Billy Horschel, Sang-Moon Bae, Ben Martin, Robert Streb, Ryan Moore, Bubba Watson, Nick Taylor, Charley Hoffman, Patrick Reed, Jimmy Walker, Bill Haas, Brooks Koepka, Jason Day, Brandt Snedeker, James Hahn, Padraig Harrington, Dustin Johnson, Alex Cejka, Jordan Spieth, Matt Every, J.B. Holmes, Jim Furyk.

 

Top-125, 2013-2014 FedEx Cup standings: Matt Kuchar, Rickie Fowler, Sergio Garcia, Ryan Palmer, Zach Johnson, Russell Henley, Cameron Tringale, Gary Woodland, John Senden, Kevin Na, Webb Simpson, Morgan Hoffman, Stuart Appleby, Harris English, Keegan Bradley, Charles Howell III, Seung-Yul Noh, Graham DeLaet, Kevin Stadler, Russell Knox, Ernie Els, Charl Schwartzel, George McNeill, Chris Stroud, Chesson Hadley, Brian Stuard, Henrik Stenson, Kevin Chappell, Graeme McDowell, Daniel Summerhays, Marc Leishman, Steven Bowditch, William McGirt, Jerry Kelly, Carl Pettersson, Erik Compton, Will MacKenzie, Freddie Jacobson, Matt Jones, Phil Mickelson, K.J. Choi, Jason Bohn, Ryo Ishikawa, Jason Kokrak, David Hearn, Justin Hicks, Scott Langley, Ian Poulter, Brendan Steele, Stewart Cink, Bo Van Pelt, Gonzalo-Fernandez Castano, Shawn Stefani, Scott Stallings, Scott Brown, Vijay Singh, Danny Lee, Luke Donald, Jason Dufner, Brendon de Jonge, Jeff Overton, Michael Putnam, Andrew Svoboda, Paul Casey, John Huh, Billy Hurley III, Pat Perez, Robert Garrigus, Andres Romero, Troy Merritt, Jonas Blixt, Retief Goosen, Kevin Kisner, Nick Watney, Luke Guthrie, Lee Westwood, Rory Sabbatini, Bryce Molder, Brian Davis, Boo Weekley, Martin Flores, Ricky Barnes, Aaron Baddeley, Jhonattan Vegas, Steve Stricker, Michael Thompson, David Toms, Tim Wilkinson, Justin Leonard, Brice Garnett, Louis Oosthuizen, Robert Allenby.

 

Winner, 2014 Senior Players Championship: Bernhard Langer.

 

Web.com 2014 earnings leader: Adam Hadwin.

 

Web.com 2014 Finals earnings leader: Derek Fathauer.

 

Winners, Open Championship 2010-2014: Darren Clarke.

 

Medical exemptions: Spencer Levin, Scott Piercy.

 

Winners, Players Championship 2010-2014: Tiger Woods.

 

Top-50 World Golf Ranking: Victor Dubuisson, Jamie Donaldson, Anirban Lahiri, Branden Grace, Bernd Weisberger, Stephen Gallacher, Joost Luiten, Thongchai Jaidee, Shane Lowry, Danny Willett.

 

This article was written by Garry Smits from The Florida Times-Union and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.