![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/poster-fallback.png\"\/)
<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, Rory McIlroy has cast a shadow over his defense of the Players Championship after revealing that the back problem which forced his withdrawal from the Arnold Palmer Invitational needed more treatment. <\/p>\n
The Golf Channel television network quoted a text sent by McIlroy which said the Northern Ireland star was delaying his arrival at TPC Sawgrass this week to Wednesday. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe back is being a bit more stubborn that we thought, so I\u2019m staying at home today and tomorrow to continue treatment in South Florida with the hope to travel to Ponte Vedra on Wednesday at some point,\u201d McIlroy was quoted by the network as saying. <\/p>\n
On Saturday, McIlroy withdrew from the third round of the Arnold Palmer at Bay Hill after feeling a \u201csmall twinge\u201d in his back while warming up in the gym. <\/p>\n
He later complained of muscle spasms in his lower back after hitting balls on the driving range, prompting his decision to withdraw. <\/p>\n
McIlroy\u2019s back problem comes at a critical period of the season for the five-time major winner.<\/p>\n
He had been hoping to defend his Players crown in Florida this week before turning his attention to the defense of his Masters title at Augusta next month.<\/p>\n
McIlroy is slated to join Xander Schauffele and Hideki Matsuyama the first two rounds.<\/p>\n
Berger leads Arnold Palmer Invitational | 00:45<\/p>\n
2026 PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP TEE TIMES<\/p>\n
All times AEDT<\/p>\n
Round 1: No. 1 tee, Round 2: No. 10 tee <\/p>\n
10:40 pm, 3:30 am: Mark Hubbard, Thorbj\u00f8rn Olesen, Mac Meissner<\/p>\n
10:52 pm, 3:42 am: Bud Cauley, Vince Whaley, Chandler Phillips<\/p>\n
11:04 pm, 3:54 am: Emiliano Grillo, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Max Greyserman<\/p>\n
11:16 pm, 4:06 am: Kevin Yu, Cam Davis, Gary Woodland<\/p>\n
11:28 pm, 4:18 am: Ricky Castillo, Ryan Gerard, Patrick Cantlay<\/p>\n
11:40 pm, 4:30 am: Adam Schenk, Garrick Higgo, Matt McCarty<\/p>\n
11:52 pm, 4:42 am: Brian Harman, Maverick McNealy, Davis Riley<\/p>\n
12:04 am, 4:54 am: Sami Valimaki, Lucas Glover, Matt Fitzpatrick<\/p>\n
12:16 am, 5:06 am: Michael Brennan, Harris English, JT Poston<\/p>\n
12:28 am, 5:18 am: Haotong Li, Zecheng Dou, Jordan Smith<\/p>\n
Round 1: No. 10 tee, Round 2: No. 1 tee<\/p>\n
10:40 pm, 3:30 am: Mackenzie Hughes, Eric Cole, Rico Hoey<\/p>\n
10:52 pm, 3:42 am: Max Homa, Daniel Berger, Michael Thorbjornsen<\/p>\n
11:04 pm, 3:54 am: Rasmus H\u00f8jgaard, Danny Walker, Kristoffer Reitan<\/p>\n
11:16 pm, 4:06 am: Jhonattan Vegas, Taylor Pendrith, Alex Noren<\/p>\n
11:28 pm, 4:18 am: Akshay Bhatia, Brooks Koepka, Tony Finau<\/p>\n
11:40 pm, 4:30 am: Collin Morikawa, Ludvig \u00c5berg, Si Woo Kim<\/p>\n
11:52 pm, 4:42 am: Scottie Scheffler, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Thomas<\/p>\n
12:04 am, 4:54 am: Viktor Hovland, Russell Henley, Robert MacIntyre<\/p>\n
12:16 am, 5:06 am: Aldrich Potgieter, Jake Knapp, Sungjae Im<\/p>\n
12:28 am, 5:18 am: Patton Kizzire, Seamus Power, Johnny Keefer<\/p>\n
Round 1: No. 1 tee, Round 2: No. 10 tee<\/p>\n
3:30 am, 10:40 pm: Lee Hodges, Andrew Putnam, Sam Stevens<\/p>\n
3:42 am, 10:52 pm: Erik van Rooyen, Keith Mitchell, Michael Kim<\/p>\n
3:54 am, 11:04 pm: Taylor Moore, Joel Dahmen, Ryo Hisatsune<\/p>\n
4:06 am, 11:16 pm: Jacob Bridgeman, Ben Griffin, Adam Scott<\/p>\n
4:18 am, 11:28 pm: JJ Spaun, Sepp Straka, Shane Lowry<\/p>\n
4:30 am, 11:40 pm: Sahith Theegala, Rickie Fowler, Jordan Spieth<\/p>\n
4:42 am, 11:52 pm: Xander Schauffele, Rory McIlroy, Hideki Matsuyama<\/p>\n
4:54 am, 12:04 am: Chris Gotterup, Justin Rose, Min Woo Lee<\/p>\n
5:06 am, 12:16 am: Brian Campbell, Karl Vilips, Aaron Rai<\/p>\n
5:18 am, 12:28 am: Matti Schmid, Max McGreevy, Takumi Kanaya<\/p>\n
5:30 am, 12:40 am: Zach Bauchou, Sudarshan Yellamaraju, AJ Ewart<\/p>\n
Round 1: No. 10 tee, Round 2: No. 1 tee<\/p>\n
3:30 am, 10:40 pm: Tom Hoge, Denny McCarthy, Nicolai H\u00f8jgaard<\/p>\n
3:42 am, 10:52 pm: Patrick Rodgers, Kevin Roy, Marco Penge<\/p>\n
3:54 am, 11:04 pm: Chad Ramey, Alex Smalley, Pierceson Coody<\/p>\n
4:06 am, 11:16 pm: Kurt Kitayama, Harry Hall, Stephan Jaeger<\/p>\n
4:18 am, 11:28 pm: Keegan Bradley, Ryan Fox, Chris Kirk<\/p>\n
4:30 am, 11:40 pm: Andrew Novak, Nick Taylor, Wyndham Clark<\/p>\n
4:42 am, 11:52 pm: Steven Fisk, William Mouw, Joe Highsmith<\/p>\n
4:54 am, 12:04 am: Cameron Young, Davis Thompson, Sam Burns<\/p>\n
5:06 am, 12:16 am: Nico Echavarria, Jason Day, Corey Conners<\/p>\n
5:18 am, 12:28 am: Matthieu Pavon, SH Kim, Austin Smotherman<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The tee times for the 2026 Players Championship have been revealed, headlined by some blockbuster groups for the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":530777,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[6938,5487,2620,6954,33062,2095,6950,228211,49720,64,63,689,263655,15814,263654,11852,6929,33066,263658,263286,42340,125854,38616,6930,6936,263659,221548,34912,42312,42339,263281,2057,2755,2105,755,11775,9242,140459,19972,5499,42335,33060,263651,6928,6920,6919,34916,125857,42332,176956,6944,42351,6937,34914,263287,263656,6925,31676,232120,234121,42326,42338,34913,2041,2067,3583,5492,677,2785,67058,42327,263290,263657,6960,263653,125853,6924,756,42357,42311,42358,1656,85,42359,263293,34909,256862,6953,5493,205089,42353,42347,6932,2614,263652,125858,6959],"class_list":{"0":"post-530776","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-aaron-rai","9":"tag-adam-scott","10":"tag-agence-france-presse","11":"tag-akshay-bhatia","12":"tag-alex-noren","13":"tag-america","14":"tag-andrew-novak","15":"tag-andrew-putnam","16":"tag-arnold-palmer","17":"tag-au","18":"tag-australia","19":"tag-australia-and-new-zealand","20":"tag-back-problem","21":"tag-ben-griffin","22":"tag-blockbuster-groups","23":"tag-brian-campbell","24":"tag-brian-harman","25":"tag-cam-davis","26":"tag-championship-tee-times","27":"tag-chandler-phillips","28":"tag-chris-kirk","29":"tag-christiaan-bezuidenhout","30":"tag-collin-morikawa","31":"tag-corey-conners","32":"tag-daniel-berger","33":"tag-danny-walker","34":"tag-davis-riley","35":"tag-davis-thompson","36":"tag-denny-mccarthy","37":"tag-emiliano-grillo","38":"tag-eric-cole","39":"tag-europe","40":"tag-florida","41":"tag-getty-images-inc","42":"tag-golf","43":"tag-golf-channel","44":"tag-haotong-li","45":"tag-hideki-matsuyama","46":"tag-injury-update","47":"tag-jason-day","48":"tag-joe-highsmith","49":"tag-joel-dahmen","50":"tag-johnny-keefer","51":"tag-jordan-smith","52":"tag-justin-rose","53":"tag-justin-thomas","54":"tag-keith-mitchell","55":"tag-kevin-roy","56":"tag-kevin-yu","57":"tag-lee-hodges","58":"tag-lucas-glover","59":"tag-mackenzie-hughes","60":"tag-matt-fitzpatrick","61":"tag-matt-mccarty","62":"tag-matthieu-pavon","63":"tag-matti-schmid","64":"tag-maverick-mcnealy","65":"tag-max-homa","66":"tag-max-mcgreevy","67":"tag-michael-brennan","68":"tag-michael-kim","69":"tag-nick-taylor","70":"tag-nico-echavarria","71":"tag-north-america","72":"tag-northern-america","73":"tag-northern-europe","74":"tag-northern-ireland","75":"tag-oceania","76":"tag-orlando","77":"tag-orlando-ramirez","78":"tag-patrick-rodgers","79":"tag-patton-kizzire","80":"tag-players-championship-tee","81":"tag-rickie-fowler","82":"tag-ricky-castillo","83":"tag-rico-hoey","84":"tag-robert-macintyre","85":"tag-rory-mcilroy","86":"tag-ryan-fox","87":"tag-ryan-gerard","88":"tag-sam-stevens","89":"tag-shane-lowry","90":"tag-sports","91":"tag-stephan-jaeger","92":"tag-steven-fisk","93":"tag-sungjae-im","94":"tag-taylor-moore","95":"tag-tee-times","96":"tag-tee-times-inc","97":"tag-television-network","98":"tag-tom-hoge","99":"tag-tommy-fleetwood","100":"tag-tony-finau","101":"tag-united-states-of-america","102":"tag-vince-whaley","103":"tag-william-mouw","104":"tag-wyndham-clark"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530776","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=530776"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530776\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/530777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=530776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=530776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=530776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}