Justin Thomas is hoping to spark his comeback this week at the 2026 Players Championship.
The second round of the 2026 Players Championship begins Friday, March 13, at TPC Sawgrass’ Stadium Course in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
Thomas’s Comeback After Back Surgery
Two-time PGA champion Justin Thomas is showing some signs of life at the Players Championship.
Thomas missed the first part of the 2026 PGA Tour season while recovering from back surgery. His first start back at last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational did not go well.
He shot back-to-back 79s to miss the cut by a wide margin.
You’d think that treacherous TPC Sawgrass would present an even bigger problem for Thomas as he works to re-find his form. But based on his early play, you’d be wrong.
Thomas shot out of the gates Thursday morning, making birdies on his first three holes to quickly move to three under. That put him ahead of playing partner Scottie Scheffler in the early going. By day’s end, Thomas signed for a 68, putting him at four under and tied for second. The hot start sets him up nicely for Friday’s second round.
Second Round Tee Time
JT started on the 10th tee for the first round, so on Friday he’ll switch to a 1st-tee start and an afternoon tee time. Thomas will tee off for Round 2 on Friday at 1:42 p.m. ET alongside Scheffler and Tommy Fleetwood.
How to Watch
You can watch Friday’s second round of the 2026 Players Championship from 1-7 p.m. ET on Golf Channel. PGA Tour Live on ESPN+ will provide exclusive early streaming coverage starting at 7:30 a.m. ET on Friday, in addition to featured group and featured hole coverage.
Here are some of the complete Round 2 tee times and groupings for the Players Championship:
- 7:40 a.m. – Tom Hoge, Denny McCarthy, Nicolai Højgaard
- 7:52 a.m. – Patrick Rodgers, Kevin Roy, Marco Penge
- 8:04 a.m. – Chad Ramey, Alex Smalley, Pierceson Coody
- 8:16 a.m. – Kurt Kitayama, Harry Hall, Stephan Jaeger
- 8:28 a.m. – Keegan Bradley, David Ford, Chris Kirk
- 8:40 a.m. – Andrew Novak, Nick Taylor, Wyndham Clark
- 8:52 a.m. – Steven Fisk, William Mouw, Joe Highsmith
- 9:04 a.m. – Cameron Young, Davis Thompson, Sam Burns
- 9:16 a.m. – Nico Echavarria, Jason Day, Corey Conners
- 9:28 a.m. – Matthieu Pavon, S.H. Kim, Austin Smotherman
- 12:30 p.m. – Mackenzie Hughes, Eric Cole, Rico Hoey
- 12:42 p.m. – Max Homa, Daniel Berger, Michael Thorbjornsen
- 12:54 p.m. – Rasmus Højgaard, Danny Walker, Kristoffer Reitan
- 1:06 p.m. – Jhonattan Vegas, Taylor Pendrith, Alex Noren
- 1:18 p.m. – Akshay Bhatia, Brooks Koepka, Tony Finau
- 1:30 p.m. – Ludvig Åberg, Si Woo Kim
- 1:42 p.m. – Scottie Scheffler, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Thomas
- 1:54 p.m. – Viktor Hovland, Russell Henley, Robert MacIntyre
- 2:06 p.m. – Aldrich Potgieter, Jake Knapp, Sungjae Im
- 2:18 p.m. – Patton Kizzire, Seamus Power, Johnny Keefer
- 7:40 a.m. – Lee Hodges, Andrew Putnam, Sam Stevens
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