Five first-timers who could factor at THE PLAYERS

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – This year’s class of PLAYERS Championship first-timers spans the spectrum of professional golf. The 22-member class includes two 2023 European Ryder Cuppers (Ludvig Åberg and Nicolai Højgaard), four players who have already won on TOUR this season (Matthieu Pavon, Jake Knapp, Austin Eckroat and Nick Dunlap), and even 42-year-old David Skinns, who has yet to make a start in THE PLAYERS or a major.

There’s Akshay Bhatia, 22, a TOUR winner and YouTube content creator whose PLAYERS prep included reviewing YouTube highlights of Rickie Fowler’s 2015 PLAYERS win – and there’s Chan Kim, 33, an eight-time Japan Golf Tour winner.

Kim, a 14-year pro, crystallized the morning’s ethos at Wednesday’s traditional First Timers Press Conference on TPC Sawgrass’ back lawn, right outside the clubhouse: Golf’s next wave of young stars might just be beginning to crest.

“They’re basically creating super-athletes straight out of college,” Kim said. “When they step out here, they’re not scared of anything; they’re ready to go. It’s pretty special to see, and hopefully, I just keep up with them, to be honest.”

Ten years ago, Jordan Spieth wowed the Northeast Florida fans as a PLAYERS first-timer, sharing the 54-hole lead before finishing T4. That sparked him to a banner year, in 2015, where he won two majors and the FedExCup.

Which PLAYERS first-timer could follow this arc? There’s an ample selection from which to choose.

“It’s fun to see what might be the next generation of golf,” Eckroat said, “getting their foot in the ground, in the door and winning.”

Here's a closer look at five PLAYERS first-timers who could factor this week at TPC Sawgrass’ PLAYERS Stadium Course.

1. Ludvig Åberg

To some extent, Åberg arrived here in reverse.

The long-hitting Swede has ascended to No. 10 in the world, less than a year after completing his college golf career at Texas Tech and earning his TOUR card as the top-ranked player on PGA TOUR University. He has already played on a winning European Ryder Cup team and earned his first TOUR title at The RSM Classic last fall.

Åberg has earned bountiful accolades to this point, and his PLAYERS debut is a continuation of his fast track. It could seem counterintuitive, but he has yet to play in a major championship. This week’s test serves as a natural conveyor to the 2024 major championship season, at the TOUR’s premier event.

“I'm still doing a lot of these things for the first time,” Åberg said Wednesday. “And even though I'm at a different stage now than I was a couple of months ago, I still experience a lot of things for the first time. And I think being okay with all those things coming at you at the same time is what I'm trying to do.”

He has done that pretty well so far.

2. Akshay Bhatia

Six years ago, Bhatia lost in a playoff at the Junior PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass. He remembers being bogey-free through 17 holes of the opening round, then hitting his tee shot at the water-logged par-4 18th into the water and making double bogey. Despite that scar, the week resonated with him – players were treated like pros, TOUR equipment vans and all, and he resolved to make it back as a pro.

After winning last summer’s Barracuda Championship as a Special Temporary Member, Bhatia earned full TOUR status through 2025, including a spot in his first PLAYERS this week.

“Just going through the clubhouse, taking a peek in the winner’s locker room and everything about it, it’s just really cool,” Bhatia said Wednesday. “The golf course has so much history, and being the 50th (PLAYERS) is obviously really special for us.

“I watched (Fowler’s 2015) highlights a couple weeks ago on YouTube, and just everything he did, everything that came to him at the right time, was pretty surreal. It doesn’t seem that long ago, but it was … He’s super chill, and it’s just cool watching him that long ago and now we’re putting around or hitting balls next to each other.”

Bhatia has earned that right.

3. Austin Eckroat

Nothing seems to faze Eckroat, 25, who earned his first TOUR title in convincing fashion at the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches earlier this month, striping shot after shot through PGA National’s famed Bear Trap for a three-stroke win.

Now the Oklahoma State alum readies for his first PLAYERS at TPC Sawgrass, where he previously competed at the 2015 Junior PLAYERS. Eckroat’s progression has been constant; he began going to the range with his father Steve at age 2, he won two individual Oklahoma high school state championships and he earned his first TOUR card through the 2022 Korn Ferry Tour Finals in his second year as a pro.

Eckroat, who finished T10 at last year’s U.S. Open, relishes this stage. This marks his first trip back to TPC Sawgrass since 2015, and he had yet to play the back nine upon meeting the media Wednesday morning, but he noted the par-5 16th (along with the par-5 second) as a hole that requires a draw shot-shape.

“You have to drive the golf ball great,” Eckroat said of TPC Sawgrass. “The rough is long and the greens are pure … it’s all going to come down to how many fairways you’re hitting.

“It’s awesome (to be here). It has a major-championship feel to it … This feels like a big, big event.”

Just the way he likes it.

4. Jake Knapp

After eight years as a pro, including five PGA TOUR Canada seasons and three years on the Korn Ferry Tour, Knapp didn’t waste time in making an impact as a TOUR rookie. He has notched three top-five finishes this season, including a win at the Mexico Open at Vidanta, to earn a spot in his first PLAYERS.

During the fall of 2021 and the spring of 2022, Knapp spent nine months as a bouncer to support his golf career. En route to his maiden TOUR title in Mexico, a side-profile photo of Knapp working security at The Country Club in Costa Mesa, California, made the rounds on social media.

“I definitely didn’t expect (the photo) to be run with that much,” Knapp laughed Wednesday at TPC Sawgrass. “That’s the one thing I wanted to make clear to everybody, the only statement I wanted to make, is that I’m not a bouncer that decided to play golf; I’ve been playing since I was 3 years old, I competed at UCLA for national championships; professionally, I haven’t had a lot of success – I had some wins in Canada and I’ve been alright, just haven’t been able to figure it out quite yet, and just kind of matured and got better.

“I feel like I’m right where I need to be.”

This week, he’s at THE PLAYERS, ranked No. 8 in the FedExCup and rapidly ascending on the Official World Golf Ranking (world No. 45, his career high). That’s a good spot to be.

5. Nick Dunlap

Justin Thomas earned a PGA TOUR card within two years of turning pro after his sophomore season at the University of Alabama.

Nick Dunlap accelerated that path, so much so that Thomas can’t fully comprehend the logistical challenges required – a mindset shift from homework and studying to game-planning for TOUR courses and week-to-week travel.

“It’s a very tough, quick adjustment for anybody,” Thomas said. “He can ask me for all the advice that he wants, but in terms of what he actually went through, I can’t relate.”

Dunlap’s former Alabama teammates were on-hand Tuesday, a day after completing the Hayt Invitational at Sawgrass Country Club (across the street from TPC Sawgrass), lending support to the 20-year-old phenom who won The American Express in January, becoming the first amateur to win a TOUR event since 1991.

Dunlap turned pro less than a week later, earning full TOUR status through 2026 – including a tee time at THE PLAYERS this week. It’s another new experience in a spring full of them.

“He’s probably the best player that I’ve ever seen,” said Jonathan Griz, his former teammate and still-roommate in Tuscaloosa. “Just to see his dreams come true, it’s fun for me, because I love him to death and I want him to play well every week. I’ve watched more golf than I ever have before, because I’m already refreshing the leaderboard, just because I care about him.”

He's not alone among the Crimson Tide faithful who will have a close eye on Dunlap’s progression at THE PLAYERS.

Elise Tallent contributed reporting