What to know for golf's 'fifth major'

This is an excerpt from The Buzzer, which is CBC Sports' daily email newsletter. Stay up to speed on what's happening in sports by subscribing here.

In some ways, it's hard to understand how the Players Championship is not an actual major. It's been around for a half century, fans love it, it's held at a famous course (Florida's TPC Sawgrass, featuring the iconic island 17th green) and the purse is bigger than any of the other four majors. A total of $25 million US is up for grabs this week, including $4.5 million to the winner. A fifth-place finish is worth more than a million bucks, and even a top-40 earns you over a hundred grand.

But there's one huge difference between this tournament and the majors: no one from LIV Golf is invited. As the PGA Tour's flagship event, the Players Championship is off-limits to any of the golfers who jumped ship for the renegade tour and its even-more-insane paydays.

That means reigning Masters champion Jon Rahm, five-time major champ Brooks Koepka and 2022 British Open and Players Championship winner Cameron Smith are persona non grata at Sawgrass, along with past major winners Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau, reigning LIV tour champion Talor Gooch and others. It'll probably remain this way unless the PGA Tour reaches a peace deal with LIV's Saudi backers. Here's the latest on that.

Here's what else to know for the 50th-anniversary edition of the Players, which tees off Thursday:

Scottie Scheffler is the man to beat.

After cruising to a five-shot victory last year, the world's top-ranked player is trying to become the first to win back-to-back Players Championships. Scheffler is a huge favourite in the betting markets following his dominant five-shot win Sunday in the prestigious Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, where he fired a final-round 66 to pocket a cool $4 million.

Though that was his first victory of the season, Scheffler has been incredibly consistent. In six starts this year, he has five top-10 finishes, three top-5s, and his worst result is a 17th. The 27-year-old Texan is so good in every facet of the game from tee to green that he's nearly unbeatable when his putting is on. But there's the rub: he ranks 107th on the tour in strokes gained with the flat stick.

After his putter caught fire at Bay Hill, Scheffler's betting odds of winning the Players are now between two and three times better than any of his opponents. That's reminiscent of Tiger Woods in his prime.

Speaking of Tiger…

He's not playing this week. The chronically injured 15-time major champion made his first official start in nearly a year at last month's Genesis Invitational in Los Angeles, only to withdraw early in the second round due to what he said was the flu. He hasn't been seen since.

Tiger said in December that he was aiming for "maybe a tournament a month" this year, so many fans assumed the Players would be his March date. But he didn't enter the tournament and hasn't provided an explanation for his absence. The Masters is a month away, so maybe he's just trying to get healthy for that.

Other players to watch:

Rory McIlroy is second behind Scheffler in the world rankings and the clear No. 2 in the betting markets for the Players. But the Northern Irishman is slumping. He's failed to crack the top 20 in any of his four PGA Tour starts this year.