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