Aberg Leading at TPC
Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg holds the 36‑hole lead at the 2026 Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass as the tournament heads into Round 3 — Rory McIlroy is lurking to defend his 2025 title and pairings/tee times are now set for the weekend 2026 Players Championship: Looking ahead to the weekend at TPC Sawgrass 2026 Players Championship Round 3 tee times & pairings.
Åberg closed Friday with a 9‑under [63 pgatour.com], firing two eagles and six birdies against a lone bogey to sit 12‑under 132 after 36 holes. golftoday.co.uk Xander Schauffele carded a 65 in Round 2 to move to 10‑under and sit two strokes [back golfweek.usatoday.com], while Cameron Young stood a stroke further behind at 9‑under after his second‑round numbers were [posted cincinnati.com]. Defending champion Rory McIlroy holed a clutch birdie on his closing hole to make the cut and was at 1‑over through 36 [holes pgatour.com], and he tees off Saturday in the early wave at 9:55 a.m. ET alongside Joe [Highsmith golfchannel.com]. The featured Saturday pairing sends Åberg out with Schauffele in the late afternoon final group at 2:35 p.m. [ET golfchannel.com], with third‑round coverage on NBC/Peacock beginning in the afternoon window (NBC scheduled 2–7 p.m. ET). golfchannel.com Åberg’s round included a front‑nine 29 that tied the Stadium Course nine‑hole mark, two chipped‑in birdies and a highlight‑reel approach to set up his closing birdie, and his tournament numbers show strong ball‑striking and a 74.1% GIR through two rounds. pgatour.com
