5 reasons to watch The Players Championship

It was almost exactly a year ago that the PGA Tour joined other major sports leagues in suspending events due to the coronavirus pandemic.

With the move coming after just one round of play at The Players Championship, it's now been two years since the iconic tournament crowed a winner. That changes this week in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, with a star-studded field once again competing for one of golf's most prestigious prizes.

Here are five reasons to catch the action this week at TPC Sawgrass.

To watch Rory defend his title

Nobody has successfully defended at The Players since it moved to TPC Sawgrass in 1982, and Rory McIlroy lost the opportunity to become the first golfer to do so when last year's event was canceled after 18 holes. He gets another chance this week, entering the action still holding the crown from his 2019 victory. McIlroy has fallen from No. 2 to No. 11 in the Official World Golf Ranking since he hoisted that trophy, and he hasn't won since the WGC-HSBC Champions in November 2019. He's still churning out top-10 results at an impressive rate, but he didn't sound particularly confident after his 10th-place showing at last week's Arnold Palmer Invitational.

"There was some good parts this week again. Some stuff that I'm sort of, I don't know what the word is or how to describe it, but just a little dejected or - I don't know, like maybe, like maybe looking to go in a different direction," McIlroy said, according to ASAP Sports. "I don't know. I need something, I need a spark. I need something, and I just don't seem to have it. Some days it's good, some days it's not."

Perhaps a return to friendly grounds will be what McIlroy needs to get back on track. In his last seven trips to TPC Sawgrass, the 31-year-old has three other top-10 showings to go with his 2019 win.

To see what Bryson will do next

The most explosive show in golf comes to one of the sport's greatest venues fresh off an electrifying win at Bay Hill. Bryson DeChambeau didn't just capture victory in the Orlando area; the burly bomber caught the attention of the greater sporting world by bashing his tee shots on the famous par-5 sixth absurd distances over the lake on both Saturday and Sunday.

DeChambeau now has three wins in his last 15 starts, including his dominant victory in last year's U.S. Open at Winged Foot. Pete Dye-designed courses are notorious for punishing poor tee shots, but if the 27-year-old can keep his ball in play, he's arguably the biggest threat in the field to claim the massive first-place check.

Regardless of how he finishes, it's a safe bet there will be plenty of social media engagement throughout as DeChambeau attempts to overpower the layout at TPC Sawgrass.

We didn't get this last year

Though there are plenty of jokes to be made about the PGA Tour's attempts to shoehorn the "Fifth Major" label into the narrative around The Players Championship, there's no doubt the tournament delivers high drama with an outstanding field on a yearly basis. But after last year's mid-tournament cancelation, our only recent memories of the event are Hideki Matsuyama's sizzling opening-round 63 and an ill-timed Chainsmokers concert on the grounds.

Everyone is familiar with the cauldron that is the 17th hole, with its island green supplying a perfect theatre for some of golf's most dramatic moments. But while that par-3 hole often grabs headlines, the rest of the diabolical layout at TPC Sawgrass remains one of the game's greatest challenges - one that can often leave Tour pros looking like weekend hackers.

It might not be the purest golf we see on Tour, but the tricked-up layout was missed last year, and it will be great to have it back.

Spieth is riveting television once again

The incredible experience of watching Jordan Spieth play golf has been turned up a level in recent weeks. We're seeing less of the warning point for a wayward tee ball (though it's certainly not gone for good) ...

... And more of him picking the ball out of the hole following an incredible shot, like this ace at Bay Hill.

After a couple of years in the wilderness saw his world ranking plummet, Spieth has reeled off an impressive run over his last four events; three top-five finishes and a T15 result have the golf world buzzing at his return to relevance.

The challenging layout at TPC Sawgrass has given Spieth fits, with four missed cuts in his last five starts at The Players. If he can contend this week, it might be the truest sign that he's officially back and ready to win at Augusta in April.

You can watch every single shot in the tournament

Thanks to the Tour's rollout of a new feature called "Every Shot Live," fans can literally watch any player in the field hit all of his shots around the challenging layout. Want to watch every single shot from a certain player to see if he stretches the rules? That's now possible. Care to see what kind of wacky situation Spieth might find himself in on the course? That's now doable.

Under a new partnership with Amazon Web Services, the Tour will offer the service free during Thursday's opening round. PGA Tour Live subscribers can access it throughout the weekend. It's groundbreaking technology for golf fans, especially those looking to wager on the action they can now follow in full.