Players Championship 2017 live stream: Time, TV schedule, and how to watch Round 2 online

The Players is one of the best events in golf for TV. Here’s how to watch and stream the second round from TPC Sawgrass.

The Players Championship isn’t just golf’s unofficial fifth major — it’s also one of the most beautiful backdrops on the PGA Tour. TPC Sawgrass’s iconic 17th hole is one of the sport’s most recognizable settings — and the most likely place to catch one of the world’s best golfers cursing under his breath after swirling winds carry a wedge shot into the water that surrounds the island green.

Through one day of action, William McGirt avoided those frustrations. The 13-year pro was a surprise presence atop the leaderboard, where he shares the top spot with Canadian Mackenzie Hughes. That duo will have to fend off a field dotted with elite golfers to run all the way to the title and a $1.89 million payday. Stars like Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy, Jason Day, and Sergio Garcia are all lurking, waiting to make their move up the standings before this weekend’s deciding rounds.

You can catch all the club-bending, soft-swearing frustration Friday as the second round of The Players Championship gets underway. May’s marquee event starts bright and early as the day’s first groups tee off at 7:10 a.m. If you’re looking to sleep in, the heavy hitters won’t take their place on the course until an hour later, when Sergio Garcia, Adam Scott, and Matt Kuchar get their call. You’ll need a PGA Tour Live subscription to follow them from hole to hole, but the Golf Channel will have blanket coverage throughout the day.

The afternoon broadcast will feature some of the sport’s biggest names. Three of the world’s top five golfers will tee off between 1:41 and 1:52 when Day, Jordan Spieth, and Hideki Matsuyama hit the links. They’ll be joined by some big names as well — Phil Mickelson, Rickie Fowler, and Henrik Stenson round out their two groups.

While those standouts make their run at the top of the standings, a few surprising names will have to do work just to make Friday’s cut. 2017 Masters champion Garcia has a history of strong performances at Sawgrass and won the event back in 2008. On Thursday, he sunk to the bottom of the leaderboard with a +4 start over his first nine holes. Another Masters winner, Bubba Watson, was even worse. His +5 score over the same span helped insulate Garcia from the bottom of the standings.

They’ve got 18 more holes to make a difference in the game’s most prestigious non-major. With a $10.5 million purse at stake, failure to make the cut at The Players Championship is a costly one. Here’s how you can watch all Friday’s action on television and online.

Friday's second-round coverage

Television:

9 a.m. - 1 p.m. — Golf Channel "Live From" The Players

1 p.m. - 7 p.m. — Golf Channel

Online streams:

7:30 a.m. — PGA Tour Live starts with coverage from range and opening holes

Featured Groups (PGA Tour Live subscription required)

• 8:16 a.m. — Sergio Garcia / Adam Scott / Matt Kuchar
• 8:27 a.m. — Dustin Johnson / Justin Thomas / Rory McIlroy
• 1:52 p.m. — Jordan Spieth / Hideki Matsuyama / Phil Mickelson

9 a.m. - 7 p.m. — PGA Tour Live featured holes coverage -- Nos. 12 & 17 (No subscription required)

1 p.m. - 7 p.m. — Golf Channel simulcast stream

Radio:

Noon - 7 p.m. — PGA Tour Radio on Sirius-XM (Ch. 93/208 and streamed here)