Qualifiers for The Sentry 2026
Hideki Matsuyama
Matsuyama made an 8-foot birdie putt on the par-5 18th hole at The Plantation Course at Kapalua, lightly pumping his fist in about the only emotion he showed all week. That put him at 35-under 257, breaking by one the 34-under par by Cameron Smith set at Kapalua in 2022.
Nick Taylor
Taylor and Nico Echavarria matched 16-under totals at Waialae Country Club, requiring overtime to decide a champion. Both players made birdie on the first playoff hole, the par-5 18th at Waialae, but Echavarria missed a 7-foot birdie on the second extra hole, also No. 18. Taylor converted from 3 feet for the win after a sublime 46-yard pitch from short of the green.
Sepp Straka
Sepp Straka had never entered a final round with a lead on the PGA TOUR until Sunday. In his two previous victories, he had to charge from far behind on the final day with no time to feel the nerves that roiled his stomach from the first tee onward at The American Express. Straka marched to victory after taking a four-shot lead into the final round at the venerable Coachella Valley tournament.
Harris English
English held onto his first 54-hole lead in four years, shooting a gutty 1-over 73 to win the Farmers Insurance Open by one stroke over Sam Stevens. While other names came and went on the leaderboard around him, it was the steady English that emerged. English parred the last 12 holes to finish 8-under and secure his fifth PGA TOUR victory, his first since the 2021 Travelers Championship.
Rory McIlroy
On a day when six players had at least a share of the lead, McIlroy took the top spot for good with an 18-foot birdie putt on the 10th hole into a stiff breeze along the Pacific. He effectively ended the drama with a towering drive and a 7-iron into the 571-yard 14th hole, setting up an eagle putt from just outside 25 feet. McIlroy won for the 27th time on the PGA TOUR and is 21st on the career victory list. He's been stuck on four majors since winning the PGA Championship 11 years ago, and that he is sure to be reminded of that as the Masters gets closers.
Thomas Detry
Detry earned his first PGA TOUR title Sunday at the WM Phoenix Open, closing with four straight birdies at TPC Scottsdale for a 24-under total. Detry began the final round with a five-stroke lead and extended it to six on the front nine; Berger pulled within three strokes midway through the final nine, but Detry answered the bell with four consecutive closing birdies at one of golf’s most raucous events. With his first professional victory since the Challenge Tour’s 2016 Bridgestone Challenge, Detry became the first Belgian to win on the PGA TOUR.
Ludvig Åberg
Åberg, who loves Torrey Pines and California, but whose bid to win here three weeks ago was derailed by illness, birdied holes 13-15 and two-putted the par-5 18th hole from 74 feet to shoot a final-round 66 and edge McNealy by one. It was his second PGA TOUR win, his first coming 455 days ago at The RSM Classic in fall 2023.
Brian Campbell
Brian Campbell cashed in on a huge break Sunday when his tee shot in a playoff bounced out of the trees and back into play, leading to a birdie on the second extra hole to win the Mexico Open over Aldrich Potgieter. Campbell, who closed with a 1-under 70 at Vidanta Vallarta, won for the first time since he turned pro a decade ago and the timing could not have been better. The victory sends him to the Masters, The Players Championship and the PGA Championship, along with five of the signature events left on the tour schedule.
Joe Highsmith
Highsmith had the lowest weekend score in PGA National history with a pair of 6-under 64s to win the Cognizant Classic. He is the first player in nine years to go from making the cut on the number to hoisting the trophy. Highsmith rallied from a four-shot deficit with three straight birdies around the turn and a 20-foot birdie putt on the par-3 17th that all but clinched it.
Russell Henley
Russell Henley delivered a late charge that would have made Arnold Palmer proud, capped off by chipping in for eagle on the 16th hole to rally with a 2-under 70 at Arnold Palmer's Bay Hill Club & Lodge on Sunday for the biggest victory of his career.
Karl Vilips
Vilips carded a final-round 64 at the Puerto Rico Open for a decisive three-stroke win at 26-under, earning the final spot in this week’s field at THE PLAYERS Championship. The 23-year-old Australian will compete in his adopted home region of northeast Florida, less than a month after returning from a back injury that delayed the start to his TOUR career after he earned his card via the 2024 Korn Ferry Tour – his first year as a pro after graduating from Stanford.
Rory McIlroy
McIlroy emerged victorious to win his 28th PGA TOUR title and become just the eighth man to win multiple PLAYERS Championships. It also was his second victory of the season, marking the first time McIlroy has won multiple PGA TOUR titles before April. He started the playoff with the sort of drive that has defined his career, exerting his biggest advantage over Spaun, then displayed the increased touch that McIlroy cites as proof that he’s a more complete player than ever. McIlroy went driver-wedge into the first hole of the playoff, the par-5 16th to take a one-stroke lead over Spaun, and it was over after Spaun’s misfortune on No. 17.
Viktor Hovland
Hovland won the Valspar Championship by one stroke Sunday, carding a final-round 67 at Innisbrook Resort’s Copperhead Course to finish at 11-under, one stroke clear of a hard-charging Justin Thomas, who bogeyed two of his final three holes for a closing 66. The Valspar is Hovland’s first PGA TOUR win since back-to-back titles at the BMW Championship and TOUR Championship in the summer of 2023 when he won the FedExCup and firmly established himself in professional golf’s elite tier.
Min Woo Lee
Lee won for the first time on TOUR with a 20-under 260 at Memorial Park Golf Course. He shot 66-64-63-67 through wind, rain, mist and sun on a burly and celebrated municipal golf course built almost a century ago and retouched in 2019 by Tom Doak. He joined seven other players in TOUR history to make the Texas Children’s their first win.