Sky Sports to Launch New Channel Dedicated to The Players

Sky Sports is creating a brand new channel for golf's 'unofficial fifth major', The Players' Championship. By Harvey Jones

Sky Sports to Launch New Channel Dedicated to 'The Players'

For the first time ever The Players' Championship will have it's own channel on Sky Sports, which will include 45 hours of live coverage.

‘Sky Sports The Players’ will launch on Monday 8th May with behind-the-scenes features and documentaries, as well as a special preview show on Wednesday 10th May called ‘Live at the Players’.

The stellar tournament, known by many as 'the fifth major', has been played at the famous TPC Sawgrass course in Florida since 1982.

Past winners include Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia, and the iconic 17th par-3 island green has created numerous moments of drama over the years.

Along with the record-breaking coverage, Sky Sports will also launch its new Sky Zone studio on the range at the tournament, similar to what we saw in Sky's 2016 Open coverage at Troon, giving viewers a unique insight into players' warm-ups, swing and practice techniques.

The familiar Sky Sports team of David Livingstone, Butch Harmon, Paul McGinley and Rich Beem, will return to TPC Sawgrass this year.

Related: The Players Championship by the numbers

Sky Sports Head of Golf Jason Wessely said: Will Sergio kick-on from his Masters triumph, Dustin Johnson his sensational pre-injury form, or will the big three of Spieth, McIlroy and Day return to the winner’s circle?

"The Players has the look and feel of a Major, with the world’s best taking on one of golf’s most spectacular courses.

We’re incredibly excited to give the tournament the Sky Sports treatment, including a variety of new features to keep fans on top of the action.”

Everyone in the field will be looking to try and claim the $10 million prize, making The Players' the richest non-major tournament in golf with a total purse size $500,000 larger than that of the USPGA Championship.