Golf - The Players Championship
This tournament is famous for one hole - the dreaded 17th at The TPC at Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, USA.
A Par 3 island green surrounded by water provides a dramatic focus for what is often regarded as the "fifth major" - but that remains an unofficial title. The primacy of The Open, US Open, Masters and US PGA Championship continues.
Winning The Players earns the most world ranking points outside of the majors, but it is not recognised as being part of the European Tour schedule.
Originally known as the Tournament Players Championship, it was first played at Atlanta Country Club before moving to the Colonial in 1975 and Inverrary in 1976. In 1977 the event shifted permanently to Ponte Vedra Beach, initially at the Sawgrass Country Club before 1982 saw the historic transfer to the TPC at Sawgrass. The tournament was renamed as The Players Championship in 1988. The Players was staged in late March until it was shifted to May in 2007, to fill the void of the only month in the heart of the year without a stand-out tournament. It returned to its familiar March date from 2019 after the PGA was moved to May.
YEAR | WINNER | SCORE TO PAR |
1974 | JACK NICKLAUS (Usa) | -16 |
1975 | AL GEIBERGER (Usa) | -10 |
1976 | JACK NICKLAUS (Usa) | -19 |
1977 | MARK HAYES (Usa) | +1 |
1978 | JACK NICKLAUS (Usa) | +1 |
1979 | LANNY WADKINS (Usa) | -5 |
1980 | LEE TREVINO (Usa) | -10 |
1981 | RAY FLOYD (Usa)* | -3 |
1982 | JERRY PATE (Usa) | -8 |
1983 | HAL SUTTON (Usa) | -5 |
1984 | FRED COUPLES (Usa) | -11 |
1985 | CALVIN PEETE (Usa) | -14 |
1986 | JOHN MAHAFFEY (Usa) | -13 |
1987 | SANDY LYLE (Sco)* | -14 |
1988 | MARK McCUMBER (Usa) | -15 |
1989 | TOM KITE (Usa) | -9 |
1990 | JODIE MUDD (Usa) | -10 |
1991 | STEVE ELKINGTON (Aus) | -12 |
1992 | DAVIS LOVE (Usa) | -15 |
1993 | NICK PRICE (Zim) | -18 |
1994 | GREG NORMAN (Aus) | -24 |
1995 | LEE JANZEN (Usa) | -5 |
1996 | FRED COUPLES (Usa) | -18 |
1997 | STEVE ELKINGTON (Aus) | -16 |
1998 | JUSTIN LEONARD (Usa) | -10 |
1999 | DAVID DUVAL (Usa) | -3 |
2000 | HAL SUTTON (Usa) | -10 |
2001 | TIGER WOODS (Usa) | -14 |
2002 | CRAIG PERKS (Nzl) | -8 |
2003 | DAVIS LOVE (Usa) | -17 |
2004 | ADAM SCOTT (Aus) | -12 |
2005 | FRED FUNK (Usa) | -9 |
2006 | STEPHEN AMES (Can) | -14 |
2007 | PHIL MICKELSON (Usa) | -11 |
2008 | SERGIO GARCIA (Esp)* | -5 |
2009 | HENRIK STENSON (Swe) | -12 |
2010 | TIM CLARK (Rsa) | -16 |
2011 | KJ CHOI (Kor)* | -13 |
2012 | MATT KUCHAR (Usa) | -13 |
2013 | TIGER WOODS (Usa) | -13 |
2014 | MARTIN KAYMER (Ger) | -14 |
2015 | RICKIE FOWLER (Usa)* | -12 |
2016 | JASON DAY (Aus) | -15 |
2017 | KIM SI-WOO (Kor) | -10 |
2018 | WEBB SIMPSON (Usa) | -18 |
2019 | RORY McILROY (Nir) | -16 |
2020 | ~Not held | n/a |
2021 | JUSTIN THOMAS (USA) | -14 |
2022 | CAMERON SMITH (Aus) | -13 |
2023 | SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER (USA) | -17 |
2024 | SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER (USA) | -20 |
* won after play-off ~ due to COVID-19 pandemic
|