PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida — The 50th Anniversary of The Players Championship got underway this week at the world-renowned TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Verda Beach, Florida. This was the third of the four-stop Florida Swing. It follows last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, where Scottie Scheffler, the 2023 Players champion, claimed victory on 15-under.
The Players Championship, often referred to as “The Players,” has garnered the nickname “golf’s 5th Major” by many fans because of its prestige, difficulty and star-studded field. It continues to showcase a field that consist of 144 players who have reached one of a number of criteria established by the PGA to ensure that the field continues to have the best players in the world each year.
Although this tournament has always been open to all of the best qualified players in the world, it no longer recognizes or extends invitations to all eligible players. The PGA Tour has adopted a rule that reads as follows: “Any player who has participated in an unauthorized tournament is ineligible to compete in any event sanctioned by the PGA Tour for a period of one year.”
This rule now prevents several eligible LIV players from claiming their spot in the 2024 Players Championship. Looks like there might be another asterisk (*) involved here someplace.
Each of the top-35 finishers at The Players Championship will collect six-figure sums with those inside the top 13 cashing more than $500,000 and those inside the top five clearing $1 million. In addition, the winner gets a five-year exemption on the PGA Tour, a three-year exemption to the U.S. Open and Open Championship, as well as a three-year exemption to the Masters.
The Players History
The Players was first contested in 1974 at the Atlanta Country Club as the Tournament Players Championship. The tournament moved to Florida in 1976, and in 1982 it was moved to its current home at the TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course.
Following the 2006 event, the course underwent a major renovation, which received very positive reviews from the players. Included in the renovation was a new 77,000-square-foot Mediterranean Revival-style clubhouse.
In August 2017, it was announced that The Players would return to March beginning in 2019, due to a realignment of the golf season that would move the PGA Championship from August to May.
The 2020 Players Championship was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Only five players have won multiple times at TPC Sawgrass: Tiger Woods, Fred Couples, Davis Love III, Steve Elkington, and Hal Sutton, all major champions. The course’s revengeful nature is evident in the fact that these two-time winners had to wait an average of 11.6 years between victories, with no one winning more than twice on the Stadium Course.
In the history of the Players Championship, there has never been a repeat winner. This seems to be an anomaly that has defied some of the best golfers in the world from successfully defending their title here at Sawgrass. Let’s see if Scottie Scheffler can “reverse the curse.”
The Course: TPC Sawgrass
From the initial idea by former PGA Tour Commissioner Deane R. Beman, the Players Stadium Course was built in 1980 to be the permanent home of the Players Championship.
As the first true Stadium Course, it was designed by renowned golf course architect Pete Dye with the spectator in mind. It features large mounds for unobstructed views and holes running parallel to each other, creating hubs of activity with panoramic viewing designed to improve the overall on-site fan experience.
TPC Sawgrass isn’t an overly long course, coming in at just 7,275 yards as a par 72. It does require players to be accurate off the tee, however, requiring tee shots to the right side of the fairway, thus setting up easier approaches to the greens.
The 17th hole is considered to be the toughest hole on the PGA Tour. It’s surrounded by water on a small island, with only a narrow walkway connecting it to the rest of the course. The hole was the brainchild of Pete Dye’s wife, Alice (Dye).
The Players: Round 1
Reigning Olympic Champion Xander Schauffele fired a bogey free 7-under to share the first-round lead with Wyndham Clark and Rory McIlroy.
Schauffele managed to find nine of 14 fairways en route to his first bogey-free scorecard in 15 rounds at the Players.
“The bogeys, or the scares of a bogey, come when you miss the fairways,” Schauffele said. “The rough is pretty thick. Shockingly thick in some cases. You’ve just got to keep it on the short grass.”
Clark was also at 7-under after another strong round which included seven birdies and one eagle against a single bogey.
“I was really patient out there.” Clark said. “I don’t feel like I did anything spectacular, I didn’t make too many bogeys and didn’t have too many tough putts to make for par, so it was a pretty easy round.”
Meanwhile, a confident and free-swinging McIlroy (-7) matched a course record with 10 birdies to share the early lead. He certainly had the most intriguing round of the leading trio when his tee shots on Nos. 7 and 18 both found the water. He managed to escape with a bogey on the 18th but ended up with a double bogey on the 7th.
Without video available, two lengthy discussions took place between the threesome in order to agree on a drop point.
“I was pretty sure that my ball crossed where I was sort of dropping it.” McIlroy said. “it’s so hard, right, because there was no TV evidence. If anything, I was being conservative with it. I think at the end of the day we’re all trying to protect ourselves and the field as well.”
The marquee threesome held a one-stroke lead over Nick Taylor and Matt Fitzpatrick, who were tied at 6 under, one clear of reigning Players’ champion Scottie Scheffler (67).
Round 1: Top 5
Pos-Player-To Par (Score)
1. Rory McIlroy -7 (65)
1. Xander Schauffele -7 (65)
1. Wyndham Clark -7 (65)
4. Nick Taylor -6 (66)
4. Matt Fitzpatrick -6 (66)
The Players: Round 2
Wyndham Clark posted a second consecutive round of 65 to sit 14-under par. This makes it two straight tournaments where Clark will enter the weekend in the pole position. Only this time he’s alone in the top spot by four strokes, rather than being tied with five other golfers as he was last week at Bay Hill.
Clark becomes the first in Players Championship history to shoot 65 or better in back-to-back rounds at TPC Sawgrass.
Xander Schauffele (69) was 10 under and tied for second with Nick Taylor (68). Schauffele is now 16 under par in his four most recent rounds at TPC Sawgrass.
When asked about being behind after 36 holes, Xander said, “Yeah, I’ve won from behind, and I think it should be maybe a little bit easier, but for the most part we’re just all here — like, we try to stick to our own process and get in our own world, and you kind of forget where you’re at when you do that well.”
Taylor secured a share of the second position by going 2 under over his last four holes. The Canadian’s history here before this week never found him better than a T38 through two rounds at TPC Sawgrass. Only Clark’s 15 birdies bested Taylor’s 13 through 36 holes.
Notables who missed the cut (-1) included: Justin Thomas +1, Eric Cole +2, Jordan Spieth +2, Russell Henley +2, Will Zalatoris +4 and Keegan Bradley +6. In total, there were 69 players who missed the cut along with two withdrawals.
Round 2: Top 5
Pos-Player-To Par (Rd 2)
1. Wyndham Clark -14 (-7)
2. Xander Schauffele -10 (-3)
2. Nick Taylor -10 (-4)
4. Matt Fitzpatrick -9 (-3)
4. Maverick McNealy-9 (-4)
The Players: Round 3
Saturday is called “Moving Day” on the PGA Tour to emphasize the importance of moving yourself into a position to contend in Sunday’s finale.
Xander Schauffele fired a 7-under-par 65 to stand on 17 under and move himself to the top of the leaderboard with Wyndham Clark (70) and Brian Harman (64) in the chasing pack.
Schauffele started his third day at TPC Sawgrass four shots behind Clark but went 6-for-6 getting up and down, sank a 58-foot birdie putt at 14, then pulled ahead when Clark “splashed” his tee shot into the water for a bogey at the par-3 17th, and then miraculously saved par at 18.
“Just kind of made it work,” Schauffele said. “I only hit two fairways on the back nine so feels good. It’s nice to move up the leaderboard. It has been a while since I’ve had the lead out here just going to try to enjoy myself and remind myself, I’m good enough to win.”
You could almost feel the momentum changing for Clark (-16) as he slowly allowed Schauffele to gain on him throughout the front nine. His two birdies and one bogey left him with just a one-shot advantage over Schauffele at the turn.
The back nine saw Clark repeat the front with a pair of birdies and an embarrassing bogey on the 17th to finish up with another 35 and a 2-under 70.
Meanwhile, Schauffele finished up with three birdies on the back, good for a 33 and 7-under 65.
“It was kind of my off day,” Clark said. “I missed a couple putts early and a wedge on 17 but outside of that I thought I played pretty solid. I love where I’m at. I’m hoping I flip the script and have a Xander round tomorrow.”
Reigning British Open champion Harman (-15) was currently third on the leaderboard. His one bogey was more than offset by nine birdies, leaving him with a tournament-low 8-under 64.
England’s Matt Fitzpatrick (68) and American Maverick McNealy (68) were four off the pace at 13-under par.
Round 3: Top 5
Pos-Player-To Par (Rd 3)
1. Xander Schauffele -17 (-7)
2. Wyndham Clark -16 (-2)
3. Brian Harman -15 (-8)
4. Matt Fitzpatrick -13 (-4)
4. Maverick McNealy -13 (-4)
The Players: Final Round
Another beautiful spring morning welcomed a festive St. Patrick’s Day crowd here to the TPC Sawgrass for Sunday’s final round.
There was some late round drama as Xander Schauffele (70), the 2020 Olympic champion, along with the reigning British Open champion Brian Harman (68) and 2023 U.S. Open winner Wyndham Clark (69) all entered the final few holes within a shot of chasing down defending champion Scottie Scheffler (64), who was 20 under.
Schauffele and Clark were standing one and two shots behind Scheffler heading into the 17th hole while Harman went into the final hole needing at least a birdie to force a playoff but ended up with a par.
Both Schauffele and Clark had impressive tee shots to bring up birdie opportunities on the 17th. Schauffele settled for par while Clark made birdie. This left both players at 19 under, and one back of Scheffler, heading to the final hole.
Schauffele’s tee shot on 18 settled in the pine straw leaving him with a difficult approach shot that settled on the green, leaving him a 61-foot putt for a birdie and a tie with Scheffler. He missed the putt.
Clark had his chance for a birdie but it lipped out in what one announcer called “Basket Interference” as his Titleist circled the hole dipped down and came back out for a tap in par and a three-way tie for second.
“It was coming with some speed, too,” Clark said. “I don’t know how that putt doesn’t go in.”
He added, “It was kind of right center with like a foot to go. I knew it was going to keep breaking, but it had speed and I thought it was going inside left, and even when it kind of lipped, I thought it would lip in.”
Final Round: Top 5
Pos-Player-To Par (Final Rd)
1. Scottie Scheffler -20 (-8)
2. Wyndham Clark -19 (-3)
2. Xander Schauffele -19 (-2)
2. Brian Harman -19 (-4)
5. Matt Fitzpatrick -16 (-3)
The Players: Wrap Up
After the dust settled, the winner of the 50th edition of the Players Championship was Scottie Scheffler with a 20-under-par 268. Scheffler received the iconic Players Championship trophy, a check for $4.5 million, and 750 FedEx Cup points.
A rookie in 2020, it took Scheffler 26 months to win his first PGA Tour title at the 2022 Phoenix Open. Since then, however, he’s claimed seven more tour titles, becoming the winningest player on the circuit over this 28-month stretch. His current career earnings, including the 2024 Players Championship, are now $53,500,729.
“Yeah, it’s pretty special,” said Scheffler, when asked how it feels to be the first back-to-back winner of the Players.
“That’s something you never really get the opportunity to do very often. It’s tough enough to win one Players, so to have it back-to-back is extremely special, and yeah, really thankful.”
Wyndham Clark, Brian Harman and Xander Schauffele were tied for second on 19 under. The trio split the 2nd-, 3rd- and 4th-place prize money. Each received a check for $1,891,666 along with 358 FedEx Cup Points.
