One memorable moment from each edition of the Players Championship on its 50th anniversary
You can't tell the story of professional golf without the Players Championship.
Held annually at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, since 1982, it has produced countless memorable moments that have defined careers in the professional game. While it's not a major championship, the Players treats itself like one, and winning the trophy is a right of passage into the history books.
This week, the 2024 Players Championship will mark the 50th edition of the PGA Tour's flagship event. From historic wins to dramatic losses, fan arrests, "Better than most" and "Be the right club today," take a scroll through the most memorable moments from all 50 editions of the Players Championship.
1970s
1974
The Players and TPC Sawgrass go hand-in-hand, but the first-ever Players was actually held at Atlanta Country Club in Georgia. Jack Nicklaus won the first-ever event, then known as the Tournament Players Championship, and claimed the $50,000 top prize. Sunday’s final round was heavily delayed by weather and 12 players were forced to finish on Labor Day the following Monday morning.
1975
The event moved to Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, for year two. Al Geiberger shot rounds of 66-68-67-69 to win wire-to-wire at 10 under by three shots.
1976
The tournament moved to Florida for good starting in 1976, with the third edition at Inverrary Country Club’s East Course in Lauderhill. Nicklaus became the first two-time winner, and similar to his 1974 Players win, bad weather on the weekend pushed the final round to a Monday finish.
1977
Ponte Vedra Beach became the home of the event in 1977 after Sawgrass Country Club inked a multi-year deal with the Tour that lasted five seasons. Mark Hayes was the winner, but the unique story of the week was Bob Menne, who needed just 99 putts across the four days of play. It set a new mark for fewest putts in a Tour event, but Menne was nowhere near the lead, T-47 at 15 over.
1978
Nicklaus became the first (and only) three-time winner in the event’s history with a one-shot victory despite not making a birdie in the wind-rattled final round.
1979
Kermit Zarley, one of the all-time greatest names in PGA Tour history, led after the first round but it was Lanny Wadkins who battled tough conditions to win by five shots as the lone player under par at 5 under despite a 76 on Saturday.
1980s
1980
Bad weather and tough conditions kept scores low the first few years at Sawgrass Country Club, but in 1980 Lanny Wadkins became the lone player to reach double digits under par at the venue with his win at 10 under, five clear of Tom Watson.
1981
Raymond Floyd won the first-ever playoff at the Players with a par on the first extra hole to beat Barry Jaeckel and Curtis Strange, who both made bogey. The event was once again washed out on the weekend and featured a Monday finish.
1982
There were a few fun nuggets from the first-ever Players at TPC Sawgrass. Winner Jerry Pate played the week with an orange golf ball, and after his win on Sunday he pushed PGA Tour Commissioner Deane Beman and legendary golf course designer Pete Dye into the lake on No. 18. How’s that for a celebration?
1983
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but weather heavily impacted the tournament and the first round was delayed so much it didn’t start until Friday. The plan was to play 36 holes on Sunday, but more rain Saturday once again pushed the event to a Monday finish. At 24 years old, Hal Sutton became the youngest winner in the event’s history (for a short time).
1984
Fred Couples, also 24 but five months younger than Sutton, took the crown as the youngest Players champion with his one-shot win at 11 under over 1980 Players champion Lee Trevino.
1985
Calvin Peete was the only player to shoot under par in all four rounds on his road to a three-shot win at 14 under.
1986
Speaking of Peete, the 1985 winner became the first defending champion to miss the cut in the event’s history as John Mahaffey came back to beat 54-hole leader Larry Mize by a shot at 13 under.
1987
The final year the event was known as the Tournament Players Championship saw Scotland’s Sandy Lyle defeat Jeff Sluman on the third playoff hole to become the first international winner. A fan jumped into the lake on the famous par-3 17th hole during the second playoff hole as Sluman was standing over a six-footer for birdie. He missed and then lost on the next hole. The total purse reached seven figures for the first time at $1 million.
1988
The first Players Championship. Jacksonville native Mark McCumber won the title but the story of the week was the slew of disqualifications. Jay Haas was DQ’d on Thursday for playing with a bent putter, same with Davis Love III on Friday. Then Curtis Strange self-reported that he signed an incorrect scorecard on Saturday.
1989
Tom Kite was outside the top 10 after the first round and slowly but surely played his way up the leaderboard to a one-shot win at 9 under for his 12th PGA Tour victory and the biggest of his career at the time.
1990s
1990
Jodie Mudd nearly went wire-to-wire for his third of four PGA Tour wins, which featured a marathon Sunday finish. Bad weather forced Mudd to play the final 14 holes of his third round on Sunday before the final round.
1991
How’s this for late drama? A birdie on the tricky 18th hole in the final round saw Steve Elkington hold off 10-time winner Fuzzy Zoeller by a single shot.
1992
Fred Couples broke his own course record from 1984 with a 9-under 63 in the third round.
1993
Nick Price had a week to (briefly) remember and set the tournament scoring record at 18-under 270 with his five-shot win.
1994
Greg Norman had an even better week to remember a year later. He went wire-to-wire and set a new record at 24-under 264 thanks to an opening-round 63 followed by three consecutive rounds of 67 to win by four over Zoeller.
1995
Lee Janzen battled a dried-out course due to high winds and overcame a Friday 74 to win by a single shot over Bernhard Langer. Janzen made a five-foot knee-knocker for par to seal the deal on the final hole. The total purse reached $3 million for the first time and the winner’s share of $540,000 was the first to eclipse the $500,000 mark.
1996
Boom Boom Couples blew away the field with a Sunday 64 to win by four shots for his second Players win, joining Nicklaus as the only multiple-time winner.
1997
Steve Elkington shot all four rounds in the 60s and went wire-to-wire to win by a record seven shots at 16 under. The record still stands to this day. He joined Nicklaus and Couples as the only multiple-time winners. A 21-year-old Tiger Woods made his Players debut and finished T-31 at 1 over.
1998
The final round was chaos at the top of the leaderboard. Janzen, the 54-hole leader, shot 79 on Sunday and finished 18th, which opened the door for Len Mattiace, who was looking for his first-ever win on Tour. He made a quintuple-bogey 8 (snowman!) on par-3 17th hole and opened the door for Justin Leonard to shoot 67 and win by two at 10 under.
1999
David Duval won by two and moved to No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking, displacing Tiger Woods. His winning score of 3-under 285 is the highest in the tournament’s history at TPC Sawgrass to this day. Here’s a fun anecdote: Duval's dad won the PGA Tour Champions’ Emerald Coast Classic for his first Senior tour win on that same day.
2000s
2000
“Be the right club today. YES!” Hal Sutton’s famous line and shot that led to him holding off Tiger Woods for his second Players victory 17 years after his first is an all-time Players highlight. He joined Elkington, Couples and Nicklaus as multi-time winners. The winner’s share eclipsed seven figures for the first time with $1,080,000.
2001
Better than most! Woods won his first Players Championship by one shot over Vijay Singh and became the only player to win the Players and Masters in the same calendar year and third Players champion to win a major in the same calendar year, joining Jack Nicklaus (1978) and Hal Sutton (1983). Martin Kaymer joined the list in 2014.
2002
Craig Perks earned his only win at the PGA Tour’s flagship event by two shots and he did so in dramatic fashion. Perks chipped in for eagle on No. 16, made a 25-footer for birdie on the island green at No. 17 and chipped in again for par at No. 18. Over his last 14 holes he made just two pars.
2003
Davis Love III joined Sutton, Elkington, Couples and Niclaus with his second Players win thanks to a stunning Sunday 64 to flirt with the record winning margin. He came up just short with a six-shot victory over Jay Haas and Padraig Harrington.
2004
A 23-year-old Adam Scott became the youngest-ever Players winner with his one-shot win as Harrington finished runner-up for the second consecutive year. Showing his age, Scott nearly blew a two-shot lead on the final hole after he rinsed his approach shot in the water. He got up and down for bogey to hang on for his second Tour win.
2005
A year after Scott became the youngest winner, Fred Funk became the oldest at 48 years old with his slim one-shot victory over Luke Donald, Tom Lehman and Scott Verplank. Rain ravaged the tournament schedule and forced a Monday finish in tough conditions. How bad was it? The second round was finished on Sunday!
2006
Similar to Love in 2003, Stephen Ames got close to the winning margin record with a six-shot drubbing of the field with a Sunday 67 after he entered the final round with just a one-shot lead. The 2006 event was the last Players held in March (until it was moved again in 2019).
2007
The first Players in May saw Phil Mickelson claim his first Players win in near wire-to-wire fashion as he led for the first 36 holes but was a shot back entering the final round. A record 50 balls found the water in the first round thanks to gusting winds, topping the previous mark of 45 in 2000.
2008
After finishing runner-up to Mickelson the year prior, Sergio Garcia came out on top in 2008 via a playoff victory over Paul Goydos, the first since 1987. The par-3 17th was the first playoff hole, and after Goydos found the water off the tee, Garcia found land and two-putted for par and the win.
2009
A whopping 83 players made the 36-hole cut, so the Tour instituted a second cut after the third round. Alex Cejka had a five-shot lead after 54 holes but spit the bit and shot 42 on the front nine en route to a 7-over 79 to finish T-9. Meanwhile Henrik Stenson went bogey-free and shot 66 to win by four over Ian Poulter to join Garcia and Lyle as the only Europeans to win the event.
2010s
2010
Tim Clark earned his first PGA Tour win, but the fans were the interesting part of the 2010 Players. An unruly and overserved fan was arrested and forcibly removed after he was tasered for resisting arrest. After the event, a car was found parked on the 8th green with the motor running. The couple inside were issues warnings and escorted out.
2011
This was a nice touch. The flag of the defending champion normally flies at TPC Sawgrass during tournament week, but Clark requested the Spanish flag in order to honor the recently deceased Seve Ballesteros.
2012
Matt Kuchar stole a two-shot win thanks to four rounds under par for his first victory in two years, holding off the likes of Rickie Fowler and Zach Johnson.
2013
Tiger Woods won his second Players 12 years after his first in the 40th anniversary of the Tour’s flagship event in his 300th start. In his Players debut, Roberto Castro tied the course record with a 9-under 63 and led after the opening 18 holes.
2014
The purse eclipsed $10 million for the first time and Martin Kaymer went wire-to-wire with a final-round 63 to tie the course record and win by one over Jim Furyk.
2015
Rickie Fowler won for the first time in three years with a playoff victory over Sergio Garcia and Kevin Kisner. Fowler was five shots back with six to play and went birdie-par-birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie to force a playoff. Fowler and Kisner were still tied after a three-hole aggregate playoff on Nos. 16–18 and went back to the 17th, where Fowler stuffed his tee shot to five feet and made birdie for the win.
2016
World No. 1 Jason Day cruised to a wire-to-wire win by four shots thanks to rounds of 63-66 to start the week.
2017
Si Woo Kim, 21, ended Adam Scott’s reign as the youngest-ever Players winner. That said, the tournament could've easily been won by Rafa Cabrera-Bello, who made the first-ever double eagle at the par-5 16th hole before making birdie at the island green. However, his tee shot on the final hole went way left into the water, but he did well to chip in for par to save a T-4 finish.
2018
The final Players in May, six were tied for the lead after the first round, one of which was Webb Simpson, who shot 63 on Friday and made six consecutive birdies to tie a tournament record.
2019
This year's Players was the first to feature a top prize of more than $2 million ($2,250,000) and was won by Rory McIlroy, who shot rounds of 70-70 on the weekend to hang on and hold off a charging Jim Furyk (67), Eddie Pepperell (66) and Jhonathan Vegas (66).
2020s
2020
Hideki Matsuyama tied the course record of 9-under 63 but the event was canceled before the start of the second round due to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Half of the $15 million purse was shared by the field, with each of the 144 players taking home $52,000.
2021
A resurgent Lee Westwood held the 54-hole lead a week after coming up short at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, but Justin Thomas, who trailed by four just before the turn, went birdie-birdie-eagle-birdie on Nos. 9-12 to take a two-shot lead which he converted into a one-shot win.
2022
Weather and darkness pushed the conclusion of the first round to Friday, but more inclement weather led to an unplayable course and the first round was finally finished on Saturday. The second round wasn't finished until Sunday after high winds and heavy rains led to some groups not even teeing off on Saturday. In the end, Jacksonville resident Cameron Smith survived the storms and beat Anirban Lahiri by one with a 66 on Monday.
2023
The field was ravaged by LIV Golf departures but the event saw Scottie Scheffler make his case for world No. 1 with a five-shot win thanks to four rounds in the 60s, including a weekend performance of 65-69.