The Players Championship: Tournament History

The Players Championship, often referred to as simply the Players, has garnered the nickname "Golf's Fifth Major" by many fans because of its prestige and difficulty. The Players was first played in 1974 at the Atlanta Country Club as the Tournament Players Championship. The tournament moved to Florida in 1976, finally moving to its current home at the TPC Sawgrass in 1982. 

TPC Sawgrass

TPC Sawgrass was the first TPC course to be built and also houses the PGA Tour headquarters. The Stadium Course, which hosts the tournament, can accommodate 36,000 spectators. The course is best known for the par-3 17th hole known as the “Island Green” for its small green surrounded by water. The hole is notoriously difficult, once seeing 50 balls lost to the water in a single round in 2007.

The Players Championship Field

The Players Championship attracts one of the strongest fields in golf, with invites extended to all PGA Tour winners over the previous year, as well as the top-50 golfers in the world regardless of whether they have won on the PGA Tour in the past year. Only major championships award more points in the Official World Golf Rankings than the Players Championship, reflecting the importance and prestige of the event.

The Players also has one of the largest purses in golf with $25 million on the line and $4.5 million going to the winner in 2023. 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.

Notable Players Champions and Moments

The tournament has had numerous notable winners thanks to the high-profile and challenging course. Past champions include Lee Trevino, Davis Love III, Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia. Tiger Woods has two Players Championship titles to his name, while the “Golden Bear” Jack Nicklaus is the only three-time winner. 2017 winner Kim Si-Woo became the tournament's youngest winner at age 21, while Steve Elkington holds the scoring record with 24-under par in 1997. Oddly, no one has ever repeated as champion in the history of the tournament, with nine defending champions failing to make the cut in their title defense.

One of the notable finishes includes Raymond Floyd coming back from six strokes behind in the final round to win the 1981 Players Championship in a sudden-death playoff. The tournament’s most comical event happened in 1998, when Brad Fabel’s shot onto the 17th Island Green only to be picked up by a seagull and dropped into the water. Luckily, the bird was considered an “outside agent” and Fabel was allowed to replace his ball where it came to rest on the green

Players Championship All-Time Winners, Scores and Winnings

2023 Players champion Scottie Scheffler cashes a $4,500,000 check as the purse increased to $25,000,000, up from $20,000,000 in 2022 when champion Cam Smith enjoyed a $3,600,000 winner's check.

The Players was canceled due to COVID-19 in 2020 after the first round of play. From 1974 to 1987, the tournament was called the Tournament Players Championship before shifting to simply The Players Championship in 1988.