Quick Intro: The Players Championship

The Players Championship is a golf tournament played at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida and holds an annual golf tournament on the PGA Tour. It is one of the premier events on tour, sometimes referred to as “The Fifth Major,” where the Masters, U.S. Open, British Open and PGA Championship are the four official “major” tournaments.

Quick History The Players Championship was first played in 1974 (then known as the “Tournament Players Championship”) at Atlanta Golf Club in Marietta, Georgia with Jack Nicklaus winning the event. After bouncing around for a few years, the Players Championship found its home at TPC Sawgrass. It should be noted that “TPC” stands for “Tournament Players Club” and should not be confused with the acronym of the event itself. The event has one of the largest purses on tour (over ten million dollars as of 2010) and invites the top 50 golfers in the world rankings, with the winner receiving 80 points towards his official World Golf Ranking. The winner of the Players Championship gets a five year exemption on tour, an invitation to the Masters and British Open for three years and an invitation to that year’s U.S. Open and PGA Championship.

Famous Hole The Players Championship features one of the most famous holes in golf, its par-three seventeenth hole, which has an island green. It was on this hole that Tiger Woods sank a 60-foot, triple-breaking putt for birdie in 2001, which gave him a one-stroke victory.

Past Winners Nicklaus is the only three-time winner of the Players Championship. Fred Couples, Steve Elkington, Davis Love III and Hal Sutton each won twice. Greg Norman set the Players Championship course record and two-par record with a 264, -24 victory in 1994.

Resources: 

Wade, Don & Davis, Martin. (1998). "Players Championship 25th Anniversary: 1974-1998."  American Golfer, Inc.