The Players Championship

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Tournament information
The Players Championship

Location	Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
Established	1974
Course(s)	TPC at Sawgrass, Stadium Course
Par	72
Yardage	7,215
Tour(s)	PGA Tour
Format	Stroke play
Purse	$9,500,000
Month Played	May
Tournament record scores
Aggregate	264 Greg Norman (1994)
To-par	-24 Greg Norman (1994)
Current champion
Sergio García

The Players Championship (often styled THE PLAYERS Championship) is an annual golf tournament on the PGA Tour.

The inaugural event in 1974 was played at Atlanta Country Club in Marietta, Georgia before moving to Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas in 1975 and Inverrary Country Club in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida in 1976. Beginning in 1977, the event relocated to Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, first being played at Sawgrass Country Club's Oceanside Course (a combination of the "East" and "West" 9-hole courses). Since 1982 it has been played across the road from Sawgrass Country Club, on the Stadium Course at the "Tournament Players Club at Sawgrass" (usually referred to as the TPC at Sawgrass; it is not uncommon for "TPC" in this context to be conflated with "The Players Championship" because they happen to have the same initials).

The Players Championship offers the highest prize fund of any tournament in golf ($8 million 2004–06, $9 million in 2007, $9.5 million in 2008), and is sometimes referred to by certain sections of the North American media as the "Fifth Major", but it does not have official major status. The field usually includes the top fifty golfers in the world rankings, but unlike the three majors which are staged in the U.S., it does not count as an official event on the European Tour, which has the Deutsche Bank Players Championship of Europe, although it is an imperfect parallel. The winner receives a fixed allocation of 40 points towards his Official World Golf Ranking, which is the most allocated to any event apart from the majors, in which winners earn 50 points. For comparison, the winners of the three individual World Golf Championships generally receive between 35 and 39 points. The winner of The Players Championship also receives a 5 year exemption on the PGA Tour, a 3 year invitation to The Masters, a 3 year exemption for the British Open, and an exemption to the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship for that year.

The Players Championship can be further distinguished from the "Majors" in that it is owned and administered by the PGA Tour. In contrast, The Masters is owned by the Augusta National Golf Club, the U.S. Open by the USGA, the British Open by the R&A, and the PGA Championship by the PGA of America.

The Players Championship is best known for what may be the single most recognizable par 3 in professional golf, the Stadium Course's 17th hole, known to golf fans worldwide as "the Island Green" and what has become TPC Sawgrass' signature hole. The final three holes are considered one of the toughest finishes in golf. They are also sometimes refered to as 'running the gauntlet'.

The Players Championship had been played in late March for most of its existence, two weeks before The Masters. In 2007 it was moved to mid-May, as part of a restructuring of the PGA Tour. This restructuring involved the introduction of the lucrative FedEx Cup, which concludes with the Tour Championship, now played six weeks earlier, in mid-September. This gives the PGA Tour a marquee event in six consecutive months (The Masters in April, the U.S. Open in June, the British Open in July, and the PGA Championship in August). [1]

Following the 2006 event, the course underwent a major renovation, which received very positive reviews from the players in 2007.

With the rearrangement of 2007, the final round of The Players Championship is scheduled for the second Sunday of May, Mother's Day. This parallels the U.S. Open, which concludes on the third Sunday of June, Father's Day.

[edit] Winners

Year	Player	Country	Score	1st Prize ($)
The Players Championship
2008	Sergio García	Spain	283 (-5)*	1,710,000
2007	Phil Mickelson	United States	277 (-11)	1,620,000
2006	Stephen Ames	Trinidad and Tobago Canada	274 (-14)	1,440,000
2005	Fred Funk	United States	279 (-9)	1,440,000
2004	Adam Scott	Australia	276 (-12)	1,440,000
2003	Davis Love III	United States	271 (-17)	1,170,000
2002	Craig Perks	New Zealand	280 (-8)	1,080,000
2001	Tiger Woods	United States	274 (-14)	1,080,000
2000	Hal Sutton	United States	278 (-10)	1,080,000
1999	David Duval	United States	285 (-3)	900,000
1998	Justin Leonard	United States	278 (-10)	720,000
1997	Steve Elkington	Australia	272 (-16)	630,000
1996	Fred Couples	United States	270 (-18)	630,000
1995	Lee Janzen	United States	283 (-5)	540,000
1994	Greg Norman	Australia	264 (-24)	450,000
1993	Nick Price	Zimbabwe	270 (-18)	450,000
1992	Davis Love III	United States	273 (-15)	324,000
1991	Steve Elkington	Australia	276 (-12)	288,000
1990	Jodie Mudd	United States	278 (-10)	270,000
1989	Tom Kite	United States	279 (-9)	243,000
1988	Mark McCumber	United States	273 (-15)	225,000
Tournament Players Championship
1987	Sandy Lyle	Scotland	274 (-14)*	180,000
1986	John Mahaffey	United States	275 (-13)	162,000
1985	Calvin Peete	United States	274 (-14)	162,000
1984	Fred Couples	United States	277 (-11)	144,000
1983	Hal Sutton	United States	283 (-5)	126,000
1982	Jerry Pate	United States	280 (-8)	90,000
1981	Raymond Floyd	United States	285 (-3)*	72,000
1980	Lee Trevino	United States	278 (-10)	72,000
1979	Lanny Wadkins	United States	283 (-5)	72,000
1978	Jack Nicklaus	United States	289 (1)	60,000
1977	Mark Hayes	United States	289 (1)	60,000
1976	Jack Nicklaus	United States	269 (-19)	60,000
1975	Al Geiberger	United States	270 (-10)	50,000
1974	Jack Nicklaus	United States	272 (-16)	50,000