The Players Championship is the PGA Tour’s flagship event and, for many years, had been largely considered the fifth Major.
There were several reasons for that unofficial status, including its permanent home, TPC Sawgrass, and perks of winning the event, such as exemptions to all four official Majors for the next three years and huge prize money.
That notion has diminished in recent years with the emergence of LIV Golf. In the two years since its inception, the circuit has accumulated many of the world’s best in their peak years, including 2020 US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau, 2022 Open winner Cameron Smith, five-time Major winner Brooks Koepka and 2023 Masters champion Jon Rahm.
LIV Golf has five former winners of The Players Championship on its roster, too – Smith, who won it in the same year as his Open victory, two-time Major winner Martin Kaymer, who claimed victory in 2014, 2009 champion Henrik Stenson, Sergio Garcia, who won in 2008, and Phil Mickelson, who took the title the year before.
None of those stars are currently eligible for The Players Championship because of their decision to join LIV Golf, so as well as that impacting the strength of its fields, it also differs from the four official Majors, which still allow LIV golfers to appear.
Despite that, it remains a hugely prestigious event, and that was highlighted in 2023 when one of the world’s best players won the trophy. Scottie Scheffler, who was The Masters champion at the time, won the 2023 edition by five shots to help establish his reputation as one of the biggest talents of his generation.
Further evidence that it is still a tournament to be reckoned with can be found by looking down the 2023 leaderboard, with modern-day stars including Viktor Hovland, Hideki Matsuyama, Rickie Fowler, Collin Morikawa and Jordan Spieth all finishing in its upper echelons.
Aside from Scheffler and the five former champions now with LIV Golf, the list of Players Championship winners is peppered with many of the great and good of the game.
That was evident from the very beginning, with one of the best ever, Jack Nicklaus, taking the first of his three Players Championship titles at the inaugural event in 1974.
Other notable names include six-time Major winner Lee Trevino, who took the title in 1980, four-time Major winner Raymond Floyd, who succeeded Trevino as champion. Fred Couples then won it in 1984, eight years before his Masters victory, with two-time Major winner Sandy Lyle winning it three years later.
During the 1990s, winners included former World No.1 Nick Price, Greg Norman and Couples for a second time in 1996.
After the turn of the century, Tiger Woods won in 2001 in a performance that included one of the event's iconic moments - an astonishing 60-foot triple-breaker downhill putt on the 17th during the third round.
Woods won it again in 2013, before Australian stars Adam Scott and Jason Day took the title. Four-time Major winner Rory McIlroy claimed victory in 2019, with Justin Thomas winning the 2021 title a year before his second Major success at the PGA Championship.
While the prestige of The Players Championship may be in question following events off the course in recent years, there’s no reason to suspect it won’t continue to serve up huge names as champions in the years to come.
Here are the winners of the TPC Sawgrass tournament to date.
