Challenging course, field await The Players Championship (May 10, 2017)
The Players Championship's claim to fame as the "fifth major" is belied each season by its sterling field and the tests the famed Stadium Course asks from that list of the world's best golfers.
There will be some added excitement this year in the form of some important changes to Pete Dye's venerable 7,189-yard layout and a truly dominating World No. 1 golfer among his peers. All told, 147 players will tee it up beginning Thursday in the TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
The field includes the top 10 players and 48 of top 50 golfers in Official World Golf Ranking and features 111 PGA Tour winners who have amassed a total of 455 PGA Tour victories. Among that group are each of the top 10 players in the current FedExCup standings and every winner on the PGA Tour since last year's Players Championship.
They will be chasing a total purse of $10.5 million, of which $1.89 million goes to the winner along with 600 FedExCup points.
Last year's champion, Jason Day of Australia, is in the field as are eight other former Players champions: Rickie Fowler (2015), Martin Kaymer of Germany (2014), Matt Kuchar (2012), K.J. Choi of South Korea (2011), Henrik Stenson of Sweden (2009), Sergio Garcia of Spain (2008), Phil Mickelson (2007) and Adam Scott of Australia (2004).
There has never been a repeat winner at The Players Championship, a fact that speaks to the difficulty of the course and the quality of the field.
"It's very, very difficult golf course, but it's really surprising to me that no one has repeated," Day said. "That just goes to show you how hard it is to come back and play this golf course -- it does test every aspect of your game, not only the physical part but the mental part, as well. If you don't come into a golf course like this sharp in both areas, then it will really unfold out there."
For Garcia, The Players is his first tournament since winning the Masters in April. He heads to northeast Florida after claiming his first major title in 74 attempts and owns the longest active-cuts-made streak in this event with 13 in a row, dating to 2004. Tom Kite holds the record for most cuts made at 23.
Fowler said it harder to win from the lead because of the pressure of the course's final holes, including the devilish par-3 17th with its imposing island green.
"It's just a hard tournament to win," Fowler said. "You can come from behind. It's hard to be out front with the finish; there's so much that can happen. This is arguably the strongest field in golf, on a golf course that creates a great test, and you're going to have to hit every kind of shot throughout the week, and that's what's great about it."
The list of competitors also includes 18 first-time Players Championship participants and, for the third consecutive year, Bernhard Langer (59) is the oldest player in the field after earning an exemption for winning the 2016 Constellation Senior Players Championship.
The hottest player on the planet, current world No. 1 Dustin Johnson, will have a huge say as well this week. Johnson finished tied for second last week when he returned to competition at the Wells Fargo Championship following an injury that forced him to withdraw from the Masters.
The 15-time PGA Tour winner won his last three starts prior to his return at the Wells Fargo Championship (Genesis Open, WGC-Mexico Championship, WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play). Johnson's tournament history at The Players includes one top-30 finish in eight starts -- a tie for 28th last year.
All 18 holes at TPC Sawgrass were reworked in some form or fashion, with the putting surfaces rebuilt and regrassed with TifEagle Bermuda. The biggest change will be seen at par-4 12th hole, which has been No. 12 shortened from 358 yards to 302 to encourage -- almost mandate, in fact -- that these golfers try to drive the green.
The Players Championship marks the 27th event of the PGA Tour Season, with 16 tournaments remaining to qualify for the four-tournament FedExCup Playoffs, which culminate at the Tour Championship in late September.
Johnson paces the FedExCup standings while Justin Thomas (three wins), Japan's Hideki Matsuyama (2) and Brendan Steele, winner of the season-opening Safeway Open, are the only other players to have held the lead in the FedExCup standings this season.
Johnson holds a 51-point lead over Thomas heading into this tournament.