The Players Championship is simply crafted for a champion.
**OFFICIAL CONTENT OF THE PGA TOUR**
Against a backdrop of weekly golf competitions that share labels of similar fare – they are Tournaments or Championships or Invitationals or Classics or Opens – only one stands out with distinction because of the first words in its title.
THE PLAYERS.
All caps, all respect.
“It’s our championship,” says Jordan Spieth.
“To me, the Players is the Players. Everyone knows it is such a huge event; everybody knows it’s a major,” said Justin Thomas. “Every person in this field would be very, very content with holding the trophy at the end of the week.”
Adds Jason Day: “It has that feel and it’s got a lot of history behind it.”
Were you to focus on “that feel” with the Players, it would revolve around a trio of elements. One, it is played on the same stage each March, the Players Stadium course at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach. Two, it features the best field in golf. And three, the uniqueness of the Pete Dye-designed golf course – “It’s a very simple formula here,” said Tiger Woods. “Hit it good.” – doesn’t favour big hitters over medium hitters, nor does it take the driver of your hand, though errant shots are seriously penalised.
As for the “history” behind the Players, consider this nugget: after a string of players who adhered to the fairways-and-green mantra – Tim Clark, K.J. Choi, and Matt Kuchar in 2010, ’11, ’12, respectively – seven of the past 11 winners of the Players Championships have at one time or another sat atop the Official World Golf Ranking.
We’re talking Tiger Woods, Martin Kaymer, Day, Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, and Scottie Scheffler (back-to-back the past two seasons), each of them in possession a set of golf skills that enabled them to not only stand clear of every other competitor at the Players but also across 12 months.
Digest that for moment. It will help you understand why the Players is promoted as being “Crafted for a Champion” and how it is the “Gold Standard” at the PGA Tour level. Only the elite of the elite qualify, so it’s no wonder why the list of winners reads like a who’s who of professional golf – Scheffler, Scheffler, Thomas and McIlroy in four of the past five years; and a stretch from 1990 to 2004 where the winners included the likes of Davis Love III (twice), Woods, Steve Elkington (twice), Lee Janzen, Fred Couples, Justin Leonard, David Duval, Hal Sutton, and Nick Price.
And trust them, those who will be arriving for the Players Championship this year (March 13-16) agree on what runs deep within their competitive spirit.
“I just think that it’s special to us as being members of the PGA Tour because it’s our tournament. It’s our premier event,” said Scheffler. “This is the home of the PGA Tour and so for us, I think it’s a special place to come back year after year [where] we get to play this golf course and compete with the best players in the world and the best players on the tour.”
The trophy which will be presented to the winner is a solid gold trophy of a golfer at the top of his swing on his follow through. Should you think you see the likeness of a former Players champion in the trophy, it’s for good reason.
Tiffany & Co. used a process called “electroforming” which is both fascinating and a testament to the PGA Tour’s respect of a rollcall of winners. Through 2018, the year the trophy was created, there had been 38 winners of the Players Championship so through computer modeling Tiffany designers incorporated aspects of each of those champions – from Jack Nicklaus (in 1973) to Webb Simpson (2018).
That the first “Gold Man” trophy went to McIlroy after his 16-under 272 total that held off Jim Furyk in 2019 is rather fitting because the Northern Irishman had said earlier in the week that his career would not be considered complete without a win in the Players.
That Thomas (2021) and Scheffler (2023, 2024) have also taken home a “Gold Man” statue since then is more proof that the best rise to the occasion when the Players’ Stadium course provides the stage.
Ah, yes, the stage. The Players’ Stadium course at TPC Sawgrass first hosted the Players in 1983 and the love for this watery and beguiling Pete Dye design has resonated more passionately as the years have gone by.
“I’ve always loved this golf course,” says Adam Scott, who won in 2004. “I think it’s an amazing tournament venue.”
Though it stretches to more than 7,300 yards, the Players Stadium course does not demand that you rip it forever off the tee or rely only upon your power game. Rather, one must plod his way along fairways that twist and turn and avoid diabolical bunkers that are placed strategically throughout.
Even the most esteemed ball-striker in history, Woods, struggled at first to understand the nuances of the layout.
“The golf course is one that Pete has set up to intimidate you visually. You have to overcome that part of it,” said Woods, who first played in the Players in 1997 but didn’t win until his fifth start, in 2001. “I think we all have to accept that you’re going to hit good shots [but] get weird hops and some really, really funky lies.”
Woods, who did win a US Amateur at the Stadium course, has had stances in and around bunkers that have challenged his creativity but he said those who have mentally prepared themselves for such obstacles are the ones who have played nicely here.
And being mentally prepared emphatically means having the ability to compose oneself when you step up to the tee at the island-green 17th. Arguably the most publicised par 3 in the world, the 17th would be considered an easy shot for any elite professional, a 9-iron or wedge at about 137 yards.
“Sometimes when you’re standing there in the practice round, you’re like, ‘How could people ever miss this green?’” said Scheffler. “Then you get up there and you start standing over your shot and you’re like, ‘Man, the wind’s blowing off the right’ and [suddenly you realise] it’s a lot harder in competition than it is in practice.”
So, yes, the 17th can be daunting, a gut-check of a shot that you know has ruined many a dream at the Players. But guess what? Scheffler, who could become the first to win the Players three straight times, would rather be nowhere else in March. “It’s always really special,” he said. “You grew up watching this golf tournament and to be here playing it is always a special treat.”
The No.1 player in the world will have that opportunity again in March, but he’ll have plenty of company as just about every top 100 player will also be in attendance. A gold standard, to be sure.
Photos: Getty Images
