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2023 Players Championship

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2023 Players Championship
Tournament information
DatesMarch 9–12, 2023
LocationPonte Vedra Beach, Florida
30°11′53″N 81°23′38″W / 30.198°N 81.394°W / 30.198; -81.394
Course(s)TPC Sawgrass
(Stadium Course)
Tour(s)PGA Tour
Statistics
Par72
Field144 players, 75 after cut
Cut146 (+2)
Prize fundUS$25,000,000
Winner's shareUS$4,500,000
Champion
United States Scottie Scheffler
271 (−17)
Location map
TPC Sawgrass is located in the United States
TPC Sawgrass
TPC Sawgrass
Location in the United States
TPC Sawgrass is located in Florida
TPC Sawgrass
TPC Sawgrass
Location in Florida
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The 2023 Players Championship was the 49th playing of the Players Championship, having been played at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida from March 9–12.

The winner was Scottie Scheffler, who shot a 69 in the final round to finish at 271 (−17) to win his first Players Championship, five strokes ahead of runner-up Tyrrell Hatton.

Defending champion Cameron Smith became the first player since 2014 not to defend the title, being one of many players ineligible to compete having been suspended by the PGA Tour after joining LIV Golf. Other ineligible players included both the runner-up and third-place finishers from 2022, Anirban Lahiri and Paul Casey.[1]

Venue

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Field

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The field consists of 144 players meeting various criteria; they include tournament winners on the PGA Tour since the previous Players Championship, recent winners of major championships, The Players and World Golf Championships, and leading players in the FedEx Cup standings from the current and preceding seasons.[2][3]

Eligibility criteria

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This list details the eligibility criteria for the 2023 Players Championship and the players who qualified under them; any additional criteria under which players were eligible is indicated in parentheses.

1. Winners of PGA Tour events since the 2022 Players Championship

2. Top 125 from the previous season's FedEx Cup Playoffs and Eligibility Points List[a]

3. Recent winners of the Masters Tournament (2018–2022)

4. Recent winners of The Players Championship (2017–2022)

5. Recent winners of the U.S. Open (2017–2022)

6. Recent winners of the PGA Championship (2017–2022)

7. Recent winners of The Open Championship (2017–2022)

8. Recent winners of the FedEx Cup (2019/20–2021/22)

9. Recent winners of the WGC Championship (2020–2021)

10. Recent winners of the WGC Match Play (2019–2022)

11. Recent winners of the WGC Invitational (2019–2021)

12. Recent winners of the WGC-HSBC Champions (2019)

13. Recent winners of the Arnold Palmer Invitational (2020–2023)

14. Recent winners of the Memorial Tournament (2019–2022)

15. Recent winners of the Genesis Invitational (2020–2023)

16. Top 50 from the Official World Golf Ranking following The Honda Classic

17. Top 10 in the current season's FedEx Cup points standings after The Honda Classic

18. Senior Players champion from previous year

19. Leading points winners from the Korn Ferry Tour and Korn Ferry Tour Finals during the previous year

20. Top 125 (medical extension)

21. Remaining positions and alternates filled through current year FedEx Cup standings following The Honda Classic

Ineligible players

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The following players met criteria but, having joined LIV Golf, were suspended by the PGA Tour and ineligible to compete:

Round summaries

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First round

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Thursday, March 9, 2023
Friday, March 10, 2023

Due to lack of daylight, play was suspended at 6:30 pm EST Thursday with 21 players yet to complete their opening rounds.

Chad Ramey, ranked 225 in the Official World Golf Ranking and making his Players Championship debut, recorded a bogey-free round of 64 (8 under par) to take the first-round lead. He birdied the par-5 16th hole to tie for the lead, before hitting his tee shot on the 17th hole to within two feet, setting up another birdie and moving him atop the leaderboard.[10]

Collin Morikawa also did not make a bogey in a seven-under par round of 65, that included an eagle on the par-5 second hole. He finished alone in second place, one stroke behind Ramey.[11]

The top-three players in the world rankings: Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler, and Rory McIlroy; were drawn together, but only Scheffler made his way into the top-10 at the end of the round. After beginning his round with nine straight pars, Scheffler birdied three of his final four holes to finish at four-under par (68). Rahm did not make a birdie on his back-nine that included a bogey on the par-3 eighth hole, his 17th, finishing at one-under par (71). McIlroy, the 2019 champion, double-bogeyed his opening hole in a round of 76 (4 over par).[12][13]

Hayden Buckley made a hole-in-one on the 17th during his round of 73 (1 over par).[14]

Place Player Score To par
1 United States Chad Ramey 64 −8
2 United States Collin Morikawa 65 −7
T3 United States Ben Griffin 67 −5
Canada Taylor Pendrith
T5 South Africa Christiaan Bezuidenhout 68 −4
United States Sam Burns
Australia Min Woo Lee
United States Denny McCarthy
United States Scottie Scheffler
United States Justin Suh
Canada Adam Svensson

Second round

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Friday, March 10, 2023
Saturday, March 11, 2023

Adam Svensson birdied the par-5 ninth hole, the last of his round, after getting a free drop from the hospitality tent on his second shot to finish off a five-under round of 67 and take a two-shot lead through 36 holes at nine-under.[15]

Scottie Scheffler made three birdies on his back-nine and shot 69 (−3) to move into second place at seven-under. Christiaan Bezuidenhout shared the lead with Svensson when play was suspended but bogeyed two of his final three holes on Saturday morning to fall back to a share of third place at six-under, three behind.[16]

Overnight leader Chad Ramey birdied two of his first three holes and led by as many as three shots early in his round before putting two balls in the water on the par-3 17th, leading to a quadruple-bogey. He ended up at five-under, four back, after a round of 75 (+3).[17]

Jerry Kelly became the oldest player to make the cut in Players Championship history, surpassing Arnold Palmer, who had held the record for making the cut in the 1985 Tournament Players Championship at 55 years, 6 months and 19 days. Kelly was 56 years, 3 months and 16 days old.[18]

The cut came in at 146 (+2), with 75 players making it to the weekend. Notables to miss the cut included 2019 champion Rory McIlroy, 2018 champion Webb Simpson, and 2022 U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick. World No. 1 Jon Rahm withdrew before the start of his second round due to illness.[19][20]

Due to heavy rain and thunderstorms, play was suspended at 4:27 pm EST Friday. It was the second year in a row that the second round play was not completed on the Friday due to severe weather. The PGA Tour announced that play would resume on Saturday at 7:00 am, with the third round starting around 10:45, with players in groups of three, instead of the usual two, and commencing from both the first and tenth tees.

Place Player Score To par
1 Canada Adam Svensson 68-67=135 −9
2 United States Scottie Scheffler 68-69=137 −7
T3 South Africa Christiaan Bezuidenhout 68-70=138 −6
United States Ben Griffin 67-71=138
Australia Min Woo Lee 68-70=138
United States Collin Morikawa 65-73=138
T7 Australia Cameron Davis 69-70=139 −5
United States Chad Ramey 64-75=139
T9 Australia Jason Day 70-70=140 −4
United States Will Gordon 73-67=140
Norway Viktor Hovland 69-71=140
United States Nate Lashley 69-71=140
Sweden David Lingmerth 72-68=140
United States Denny McCarthy 68-72=140
Canada Taylor Pendrith 67-73=140
United States Brendon Todd 71-69=140

Third round

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Saturday, March 11, 2023

Scottie Scheffler moved into the lead with a birdie on his first hole followed by chipping in for eagle on the second. He made five more birdies during the rest of his round for a round of 65 (7 under par) which gave him a two-shot lead through 54 holes at 14 under par.[21]

Min Woo Lee began his round by holing out from 112 yards on the first hole for an eagle. He joined Scheffler in the lead with a birdie on the 11th hole, then moved one ahead with another birdie on the 12th, before falling behind again over the final six holes. His round of 66 (6 under par) put him at 12 under par, two strokes behind Scheffler.[22]

Aaron Rai made a hole-in-one on the 17th hole in a seven-under round of 65, moving him into a tie for fourth place. With Hayden Buckley in the first round, it marked the first time in Players Championship history two players had made a hole-in-one on the 17th hole in the same tournament.[23]

Tom Hoge, who had made the cut on the number, set a tournament record with a round of 62; he made ten birdies during his round, ending with a 10-foot putt on the ninth hole, his last. He moved from a tie for 65th place at the start of the round up to a tie for eighth.[24]

Second-round leader Adam Svensson was even-par on his round before a triple-bogey on the par-4 14th hole dropped him back to six-under and 14th place.[25]

The scoring average for the round was 69.57, the lowest in Players Championship history.[26]

Scorecard of Tom Hoge

Hole 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Par 4 5 4 3 4 4 5 3 4 4 5 3 4 4 4 4 3 5
United States Hoge +2 +1 E E E −1 −2 −2 −3 −3 −4 −5 −6 −6 −6 −6 −7 −8
Place Player Score To par
1 United States Scottie Scheffler 68-69-65=202 −14
2 Australia Min Woo Lee 68-70-66=204 −12
3 Australia Cameron Davis 69-70-67=206 −10
T4 South Africa Christiaan Bezuidenhout 68-70-69=207 −9
England Tommy Fleetwood 72-70-65=207
England Aaron Rai 73-69-65=207
United States Chad Ramey 64-75-68=207
T8 United States Tom Hoge 78-68-62=208 −8
South Korea Im Sung-jae 75-69-64=208
Sweden David Lingmerth 72-68-68=208

Final round

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Sunday, March 12, 2023

After a birdie on the first hole by Min Woo Lee and a bogey by Scottie Scheffler on the third hole, the two players were tied for the lead at 13 under par. On the fourth hole, Lee made a triple-bogey having hit his third shot into the water; he dropped further behind as the round went on and finished in a tie for sixth at eight under par.[27] Starting the day at five under par, Hideki Matsuyama was seven under par for his round through 13 holes, and one stroke behind at 12 under par, before he made a double bogey on the 14th hole; a further dropped shot on the final hole meant he finished at 9 under par, good enough for fifth place on his own.[28]

Through the middle of the round, Scheffler made five consecutive birdies to reach 18 under par and open a six stroke lead over the rest of the field. He made one bogey and five pars over the closing six holes to finish with a round of 69 (3 under par), and at 17 under par, win his first Players Championship title by five strokes.[29][30]

Tyrrell Hatton began the round nine shots off the lead, in a tie for 26th place; he was even-par on the front-nine before making seven birdies in taking 29 strokes to play the back-nine, tying the tournament record, for a round of 65 (7 under par) to finish alone in second place at 12 under par.[31][32] Tom Hoge and Viktor Hovland finished with rounds of 70 and 68 respectively to finish tied for third place. Max Homa went birdie-eagle-birdie on the 10th, 11th and 12th holes to reach 10-under and move into a tie for second; after a run of pars, he made a double-bogey on the 17th hole after his tee shot found the water to fall back to eight under par.[33][34][28] Finishing alongside Homa and Lee in a tie for sixth place were Cameron Davis, Im Sung-jae, David Lingmerth, Justin Rose and Justin Suh.

Alex Smalley made a hole-in-one on the 17th hole; the first time there had been three holes-in-one recorded at the same hole during a tournament in Players Championship history.[35]

Champion
(c) = past champion
Place Player Score To par Money ($)
1 United States Scottie Scheffler 68-69-65-69=271 −17 4,500,000
2 England Tyrrell Hatton 72-71-68-65=276 −12 2,725,000
T3 United States Tom Hoge 78-68-62-70=278 −10 1,475,000
Norway Viktor Hovland 69-71-70-68=278
5 Japan Hideki Matsuyama 74-70-67-68=279 −9 1,025,000
T6 Australia Cameron Davis 69-70-67-74=280 −8 736,607
United States Max Homa 72-72-67-69=280
South Korea Im Sung-jae 75-69-64-72=280
Australia Min Woo Lee 68-70-66-76=280
Sweden David Lingmerth 72-68-68-72=280
England Justin Rose 69-73-67-71=280
United States Justin Suh 68-73-69-70=280

Scorecard

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Final round

Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Par 4 5 3 4 4 4 4 3 5 4 5 4 3 4 4 5 3 4
United States Scheffler −14 −14 −13 −13 −13 −13 −13 −14 −15 −16 −17 −18 −18 −17 −17 −17 −17 −17
England Hatton −5 −5 −5 −5 −5 −5 −5 −6 −5 −6 −6 −7 −7 −8 −9 −10 −11 −12
United States Hoge −8 −9 −9 −9 −10 −8 −8 −8 −9 −9 −8 −8 −9 −9 −9 −10 −11 −10
Norway Hovland −6 −7 −6 −7 −6 −6 −6 −6 −7 −7 −8 −9 −10 −10 −10 −10 −10 −10
Japan Matsuyama −5 −5 −6 −6 −6 −7 −7 −8 −9 −9 −10 −11 −12 −10 −10 −10 −10 −9
United States Homa −5 −6 −6 −6 −6 −6 −6 −6 −6 −7 −9 −10 −10 −10 −10 −10 −8 −8
Australia Lee −13 −13 −13 −10 −10 −10 −11 −10 −10 −10 −8 −8 −8 −7 −7 −8 −9 −8

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

Eagle Birdie Bogey Double bogey Triple bogey+

Notes

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  1. ^ The FedEx Cup Playoffs and Eligibility Points List was introduced during the 2021–22 PGA Tour season and replaced the FedEx Cup Standings as a criterion; the new list did not include players suspended by the tour, such as those who had joined LIV Golf.[4] After the end of the 2021–22 regular season, a further six players who had joined LIV Golf (Lahiri, Leishman, Neimann, Smith, Tringale and Varner) were removed from the list, moving Wallace, Smotherman, Lower, Redman, Willett and Kraft (the players ranked 126 to 131 in the points list as of August 7, 2022) into the top-125.[5][6]
  2. ^ Ryan Armour replaced Lanto Griffin.[8]

References

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  1. ^ Ferguson, Doug (March 8, 2023). "LIV Golf effect noticeable as ever at Players Championship". Associated Press. Retrieved March 9, 2023.
  2. ^ Bolton, Rob (February 13, 2023). "2023 Qualifiers for the Players and the majors". PGA Tour. Retrieved February 15, 2023.
  3. ^ "The Players Championship field by category" (PDF). PGA Tour. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
  4. ^ Hoggard, Rex (July 26, 2022). "PGA Tour creates playoff 'eligibility list' to remove suspended players". Golf Channel. Retrieved August 10, 2022.
  5. ^ "Updated FedExCup standings reflect Playoffs eligibility". PGA Tour. August 7, 2022. Archived from the original on August 10, 2022. Retrieved February 15, 2023.
  6. ^ "Updated FedExCup standings reflect Playoffs eligibility". PGA Tour. September 2, 2022. Retrieved February 15, 2023.
  7. ^ a b c d e Bolton, Rob (March 7, 2023). "Power Rankings: The Players Championship". PGA Tour. Retrieved March 9, 2023.
  8. ^ a b Freeman, Clayton (March 8, 2023). "Lanto Griffin withdraws from 2023 Players Championship citing injury, Ryan Armour added to field". Florida Times-Union. Retrieved March 9, 2023.
  9. ^ "Tiger Woods won't take part in Players Championship". ESPN. March 3, 2023. Retrieved March 9, 2023.
  10. ^ Leonard, Tod (March 9, 2023). "Players 2023: Leader already clinches Beard title, a missed putt from 8 inches and 7 other things you must know from the first round". Golf Digest. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
  11. ^ Piastowski, Nick (March 9, 2023). "Collin Morikawa, with one sentence, may have made the competition very afraid". Golf. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
  12. ^ Lavner, Ryan (March 9, 2023). "Rory McIlroy tries to find form with new driver, opens with 76: 'User error'". Golf Channel. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
  13. ^ Hoggard, Rex (March 9, 2023). "Final three-putt 'felt like a slap in the face' for Rahm in frustrating 71 at The Players". Golf Channel. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
  14. ^ McDonald, Patrick (March 9, 2023). "Watch: Hayden Buckley drains hole-in-one on famous par-3 17th at 2023 Players Championship". CBS Sports. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
  15. ^ Romine, Brentley (March 11, 2023). "Adam Svensson generates – literally – closing birdie, leads Players after 36 holes". Golf Channel. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
  16. ^ Wegman, Josh (March 11, 2023). "Svensson leads Scheffler by 2 after 36 holes at TPC Sawgrass". TheScore.com. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
  17. ^ Leonard, Tod (March 10, 2023). "Players 2023: Island 17th claims another leader, stars eyeing weekend off, and 6 other things to know from Round 2". Golf Digest. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
  18. ^ Hirsh, Jack (March 11, 2023). "Senior pro breaks nearly 40-year-old Arnold Palmer record at Players Championship". Golf. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
  19. ^ Schupak, Adam (March 11, 2023). "2023 Players Championship: Here are the notables, including Rory McIlroy, who missed the cut". Golfweek. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
  20. ^ Colgan, James (March 10, 2023). "Jon Rahm WDs from Players Championship due to illness". Golf.com. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
  21. ^ McDonald, Patrick (March 11, 2023). "2023 Players Championship leaderboard: Scottie Scheffler takes control with Saturday 65 at TPC Sawgrass". CBS Sports. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
  22. ^ Rayson, Zac (March 11, 2023). "Two Aussies in top three at Players Champs as course record smashed, epic ace stuns". Fox Sports. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
  23. ^ Schreiber, Max (March 11, 2023). "Amid historic stretch at TPC Sawgrass, Aaron Rai aces island green on No. 17". Golf Channel. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
  24. ^ Coffin, Jay (March 11, 2023). "Players 2023: Tom Hoge scorches Sawgrass to shoot course-record 62, vaults up leaderboard". Golf Digest. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
  25. ^ Weeks, Bob (March 11, 2023). "Svensson staying positive after third-round slip at Players Championship". TSN. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
  26. ^ Ray, Justin (March 11, 2023). "Record day at Players Championship features Scottie Scheffler, Min Woo Lee on top". The Athletic. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
  27. ^ Ferguson, Doug (March 12, 2023). "Min Woo Lee falters at Players, says it could've been worse". Associated Press. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
  28. ^ a b Freeman, Clayton (March 12, 2023). "Players Championship: Final-round miscues foiled group of challengers to Scottie Scheffler". Florida Times-Union. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
  29. ^ Berhow, Josh (March 12, 2023). "Scottie Scheffler dominates Players Championship, wins record payday". Golf. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
  30. ^ Porter, Kyle (March 12, 2023). "Scottie Scheffler is boring, and like Tiger Woods before him, that makes the 2023 Players' champion brilliant". CBS Sports. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
  31. ^ Romine, Brentley (March 12, 2023). "Back-nine first at TPC Sawgrass even gets Tyrrell Hatton smiling". Golf Channel. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
  32. ^ Priest, Evin (March 12, 2023). "Players 2023: After mediocre start, Tyrrell Hatton storms back to walk away with career-best payday". Golf Digest. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
  33. ^ Stanley, Adam (March 12, 2023). "Max Homa's Players rally hurt by bad break on 12, water ball on 17". PGA Tour. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
  34. ^ Hirsh, Jack (March 12, 2023). "Max Homa hit one of the most stunningly accurate tee shots you'll ever see". Golf. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
  35. ^ Schreiber, Max (March 12, 2023). "Alex Smalley records third ace of The Players Championship on iconic par-3 17th". Golf Channel. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
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