Preview: The Players Championship

One of the strongest PGA Tour fields of the year tees it up for this week’s Players Championship. The top-three in the world, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia are all former champions here and all will be looking to secure a second title at Sawgrass.

Sergio Garcia
Fergus Bisset
By
published

Lowdown: Often referred to as the unofficial fifth Major, the Players Championship is one of the richest tournaments in world golf. Always attracting a stellar field, Sergio Garcia will return as defending champion hoping he can become the first man to win The Players in consecutive years. The course at Sawgrass, hosting the tournament for the 28th time, was renovated in 2006 to accommodate the competition’s move from March to May - it was felt that firmer conditions due to milder weather meant the layout had to be toughened up. That certainly proved to be the case in 2008 when Sergio Garcia and Paul Goydos tied in regulation play on 283 – just five under par. The contest was then decided on Sawgrass’ famous island green par-3 17th. When Goydos found the water and Sergio found terra firma, the Spaniard had his most significant tournament victory to date. Tom Vlach has taken over from Fred Klauk as course superintendent at Sawgrass and he’s keen to continue Klauk’s efforts to make the course one of the most recognisable in the world. “If it’s not broke, don’t try to fix it.” He said.

Venue: TPC Sawgrass, Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida Date: May 7 - 10 Course stats: par 72, 7,220 yards Purse: $9,500,000 Winner: $1,710,000 Defending champion: Sergio Garcia (-5)

TV coverage: Thursday 7th – Live on Setanta Golf from 6pm Friday 8th - Live on Setanta Golf from 6pm Saturday 9th - Live on Setanta Golf from 6pm Sunday 10th - Live on Setanta Golf from 7pm

Player watch: The top five - Tiger, Phil, Sergio, Ogilvy and Perry. All are in the field and none can be overlooked as potential winners. Stephen Ames – He was the winner in 2006 and tied fifth last year. He could be a surprise winner. Jim Furyk – He desperately wants a victory at Sawgrass and he has the game to do it. He may not be among the favourites this year but expect him to feature.

Key Hole: 16th. A 507 yard par five reachable in two for most players but the approach must flirt with the water short of the green and all down the right side. Eagle is a possibility here but so is a big number.

Skills Required: Course management. Pete Dye courses are notoriously awkward to play and the key to success around Sawgrass is to find the fairways – see Fred Funk’s victory in 2005.

Fergus Bisset
Fergus Bisset
Contributing Editor

Fergus is Golf Monthly's resident expert on the history of the game and has written extensively on that subject. He has also worked with Golf Monthly to produce a podcast series. Called 18 Majors: The Golf History Show it offers new and in-depth perspectives on some of the most important moments in golf's long history. You can find all the details about it here.

He is a golf obsessive and 1-handicapper. Growing up in the North East of Scotland, golf runs through his veins and his passion for the sport was bolstered during his time at St Andrews university studying history. He went on to earn a post graduate diploma from the London School of Journalism. Fergus has worked for Golf Monthly since 2004 and has written two books on the game; "Great Golf Debates" together with Jezz Ellwood of Golf Monthly and the history section of "The Ultimate Golf Book" together with Neil Tappin , also of Golf Monthly.

Fergus once shanked a ball from just over Granny Clark's Wynd on the 18th of the Old Course that struck the St Andrews Golf Club and rebounded into the Valley of Sin, from where he saved par. Who says there's no golfing god?

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