8 remarkable stats and records from The Players Championship

Greg Norman leads our Players Championship stats thanks to his incredible win in 1994.

We’re back to TPC Sawgrass this week, so here are a few of our favorite Players Championship stats and trivia for you to pass off as your own…

If you’re anything like us and love a good bit of trivia, you’re in the right place. Golf’s fifth major is taking place this week at TPC Sawgrass, so we had a little bit of a dig for some Players Championship stats we thought you could share when you’re out on the course with your pals over the weekend.

TPC Sawgrass has hosted the Players Championship since 1982, but the first playing of the Players was in 1974. In its 51-year history, the Players Championship has become one of the most iconic events on the calendar, and it’s a tournament not to be missed.

The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass is famous for its closing stretch, most notably the par-3 17th, and we’ve got a couple of facts for you to keep under your hat when coverage turns to the island green.

We won’t keep you in suspense any longer – let’s dive in…

Norman goes low, low, low, low

Before the Shark was dividing golf as the CEO of LIV Golf, he was attempting to divide golf as one of the best players in the world.

Norman needed just 264 shots to play the 1994 Players Championship – and his tournament-record 24-under-par will almost certainly never be beaten.

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In fact, only two other players have finished on 20-under-par or better at TPC Sawgrass. One was Scottie Scheffler when he successfully defended his trophy in 2024. The other was Fuzzy Zoeller when he finished runner-up to Norman in ’94.

(Zoeller, whose score would have comfortably won him the title in any other year, never did get his hands on the PGA Tour’s flagship title – though we’re sure two majors on his CV make up for it.)

It also led to…

The biggest swing in PGA Tour history

And no, we don’t mean John Daly with his driver!

After Norman’s ludicrous exploits at the ’94 Players, the PGA Tour decided they didn’t want a repeat and the decision was made the following year to make the greens rock hard.

Lee Janzen took the title that year – an absurd swing of 19 shots from 12 months prior – and the biggest difference between the winning score of the same tournament in consecutive years.

Norman, if you’re wondering, finished in a tie for 37th at 6-over par – 30 shots worse off than the year before.

A couple of years later, Steve Elkington wrote himself into the record books with a 7-shot win over Scott Hoch. The Aussie’s margin of victory is still to be bettered.

Jack’s odd Players relationship

Jack Nicklaus won the inaugural Players Championship in 1974, which was played at Atlanta Country Club because TPC hadn’t been built yet.

Two years later, he won his second, this time at Inverrary Country Club, while his third came around the corner at Sawgrass Country Club in ’78.

But the Golden Bear’s Players record after the permanent move to TPC was MC, T19, T33, T17, MC, MC, MC, T29, MC, MC.

When asked for his thoughts on the Pete Dye masterpiece, his response was more than telling. “It’s very pretty,” he said.

Scheffler’s defence

Not only did the runaway World No.1 become the second winner to reach 20-under-par at TPC Sawgrass, he also gave the 50th Players the finish it deserved when he defied a five-shot deficit in the final round to become the first golfer to win this tournament in back-to-back years and retain his crown.

Baller.

Fred’s got the Funk

What were you doing at 21? Si Woo Kim was becoming the youngest Players champion thanks to a score of 10-under-par in 2017.

On the other end of that scale, the oldest Players champion is Fred Funk. The American won the 2005 tournament with a score of 9-under par at the age of 48 years, 9 months and 14 days.

What makes it even more impressive is that, due to inclement weather, most of the third round and the entire fourth round had to be played on the Monday.

“Everybody had to play more than 30 holes on Monday,” Funk said in an interview with Golfweek. “It was tough for everyone. The whole week was a nightmare but we had no choice. When the weather is bad and you can’t seem to get through the first two rounds and make the cut, it’s brutal.”

Highs and lows

Poor Bob Murphy! The five-time PGA Tour champion will be keen to lose the record for the highest round ever recorded at The Players. (But, 46 years later, he still waiting.)

After making it through to the weekend at Sawgrass Country Club in ’79, Murphy shot himself out of contention with a 20-over par 92 on the final day. The American ended the tournament on 312 shots.

Tom Hoge, meanwhile, will hope no one takes his crown.

After several players had tied the course-record 63 – set by Fred Couples in 1992 – Hoge became the first player to card a 10-under 62 at TPC Sawgrass during the third round in 2023.

It was enough to put the American in contention, but he ended up finishing seven back of Scottie Scheffler.

Just the 30 shots between Murphy’s round and Hoge’s…

Sick 17

What is it about Sawgrass and people called Bob?

Bob Tway put four balls in the water in 2005 and ended up carding the highest score on the 17th in Players history when he scratched a 12 onto his card.

While we’re on the subject, since the PGA Tour started keeping detailed records in 2003, approximately 990 balls have found the water at the iconic par-3 – that’s an average of 49.5 per tournament!

The 17th claimed the most victims in 2007, with 93 balls finding the water – 50 of which were in the first round.

(We’ve done loads more on this very topic – so if this is the sort of thing that interests you then click right here.)

In the money!

Since 2023, the Players Championship has had a $25 million purse, making it the largest prize purse for any single golf tournament. (Yes, even more than LIV!)

The winner pockets $4.5 million of the purse – meaning Scheffler has banked $9 million for eight days’ work in this corner of Jacksonville.

Incidentally, Scheffler’s two previous Players appearances were a missed cut and a tie for 55th, which earned him just north of $46,000.

Now, we know what you’re thinking, and we have the answer.

The second highest earner at The Players is Sergio Garcia, who, in relative terms, has banked a paltry $5.9 million.

And he needed 18 more appearances in which to do it, too…