The Players Championship is the flagship event for the PGA Tour.
The tournament began in 1974. It was first played at its current home, the Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass, in 1982. Through the years, there’s only been five playoffs. The most recent was 2015, when Rickie Fowler fended off Kevin Kisner and Sergio Garcia.
What is the format for the playoff at the Players Championship?
According to the PGA Tour:
Players tied for the lead after 72 holes will settle the Players in a three-hole aggregate playoff. This format was instituted in 2014 after the tournament had used a sudden-death playoff format in previous years.
The three-hole playoff will use players’ total scores from TPC Sawgrass’ famed trio of closing holes: Nos. 16, 17 and 18. If there’s still a tie after those three holes, the playoff will move into sudden-death format. Sudden death will start on the island-green 17th before proceeding to No. 18 if necessary. If there is still a tie, the sudden-death playoff will continue at No. 16 and then 17 and 18.
What is the playoff history at the Players Championship?
Here are the five previous Players playoffs, the first of which was at Sawgrass Country Club, while the other four all too place at TPC Sawgrass:
1981
Raymond Floyd defeated Barry Jaeckel and Curtis Strange with a par on the first extra hole.
1987
Sandy Lyle defeated Jeff Sluman with a par on the third extra hole
2008
Sergio Garcia defeated Paul Goydos with a par on the first extra hole
2011
K.J. Choi beat David Toms with a par on the first extra hole
2015
Rickie Fowler outlasted Kevin Kisner and Sergio Garcia. Fowler and Kisner were tied after the first three-hole aggregate playoff in championship history. Fowler then knocked out Kisner with a birdie on the first sudden-death extra hole.
