The PGA Tour gears up for one of the “Crown Jewels” of the season this week as it visits the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass for the 50th playing of THE PLAYERS Championship. Built in 1980 by legendary golf course architect Pete Dye, TPC Sawgrass is a Par 72 layout that will play 7,275 yards this week.
The Stadium Course is such a difficult course. Narrow fairways, thick, penal rough, strategically placed water hazards and waste bunkers, diabolical pot bunkers, tall, swooping palm trees and if all else fails, extremely fast, sloping greens. As a golfer, it’s everything you hate. But as a golf fan, it’s everything you love. You love to see the best players see every facet of their game challenged and TPC Sawgrass does just that. To find success, players will have to hit it in just the right spot from the tee. If you can’t find the fairway, the bomb and gouge approach will only carry you so far at this course. Elite ball strikers will rise to the top as well, as you do not want to miss these greens, and if you do, you better be a damn good scrambler to make up for it. It’s not even so much about making all the putts, it’s about leaving yourself in a good enough spot to not three-putt. If you can do all of this, you too will find success at the Stadium Course.
Despite its difficulty, THE PLAYERS Championship has shown that birdies can be made here, with the winner finishing at -10 or better in each of the last 14 editions, but still hard enough to challenge those in contention, with -15 or better being achieved only 5 times in that stretch. However, 4 of those scores were achieved in the last 7 editions, which leads some to think that the Stadium Course is losing its bite. Anyone who thinks that is wrong. This course is just as stout as it was when it first opened and has done a solid job of keeping up with the equipment changes and with the way the game itself is played.
THE PLAYERS Championship has been contested annually since 1974, with the exception of the infamous 2020 COVID edition where play was cancelled following the first round. Over that stretch, the best of the best, the cream of the crop, the legends of the sport have found victory here. Past winners include Jack Nicklaus, Al Geiberger, Lanny Wadkins, Lee Trevino, Raymond Floyd, Jerry Pate, Hal Sutton, Fred Couples, Calvin Peete, Sandy Lyle, Tom Kite, Steve Elkington, Davis Love III, Nick Price, Greg Norman, Lee Janzen, Justin Leonard, David Duval, Tiger Woods, Craig Perks, Adam Scott, Fred Funk, Stephen Ames, Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia, Henrik Stenson, Tim Clark, K. J. Choi, Matt Kuchar, Martin Kaymer, Rickie Fowler, Jason Day, Si Woo Kim, Webb Simpson, Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Cameron Smith and Scottie Scheffler, just to name a few.
Jack Nicklaus leads the way with 3 wins in this event, with Fred Couples, Steve Elkington, Hal Sutton, Davis Love III and Tiger Woods each nabbing 2 wins apiece. It’s also worth noting that all 3 of Nicklaus’s wins in this event did not come at the Stadium Course, as the event did not move to this venue until 1982 and his 3 wins came in 1974, 1976 and 1978. Despite the better scoring conditions of late, the scoring record will likely never be touched. The scoring record for this event is 264 (-24) and was set back in 1994 by, insert Jaws music, Greg Norman. The purists won’t even recognize this as the de facto scoring record given Norman’s association with LIV. I just find it ironic that the scoring record of the tour’s flagship event belongs to a man who absolutely despises the PGA Tour and vice versa. At the very least, it makes for good, added drama.
Last year’s edition was won by Scottie Scheffler, who put on an absolute clinic on his way to a five stroke victory over Tyrrell Hatton. Tom Hoge and Viktor Hovland finished T-3, seven strokes back, and Hideki Matsuyama rounded out the top 5, finishing eight strokes back. Who will add their name to the history books and the annals of golf lore by taking home golf’s “Fifth Major”? Read on to find out.
2024 has been anything but kind to Ben Taylor. In 6 starts, he has 5 missed cuts and a T-64 finish at the Farmers Insurance Open. Incredibly, Taylor’s strength is his putting, ranking 72nd in Strokes Gained: Putting this season. He gives most of it back everywhere else though, ranking outside the top 125 in each of the other 5 major Strokes Gained categories. Taylor has never played in this event before (he was scheduled to play last year, but was a healthy scratch due to getting married the same week), but TPC Sawgrass will chew you up and spit you out if you bring anything but your A-Game. Every field has fillers, even an event as esteemed as THE PLAYERS Championship. Taylor fits this category well and will easily miss the cut in his debut at TPC Sawgrass.
The 66th ranked player in the Official World Golf Ranking, Alex Noren has quietly had a solid 2024 season, with 3 top 30 finishes and 0 missed cuts in 5 starts, highlighted by a T-9 finish in his most recent start at the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches. There are few holes in Noren’s game, as he is gaining strokes in all 6 of the major Strokes Gained categories, including ranking 39th in Strokes Gained: Total. Noren has superb control of his ball striking this season, ranking 6th in Driving Accuracy Percentage and 16th in Greens in Regulation Percentage, not to mention 3rd in Scrambling and 2nd in Bogey Avoidance. Noren has had modest success in this event, with 1 top 10 and 3 top 30’s in 6 starts, but also 3 missed cuts as well. Frankly, all signs point to success for Noren. Honestly, we wouldn’t be surprised if he goes on an absolute tear and earns his first PGA Tour victory this week. But given the strength of field, a top 25 finish would be a realistic outcome.
One of golf’s social media content kings, Max Homa has been walking the walk on the course in addition to talking the talk online, with 1 top 10 and a quartet of top 20 finishes in 6 starts this season. Including a T-8 finish in his most recent start at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. His stats are solid throughout the bag, as he is gaining strokes in all 6 of the major Strokes Gained categories, including ranking inside the top 35 in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green, Around-the-Green and Total, as well as top 15 in both Scrambling and Bogey Avoidance. Homa has taken a lot of flack, unjustly, for playing poorly in big events. However, TPC Sawgrass and Max Homa have started to mesh pretty well, with Homa finishing inside the top 15 in each of the last two editions of THE PLAYERS Championship, highlighted by a T-6 finish last year. Homa seems to be hitting his stride as we enter the beefy part of the schedule and there’s no reason why he won’t contend this week. A top 10 finish for Max Homa is a lock.
Now before you start dogging on me for who I’m choosing to win, hear me out. Shane Lowry is a solid pick this week. Lowry has been on a heater lately, finishing inside the top 5 in each of his last two starts on tour, finishing T-4 at the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches and 3rd at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, not to mention holding a share of the 54 hole lead in both events as well. The stats? Also marvelous. Lowry is gaining strokes in all 6 major Strokes Gained categories, including 5th in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green, 11th in Tee-to-Green and 10th in Total, on top of ranking 8th in Driving Accuracy Perentage and 5th in Par 4 Scoring Average. Keeping the ball in the fairway is going to be vital to setting yourself up for success this week. The par 5’s are where your best scoring chances are, but if you can take advantage of some of the diabolical par 4’s as well, you’re definitely gaining a step on your competition. Lowry has a mixed bag of success at TPC Sawgrass in his career, with 1 top 10, 3 top 25’s and 3 missed cuts in 9 trips here, but he has also finished in the top 15 in 2 of the last 3 editions. Is Lowry the sexiest pick on the odds board? Absolutely not. Is he “the face of the PGA Tour”? Also no. But he’s playing well and TPC Sawgrass rewards the players who have great control of their game. All of this leads to Shane Lowry adding another cornerstone victory to his resumé, as I predict that Shane Lowry will take home the victory in the 50th edition of THE PLAYERS Championship.
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