THE PLAYERS Championship Top 10 Moments Through the Years

The 47th installment of THE PLAYERS Championship is set to come up on the TOUR this weekend, and what better way to look forward to the mid-major than looking back at some of my favorite moments from the prestigious tournament.

For a tournament that is home to endless amounts of electric highlights and shots, I have limited my all-time favorites to a top-10 list.

Number 10:

Si Woo Kim’s incredible play at the 2017 PLAYERS Championship helped him to secure a win as the youngest to ever do it at TPC Sawgrass, breaking Adam Scott’s record. Known for his long and accurate approach shots on both par-4 and par-5’s, Si Woo Kim stunned the fans by whipping out his driver for his second shot on the difficult par-4 14th.

For a majority of golfers, a shot with a driver without a tee is quite unorthodox and is rarely used.

For Si Woo Kim, he has shown comfortability with the testing shot as he has proven to do it several times in his career. This time around, he hit his tee-shot on the right side of the fairway in the rough and decided a driver-off-the-deck was his best play from 260 yards away.

To the fans’ surprise, Si Woo Kim pured his driver and knocked it on the front edge of the green. He would go on to two-putt for par and ultimately win the 2017 PLAYERS.

https://twitter.com/PGATOUR/status/863498656946692096?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E863498656946692096%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublish.twitter.com%2F%3Fquery%3Dhttps3A2F2Ftwitter.com2FPGATOUR2Fstatus2F863498656946692096widget%3DTweet

Number 9:

All highlights and moments from THE PLAYERS Championship from TPC Sawgrass originated in 1982 in its first showing at Ponte Verde Beach. On his final two holes, Jerry Pate needed two birdies to win the first PLAYERS at Sawgrass, and he did just that.

But it wasn’t the two birdies which highlighted Pate’s victory in 1982, it was his celebration. Surrounded by loads of water, Jerry Pate found no better way to soak in the moment than to take a swim next to the 18th hole.

It only gets better. Former commissioner of the PGA Tour Deane Beman and TPC Sawgrass course designer Pete Dye, to their surprise, were both pushed into the drink alongside Pate.

Number 8:

With six holes to play at five strokes behind, Rickie Fowler needed some magic in the 2015 PLAYERS Championship. Something clicked in Rickie’s flashy Puma gear as he went birdie-par-birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie to finish his final six holes six-under-par, and, ultimately, forcing a three-man playoff alongside Kevin Kisner and Sergio Garcia.

He would go on to beat Kisner and Garcia in the playoff after draining a birdie putt on the daring par-3 17th.

Many golf players and fans recognize Rickie’s incredible finish as the best comeback at THE PLAYERS Championship, if not, any PGA Tour event.

Highlights | Rickie Fowler delivers down the stretch to win at THE PLAYERS

In the final round of THE PLAYERS Championship 2015, Rickie Fowler outlast Sergio Garcia and Kevin Kisner in playoff holes to claim his second PGA TOUR win. . SUBSCRIBE to PGA TOUR now: http://pgat.us/vBxcZSh Welcome to the official YouTube channel of the PGA TOUR.

Number 7:

On a day at TPC Sawgrass that most recognize as the toughest final round (condition wise) in THE PLAYERS Championship’s history, Fred Funk battled his way to secure one of the biggest victory’s of his career in 2005. Winds were reaching upwards of 30 mph and players were becoming frustrated and losing strokes down the stretch, but this did not seem to bother Funk.

With conditions swaying flags and balls, they were also swaying leads throughout the opening nine until Fred Funk caught his lead.

To his demise, Funk would lose his momentum by bogeying three straight holes and losing his lead.

Knowing he was down and needed some funk, Fred took a brave 3-iron on the par-5 16th and stuck it to within 20 feet of the hole and went on to sink the birdie putt.

Having the smallest of leads heading to the 18th hole, Funk would only need a par to win the 32nd edition of THE PLAYERS. Easy money for Fred; he drained it and won.

Number 6:

In 2001, the former year’s Masters champion Vijay Singh shocked spectators when he executed a shot that so few have done in their professional golf careers. Leaving himself with a troublesome lay on his approach at the par-5 16th hole, Singh was left with few options to finish the hole. Snuggled right up against the rough and sitting on the green, Vijay’s golf ball was left in a tricky spot.

Analyzing his choices for a bit, Singh realized that chipping the ball with a wedge could easily result in both a fat or thin strike, so he decided to take a different approach. Something he claims to have practiced before, Vijay Singh took his putter and chipped the ball with the front-end blade of the club.

He rolled it in for eagle.

Shot by: @VijaySinghGolf
Idea from: @FredCouplesGolf

Imagination on No. 16 at @THEPLAYERSChamp. pic.twitter.com/cwB5tmtvkQ

— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) March 8, 2021

Number 5:

Known as the escape artist on the PGA Tour, Phil Mickelson pulled off one of the most memorable shots in the history of THE PLAYERS, in 2007. In the third round on the 10th hole, Mickelson found his tee shot hugging the left side of a fairway bunker.

With trees in his view and a fairway that was limited to the right, Phil proved to the world why he is the Harry Houdini of escapes in golf by slamming his sand shot on the right side of the green.

Mickelson would go on to beat the future 2008 champion Sergio Garcia by two strokes with a 72 hole score of 277 (-11).

Number 4:

In 1993, PLAYERS champion Nick Price pulled off one of the coolest shots you will ever see. Situated in the rough and in a lay which required Price to take an uneven, leaning stance to the ball.

The result was one one that shocked not only the spectators, but also Nick Price himself.

In the deep grass, Price lofted a wedge which merely skied the water and came to settle within 5 feet of the hole. The no. 1 player in the world, at the time, ended his PLAYERS victory with a bang.

Number 3:

This next moment at THE PLAYERS is one of my favorites because it reminds me of one of my favorite players on TOUR, Jordan Spieth. Known for his great golf and unwavering personality, Spieth is also known around the golf world as being quite vocal on the golf course. “Go hard!”, “Sit!”, “Bite!” are all things we have heard Spieth scream at the ball while it zooms through the air on the course.

Like Spieth, 2000 PLAYERS champion Hal Sutton let his ball hear it on the 18th fairway.

All Sutton needed on the final hole was a par to secure the victory, and his ball would give him just that on its way to putting distance in the air. “Be the right club!”

Be the Right Club, Today!.mpg

Hal Sutton wins his second Players Championship in 2000 holding off the world’s number one ranked player, Tiger Woods.

Number 2:

Perhaps with the most pure swing of all time, Fred Couples showed of his grit by executing one of the most memorable moments on the famous par-3, island green 17th in 1999.

Setting up for his tee-shot, Freddie Cups stared down the flag stick and gave his ball, what looked like, a perfect strike. Splash!

Fred’s tee-shot, like so many others before him, went for a swim. Dropping 2 and hitting 3, Couples re-teed and gave the ball a similar, yet more pure, strike and dunked it right into the hole.

This par save would go on to be one of the greatest par saves of all time and would be known forever as “The All-American Par.”

Fred Couples’ hole-in-three at THE PLAYERS Championship 1999

When Fred Couples hit his tee shot in the water hazard at the 17th hole, he made his third shot count in more ways than one. . SUBSCRIBE to PGA TOUR now: http://pgat.us/vBxcZSh Welcome to the official YouTube channel of the PGA TOUR.

Number 1:

How could a top-10 list lack a highlight from Tiger Woods? Well, of course, we always save the best for last and this one goes without saying.

Tiger Woods drained a downhill, 60-foot putt for birdie on the island green 17th en route to his 2001 PLAYERS victory.

And this putt will forever be “better than most!”

TPC Sawgrass Stadium Stories: Tiger Woods’ “Better than most”

During the 2001 PLAYERS Championship Tiger Woods sank an incredible 60-foot putt on the famed island green at TPC Sawgrass that was “better than most”. For more highlights of the PLAYERS Championship, visit PGATOUR.COM More Tiger Woods http://bit.ly/1GktS25 . SUBSCRIBE to PGA TOUR now: http://pgat.us/vBxcZSh Welcome to the official YouTube channel of the PGA TOUR.

Shall us golf fans see more incredible golf shots and moments in this year’s edition of THE PLAYERS Championship? That is what is so great about golf.

Expect the unexpected; anything can happen.

Cover Image via Instagram