PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Already the best in the world, Scottie Scheffler added another layer to his legend Sunday. He became the first player to win back-to-back in 50 years of THE PLAYERS Championship by matching the biggest comeback and the lowest closing round by a winner.
Scheffler holed out for eagle from the fourth fairway and had four birdies in a five-hole stretch around the turn, sending him to an 8-under 64 and a one-shot victory that wasn’t decided until the final putt.
Xander Schauffele, Brian Harman and Wyndham Clark all had a chance to force a playoff with a birdie on the daunting 18th hole at the TPC Sawgrass' Stadium Course.
The Tournament Players Club Sawgrass (TPC Sawgrass) is a golf course in the southeastern United States, located in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, southeast of Jacksonville. Opened 44 years ago in the autumn of 1980, it was the first of several Tournament Players Clubs to be built. It is home to the PGA Tour headquarters and hosts The Players Championship, one of the PGA Tour's signature events, now held in March. Paul and Jerome Fletcher negotiated a deal with the PGA Tour, which included the donation of 415 acres (1.68 km2) for one dollar (the original check is prominently displayed in the clubhouse).
The TPC Sawgrass is situated in Ponte Vedra Beach's Sawgrass development. It has two individual courses, the Stadium Course and the Valley Course. The Stadium Course was designed by noted golf course architects Pete and Alice Dye, and is known as one of the most difficult golf courses in the world. Constructed specifically to host The Players Championship, it employs a distinctive "stadium" concept: like in other sports, fans at the TPC sit in "stands" made of raised mounds of grass. It is known for its signature hole, the par-3, 137-yard (125 m) 17th, known as the "Island Green," one of golf's most recognizable and difficult holes. It has a capacity of 36,000
Winners[edit]
| Year | Winner | Score | To par | Margin of victory | Runner(s)-up | Purse (US$) | Winner's share ($) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Players Championship | ||||||||
| 2024 |  Scottie Scheffler (2) | 268 | −20 | 1 stroke | Wyndham Clark Brian Harman Xander Schauffele | 25,000,000 | 4,500,000 | |
| 2023 | Scottie Scheffler | 271 | −17 | 5 strokes |  Tyrrell Hatton | 25,000,000 | 4,500,000 | |
| 2022 |  Cameron Smith | 275 | −13 | 1 stroke |  Anirban Lahiri | 20,000,000 | 3,600,000 | |
| 2021 | Justin Thomas | 274 | −14 | 1 stroke | Lee Westwood | 15,000,000 | 2,700,000 | |
| 2020 | Canceled after the first round due to the COVID-19 pandemic | 15,000,000 | 2,700,000 | |||||
| 2019 |  Rory McIlroy | 272 | −16 | 1 stroke | Jim Furyk | 12,500,000 | 2,250,000 | |
| 2018 | Webb Simpson | 270 | −18 | 4 strokes | Xander Schauffele Charl Schwartzel Jimmy Walker | 11,000,000 | 1,980,000 | |
| 2017 |  Kim Si-woo | 278 | −10 | 3 strokes | Louis Oosthuizen Ian Poulter | 10,500,000 | 1,890,000 | |
| 2016 | Jason Day | 273 | −15 | 4 strokes | Kevin Chappell | 10,500,000 | 1,890,000 | |
| 2015 | Rickie Fowler | 276 | −12 | Playoff |  Sergio García Kevin Kisner | 10,000,000 | 1,800,000 | |