The self-proclaimed 5th Major, the 2024 PLAYERS Championship is next on the schedule.

While the Tournament itself may not live up to the 5th Major nickname the coverage generally does. As we all know Golf is criminally under-covered from a broadcast standpoint but the PLAYERS offers multiple feeds for our viewing experience.

Last year Scottie Scheffler looked as if he was playing a different course as he shot 69 or better in all four rounds including a 65 on Saturday winning with a score of 17 under. He went into Sunday with a two stroke lead but found himself tied with Min Woo Lee after a few holes. Min Woo then triple bogeyed and Scottie made five straight birdies. Hideki Matsuyama made a run as well but faltered late in the round.

The 2022 PLAYERS was ravaged by inclement weather and numerous delays. Cam Smith came away with the win on Monday when it was all said and done. He made 13 one-putts in the final round and finished 13 under for the tournament.

Justin Thomas had back-to-back rounds of one under on Thursday and Friday before firing a combined 12 under on the weekend to claim victory in 2021. He led the field by gaining 13 strokes from tee to green. A number of LIV defectors finished top 5 including, Westwood, Bryson, Gooch, and Paul Casey.

The 2020 PLAYERS was the first casualty of Covid after Hideki Matsuyama tied the course record of 63 in the first round, the tournament was canceled.

The PLAYERS Championship is played at the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

TPC Sawgrass is a Pete Dye designed 7,275 yard par 72. There are four par threes, four par fives and ten par fours. Three of the par fives are reachable in two by most of the field with the 600+ yard ninth hole only being reachable by bombers.

TPC Sawgrass is home to the famous 137 yard par three 17th hole. The Island Green has seen plenty of water balls and the final three holes at Sawgrass can make or break a round. The 16th hole is a par five and the easiest hole on the course. The 18th hole is a 462 yard par four and plays as the hardest hole on the course.

The course has been overseeded with perennial ryegrass. This grass can thrive and grow in cooler conditions and gives a bright green appearance

The greens are on the smaller side. They are multi-tiered and most of them are surrounded by water or bunkers. The greens are TifEagle bermudagrass overseeded with Poa/Trivialis Velvet Bentgrass. (Huh?) They play a little more like bentgrass but putting surface splits shouldn’t be a major concern.

With smaller greens, greens in regulation percentage is slightly below the tour average at 63%. The greens generally play extremely fast so despite being small greens, three putts are always a possibility especially if approach shots find the wrong tier.

There are 24 acres worth of water and long bunkers run along the fairways that are strategically placed close to where golfers will want to aim for an optimal second shot. This makes accuracy off the tee a must and many golfers go less than driver on tee shots.

As a result driving accuracy comes in right around tour average at 63 percent. The rough is also penal here but is slightly less so since the tournament has been moved from May to March. Driving distance is also a bit lower than the tour average with an average drive of 278 yards.

Five of the ten par fours on the course are between 450-500 yards. Despite the course not being extremely long, 22% of approach shots come from over 200 yards. Approach shots from 125-150 make up 19%, and shots from 150-175 yards make up another 19%.

There really isn’t a distinct skill set that should be targeted so a good mix of recent form and course history should be considered.

The field consists of 144 golfers with the Top 65 and ties making the cut after 36 holes to play the weekend at THE PLAYERS Championship.

2024 PLAYERS Championship: Key Stats and Figures

• Approach
• Par 5 Scoring
• Scrambling
• Opportunities Gained
• Driving Accuracy

Historic Cut Line

• 2023: +3
• 2022: +3
• 2021: +1
• 2020: Canceled
• 2019: even

PREVIOUS WINNERS

2023: Scottie Scheffler -17
2022: Cam Smith -13
2021: Justin Thomas-14
2020: Canceled
2019: Rory McIlroy -16