2018 Players Championship

2018 Players Championship
Tournament information
DatesMay 10–13, 2018
LocationPonte Vedra Beach, Florida
30°11′53″N 81°23′38″W / 30.198°N 81.394°W / 30.198; -81.394
Course(s)TPC Sawgrass,
Stadium Course
Tour(s)PGA Tour
Statistics
Par72
Length7,189 yards (6,574 m)
Field144 players, 80 after first cut
71 after second cut
Cut143 (−1)
Prize fund$11 million
Winner's share$1.98 million
Champion
United States Webb Simpson
270 (−18)
Location map
TPC Sawgrass is located in the United States
TPC Sawgrass
TPC Sawgrass
Location in the United States
TPC Sawgrass is located in Florida
TPC Sawgrass
TPC Sawgrass
Location in Florida
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The 2018 Players Championship was a professional golf tournament, held from May 10–13 at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. The flagship event of the PGA Tour, this was the 45th edition of The Players Championship, and the 37th edition held at the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass. The tournament was won by Webb Simpson, four strokes ahead of three runners-up.[1]

Defending champion Kim Si-woo opened with a five-under 67, but finished 15 strokes back, tied for 63rd place.

This was the twelfth consecutive Players Championship held in May; it returned to March in 2019.

Venue

Course layout

The 2018 Players Championship
Tee Rating/Slope 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Out 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 In Total
Yards 76.4 / 155 423 532 177 384 471 393 451 237 583 3,651 424 558 302 181 481 470 523 137 462 3,538 7,189
Par 4 5 3 4 4 4 4 3 5 36 4 5 4 3 4 4 5 3 4 36 72

Field

The field consisted of 144 players meeting the following criteria.[2] Each player is listed according to the first category by which he qualified with additional categories in which he qualified shown in parentheses.

1. Winners of PGA Tour events since last Players

Ryan Armour, Daniel Berger (2,9), Patrick Cantlay (2,9), Austin Cook, Jason Day (2,4,5,7,8,9), Bryson DeChambeau (2,9), Jason Dufner (2,4,8), Brice Garnett, Billy Horschel (2), Dustin Johnson (2,4,7,9,13), Kim Si-woo (2,5,9), Kevin Kisner (2,9), Patton Kizzire (2,13), Satoshi Kodaira (9), Brooks Koepka (2,4,9), Andrew Landry (13), Marc Leishman (2,8,9), Hideki Matsuyama (2,7,9), Rory McIlroy (2,4,6,8,9), Phil Mickelson (2,4,7,9,13), Grayson Murray (2), Pat Perez (2,9), Scott Piercy (2), Ted Potter Jr., Ian Poulter (2,9), Jon Rahm (2,9,13), Patrick Reed (2,4,9,13), Justin Rose (2,4,9,13), Xander Schauffele (2,6,9), Jordan Spieth (2,4,6,9), Kyle Stanley (2,9), Brendan Steele (2,9), Henrik Stenson (2,4,9), Chris Stroud (2), Justin Thomas (2,4,9,13), Jhonattan Vegas (2), Bubba Watson (2,4,9,13), Gary Woodland (2,9)

2. Top 125 from previous season's FedEx Cup points list

An Byeong-hun, Blayne Barber, Ryan Blaum, Jonas Blixt, Dominic Bozzelli, Keegan Bradley, Scott Brown, Wesley Bryan, Rafa Cabrera-Bello (9), Chad Campbell, Bud Cauley, Kevin Chappell (9), Stewart Cink, Harris English, Derek Fathauer, Tony Finau (9,13), Martin Flores, Rickie Fowler (5,9), Sergio García (4,9), Robert Garrigus, Brian Gay, Lucas Glover, Branden Grace (9), Cody Gribble, Emiliano Grillo, Bill Haas, Adam Hadwin (9), James Hahn, Brian Harman (9), Russell Henley (9), J. J. Henry, Charley Hoffman (9), J. B. Holmes, Charles Howell III, Mackenzie Hughes, John Huh, Zach Johnson (4), Kang Sung-hoon, Michael Kim, Kim Meen-whee, Chris Kirk, Russell Knox (7), Jason Kokrak, Kelly Kraft, Matt Kuchar (9), Anirban Lahiri, Martin Laird, Danny Lee, David Lingmerth (8), Luke List, Jamie Lovemark, Ben Martin, William McGirt (8), Francesco Molinari (9), Ryan Moore, Kevin Na, Geoff Ogilvy, Sean O'Hair, Louis Oosthuizen (9), Rod Pampling, Pan Cheng-tsung, D. A. Points, Chez Reavie, Patrick Rodgers, Rory Sabbatini, Ollie Schniederjans, Charl Schwartzel, Adam Scott (7), Webb Simpson (9), Cameron Smith (9), Brandt Snedeker, J. J. Spaun, Scott Stallings, Robert Streb, Kevin Streelman, Steve Stricker, Hudson Swafford, Nick Taylor, Vaughn Taylor, Kevin Tway, Tyrone van Aswegen, Harold Varner III, Jimmy Walker (4), Nick Watney, Richy Werenski

3. Top 125 (medical)

Ryan Palmer, Michael Thompson

4. Major champions from the past five years

Martin Kaymer (5), Danny Willett

5. Players Championship winners from the past five years

Tiger Woods

6. The Tour Championship winners from the past three years
7. World Golf Championship winners from the past three years

Shane Lowry

8. Memorial Tournament and Arnold Palmer Invitational winners from the past three years
9. Top 50 from the Official World Golf Ranking

Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Ross Fisher, Matt Fitzpatrick, Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton, Alexander Lévy, Li Haotong, Alex Norén

10. Senior Players champion from prior year

Scott McCarron

11. Web.com Tour money leader from prior season

Chesson Hadley (12)

12. Money leader during the Web.com Tour Finals
13. Top 10 current year FedEx Cup points leaders
14. Remaining positions and alternates filled through current year FedEx Cup standings

Brandon Harkins, Tom Hoge, Beau Hossler, Keith Mitchell, Trey Mullinax

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, May 10, 2018

Kim Si-woo shot 67 (−5), the lowest first round score by a defending champion since the event moved to Florida; six players were a shot better at 66.

Place Player Score To par
T1 United States Patrick Cantlay 66 −6
United States Chesson Hadley
United States Dustin Johnson
United States Matt Kuchar
Sweden Alex Norén
United States Webb Simpson
T7 South Korea Kim Si-woo 67 −5
United States Andrew Landry
United States Keith Mitchell
South Africa Rory Sabbatini
United States Steve Stricker
Venezuela Jhonattan Vegas

Source:[4]

Second round

Friday, May 11, 2018

Webb Simpson tied the course record with a round of 63 (−9) to open up a five-shot lead. Simpson had six consecutive birdies on holes 11–16 which also tied a tournament record. He was 11-under on his round until his tee shot found the water on the par-3 17th and made double bogey. His score of 129 (−15) after 36 holes tied Jason Day (2016) for the tournament record, while his five-shot lead set a new record.[5]

For the second consecutive year, at least eighty players made the 36-hole cut, which invoked a 54-hole cut.

Place Player Score To par
1 United States Webb Simpson 66-63=129 −15
T2 United States Patrick Cantlay 66-68=134 −10
New Zealand Danny Lee 68-66=134
South Africa Charl Schwartzel 68-66=134
T5 United States Chesson Hadley 66-69=135 −9
United States Charles Howell III 68-67=135
Sweden Alex Norén 66-69=135
T8 Australia Jason Day 69-67=136 −8
United States Xander Schauffele 68-68=136
United States Steve Stricker 67-69=136

Source:[4]

Third round

Saturday, May 12, 2018

Place Player Score To par
1 United States Webb Simpson 66-63-68=197 −19
2 New Zealand Danny Lee 68-66-70=204 −12
3 United States Dustin Johnson 66-71-69=206 −10
T4 Australia Jason Day 69-67-71=207 −9
United States Jason Dufner 72-69-66=207
United States Xander Schauffele 68-68-71=207
South Africa Charl Schwartzel 68-66-73=207
United States Jimmy Walker 69-68-70=207
T9 United States Patrick Cantlay 66-68-74=208 −8
England Tommy Fleetwood 69-71-68=208
United States Matt Kuchar 66-71-71=208
England Ian Poulter 70-69-69=208
United States Jordan Spieth 75-68-65=208
United States Harold Varner III 71-67-70=208
United States Tiger Woods 72-71-65=208

Source:[4]

Final round

Sunday, May 13, 2018

Champion
(c) = past champion
Place Player Score To par Money ($)
1 United States Webb Simpson 66-63-68-73=270 −18 1,980,000
T2 United States Xander Schauffele 68-68-71-67=274 −14 821,333
South Africa Charl Schwartzel 68-66-73-67=274
United States Jimmy Walker 69-68-70-67=274
T5 Australia Jason Day (c) 69-67-71-68=275 −13 418,000
United States Jason Dufner 72-69-66-68=275
T7 United States Keegan Bradley 69-69-72-66=276 −12 331,375
England Tommy Fleetwood 69-71-68-68=276
New Zealand Danny Lee 68-66-70-72=276
United States Harold Varner III 71-67-70-68=276

Source:[6]

Scorecard

Final round

Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Par 4 5 3 4 4 4 4 3 5 4 5 4 3 4 4 5 3 4
United States Simpson −19 −19 −19 −19 −19 −19 −20 −19 −19 −18 −19 −19 −19 −19 −19 −20 −20 −18
United States Schauffele −9 −10 −10 −11 −11 −11 −10 −10 −11 −11 −12 −13 −13 −13 −13 −13 −13 −14
South Africa Schwartzel −9 −10 −9 −9 −9 −9 −10 −10 −10 −10 −10 −11 −12 −12 −12 −13 −13 −14
United States Walker −9 −10 −10 −10 −10 −11 −11 −11 −11 −11 −12 −13 −14 −14 −14 −14 −14 −14
Australia Day −9 −10 −10 −11 −11 −11 −11 −11 −13 −13 −13 −13 −13 −13 −13 −13 −13 −13
United States Dufner −10 −11 −11 −11 −11 −12 −13 −12 −13 −13 −14 −14 −14 −14 −14 −14 −14 −13
New Zealand Lee −12 −13 −14 −14 −14 −14 −14 −14 −14 −14 −14 −13 −13 −13 −13 −12 −12 −12
United States Woods −8 −8 −9 −10 −11 −11 −11 −11 −12 −12 −13 −14 −14 −13 −13 −13 −11 −11

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

Eagle Birdie Bogey Double bogey
Source:[4]

References

  1. ^ Murray, Ewan (March 13, 2018). "Webb Simpson wins Players Championship as Woods' charge stalls". The Guardian. Retrieved May 23, 2018.
  2. ^ "2015–16 PGA Tour Player Handbook & Tournament Regulations" (PDF). October 5, 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 12, 2016. Retrieved September 23, 2018.
  3. ^ Beall, Joel (May 9, 2018). "Players Championship 2018: Paul Casey withdraws with back injury". Golf Digest. Retrieved May 10, 2018.
  4. ^ a b c d "The Players Championship: Leaderboard". ESPN. May 13, 2018. Retrieved May 13, 2018.
  5. ^ "Simpson ties course record with 9-under 63". PGA Tour. May 11, 2018. Retrieved May 11, 2018.
  6. ^ "Past Results 1974 – present". PGA Tour. Archived from the original on September 1, 2020. Retrieved March 1, 2020.