2020 Players Championship
The 2020 Players Championship was the 47th edition of The Players Championship, scheduled for March 12–15 at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. It was canceled by the PGA Tour prior to the second round in response to the COVID-19 pandemic; the tour had earlier announced that the tournament would proceed behind closed doors for the remaining three days.
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | March 12–15, 2020 |
| Location | Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida 30.198°N 81.394°W |
| Course(s) | TPC Sawgrass, Stadium Course |
| Tour(s) | PGA Tour |
| Statistics | |
| Par | 72 |
| Length | 7,189 yards (6,574 m) |
| Field | 144 players |
| Prize fund | $15 million |
| Winner's share | $2.7 million |
| Champion | |
| No winner | |
| Location map | |
TPC Sawgrass Location in the United States TPC Sawgrass Location in Florida | |
Hideki Matsuyama held a two stroke lead after the first round having equaled the course record of 63, nine under par.[1] Defending champion Rory McIlroy was at even par (72), tied for 83rd place.[2] Half of the $15 million purse was split equally among the 144 competing players, at $52,000 each.
The event was not included in the revised schedule announced in early April 2020.[3]
Venue
Field
The field consists of 144 players meeting the following criteria:[4]
1. Winners of PGA Tour events since last Players
- Patrick Cantlay (2,8,9)
- Paul Casey (2,9)
- Cameron Champ (2)
- Corey Conners (2)
- Tyler Duncan
- Dylan Frittelli (2)
- Lanto Griffin (13)
- Tyrrell Hatton (2,8,9)
- Jim Herman
- Max Homa (2)
- Viktor Hovland
- Im Sung-jae (2,9,13)
- Kang Sung-hoon (2)
- Kevin Kisner (2,7,9)
- Brooks Koepka (2,4,7,9)
- Andrew Landry (2)
- Nate Lashley (2)
- Marc Leishman (2,9)
- Shane Lowry (2,4,9)
- Graeme McDowell (2,9)
- Rory McIlroy (2,5,6,8,9,13)
- Collin Morikawa (2)
- Sebastián Muñoz (2,13)
- Kevin Na (2,9,13)
- Joaquín Niemann (2)
- Ryan Palmer (2)
- J. T. Poston (2)
- Jon Rahm (2,9)
- Chez Reavie (2,9)
- Patrick Reed (2,4,7,9,13)
- Adam Scott (2,9)
- Webb Simpson (2,5,9,13)
- Cameron Smith (2,9)
- Nick Taylor (2)
- Justin Thomas (2,4,6,9,13)
- Brendon Todd (13)
- Matthew Wolff (2)
- Gary Woodland (2,4,9)
- Pan Cheng-tsung (2) and Tiger Woods (2,4,6,9) did not play.[5]
2. Top 125 from previous season's FedEx Cup points list
- An Byeong-hun (9)
- Abraham Ancer (9)
- Kiradech Aphibarnrat
- Ryan Armour
- Aaron Baddeley
- Keegan Bradley
- Scott Brown
- Sam Burns
- Rafa Cabrera-Bello (9)
- Bud Cauley
- Wyndham Clark
- Joel Dahmen
- Jason Day (4,5,9)
- Bryson DeChambeau (8,9)
- Matt Every
- Tony Finau (9)
- Tommy Fleetwood (9)
- Rickie Fowler (5,9)
- Jim Furyk
- Sergio García (4,9)
- Brice Garnett
- Brian Gay
- Lucas Glover
- Talor Gooch
- Branden Grace
- Emiliano Grillo
- Chesson Hadley
- Adam Hadwin
- Brian Harman
- Russell Henley
- Charley Hoffman
- J. B. Holmes
- Billy Horschel (9)
- Charles Howell III
- Mackenzie Hughes
- Dustin Johnson (4,9)
- Matt Jones
- Kim Si-woo (5)
- Patton Kizzire
- Russell Knox
- Jason Kokrak
- Matt Kuchar (9)
- Martin Laird
- Danny Lee
- Lee Kyoung-hoon
- Luke List
- Adam Long
- Peter Malnati
- Hideki Matsuyama (7,9,13)
- Denny McCarthy
- Troy Merritt
- Phil Mickelson (7)
- Keith Mitchell
- Francesco Molinari (4,8,9)
- Ryan Moore
- Louis Oosthuizen (9)
- Carlos Ortiz
- Pat Perez
- Scott Piercy
- Ian Poulter
- Andrew Putnam
- Patrick Rodgers
- Justin Rose (7,9)
- Sam Ryder
- Rory Sabbatini
- Xander Schauffele (6,7,9)
- Adam Schenk
- Roger Sloan
- Brandt Snedeker (9)
- J. J. Spaun
- Jordan Spieth (4)
- Scott Stallings
- Kyle Stanley
- Henrik Stenson (4,9)
- Sepp Straka
- Kevin Streelman
- Chris Stroud
- Brian Stuard
- Vaughn Taylor
- Michael Thompson
- Cameron Tringale
- Kevin Tway
- Harold Varner III
- Jhonattan Vegas
- Nick Watney
- Bubba Watson (7,9)
- Danny Willett (4,9)
- Aaron Wise
- Jonas Blixt and Kelly Kraft did not play.
3. Top 125 (medical)
4. Major champions from the past five years
5. Players Championship winners from the past five years
6. The Tour Championship winners from 2017 and 2018; FedEx Cup champion for 2018–19 season
7. World Golf Championship winners from the past three years
8. Memorial Tournament and Arnold Palmer Invitational winners from the past three years
9. Top 50 from the Official World Golf Ranking
- Shugo Imahira and Lee Westwood did not play.
10. Senior Players champion from prior year
11. Korn Ferry Tour points leader from prior season
- Scottie Scheffler (12)
12. Points leader during the Korn Ferry Tour Finals
13. Top 10 current year FedEx Cup points leaders
14. Remaining positions and alternates filled through current year FedEx Cup standings
- Tom Hoge (22nd)
- Harris English (29th)
- Mark Hubbard (30th)
- Brendan Steele (40th)
Round summaries
"As the situation continued to escalate, and there seemed to be more unknowns, it ultimately became a matter of when, not if, we would need to call it a day."
— Jay Monahan, PGA Tour commissioner[6]
First round
Thursday, March 12, 2020
Hideki Matsuyama tied the course record with a score of 63 (−9).[7] Following the round, the PGA Tour canceled the remainder of the event due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Note: Four players only completed 17 holes, with the lowest scorer on 1 under par when play was cancelled.
- Source:[2]
Scorecard of Hideki Matsuyama
| Hole | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Par | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 |
| Matsuyama | −1 | −2 | −3 | −4 | −4 | −4 | −3 | −3 | −3 | −3 | −4 | −4 | −4 | −5 | −6 | −7 | −7 | −9 |
Eagle Birdie Bogey Double bogey - Source:[2]
References
- Wacker, Brian (March 12, 2020). "Players 2020: PGA Tour cancels Players Championship, next three tournament". Golf World. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
- "Leaderboard: The Players". Golf Channel. March 12, 2020. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
- Smits, Garry (April 10, 2020). "Majors rescheduled: Why not The Players Championship?". Golfweek. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
- 2019–2020 Player Handbook & Tournament Regulations (PDF). PGA Tour. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
- "Woods says he will miss The Players Championship". PGA Tour. March 6, 2020. Archived from the original on September 13, 2020. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
- "Statement from PGA Tour commissioner". twitter. March 18, 2020.
- Ferguson, Doug (March 12, 2020). "Coronavirus dominates talk as Hideki Matsuyama ties course record to lead". Golf.com. Retrieved March 12, 2020.