1997 Players Championship

Golf tournament

TPC Sawgrass

Location in the United States

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TPC Sawgrass

Location in Florida

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The 1997 Players Championship was a golf tournament in Florida on the PGA Tour, held March 27–30 at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, southeast of Jacksonville. It was the 24th Players Championship.

Tournament summary

Steve Elkington led wire-to-wire, with all four rounds in the sixties, to win his second Players at 272 (−16), a record seven strokes ahead of runner-up Scott Hoch.^[2]^[3] Elkington's previous win was six years earlier in 1991.^[4]^[5]

In his first Players, 21-year-old Tiger Woods tied for 31st at 289 (+1);^[2] two weeks later, he won the Masters by a record margin.

Defending champion Fred Couples finished thirteen strokes back, in a tie for tenth place.

Venue

This was the sixteenth Players Championship held at the TPC at Sawgrass Stadium Course, and it remained at 6,896 yards (6,306 m).^[1]

Eligibility requirements

All winners of PGA Tour events awarding official money and official victory status in the preceding 12 months, concluding with the Bay Hill Invitational and dating from the 1996 Players Championship.

Fred Couples, Paul Stankowski, Nick Faldo, Loren Roberts, Mark O'Meara, Mark Brooks, Phil Mickelson, Corey Pavin, Steve Stricker, Tom Watson, Ernie Els, Steve Jones, John Cook, D. A. Weibring, Scott Hoch, Tom Lehman, Willie Wood, Justin Leonard, Clarence Rose, Guy Boros, Dudley Hart, Ed Fiori???, Fred Funk, Michael Bradley, Tiger Woods, David Ogrin, Jeff Sluman, Steve Elkington, Stuart Appleby

The top 125 PGA Tour members from the final 1996 Official Money List.^[6]

Davis Love III, Brad Faxon, David Duval, Kenny Perry, Greg Norman, Tommy Tolles, Vijay Singh, Jeff Maggert, Jim Furyk, Mark Calcavecchia, Duffy Waldorf, Lee Janzen, Woody Austin, Payne Stewart, Bob Tway, Jay Haas, John Huston, Mark McCumber, Tim Herron, Rocco Mediate, Craig Parry, Paul Goydos, Billy Andrade, Colin Montgomerie, Scott McCarron, Nick Price, Tom Purtzer, Jesper Parnevik, David Frost, Billy Mayfair, Fuzzy Zoeller, Jay Don Blake, Craig Stadler, Jerry Kelly, Andrew Magee, Greg Kraft, Russ Cochran, Lennie Clements, John Morse, Kirk Triplett, Tom Kite, Larry Mize, Scott Simpson, Kelly Gibson, Larry Nelson, Nolan Henke, Grant Waite, Glen Day, Emlyn Aubrey, Jim Gallagher Jr., Joey Sindelar, Rick Fehr, Patrick Burke, Steve Lowery, Frank Nobilo, Marco Dawson, Mike Brisky, Gil Morgan, John Adams, Brad Bryant, Robert Gamez, Joel Edwards, Ronnie Black, Len Mattiace, Mike Hulbert, Brandel Chamblee, Paul Azinger, Phil Blackmar, Brad Fabel, Chip Beck, Joe Ozaki, Olin Browne, Jim Carter, Taylor Smith, Doug Martin, Neal Lancaster, David Toms, David Edwards, Mark Wiebe, Wayne Levi, Hal Sutton, Pete Jordan, Lee Rinker, Chris Perry, John Maginnes, Hugh Royer III, John Wilson, Curtis Strange, Blaine McCallister, Scott Gump, Ben Crenshaw, Dave Stockton Jr., John Daly, Omar Uresti, Dan Forsman, Scott Dunlap, Dicky Pride

Winners in the last 10 calendar years of The Players Championship, Masters Tournament, U.S. Open, PGA Championship, and NEC World Series of Golf.

Sandy Lyle, Ian Woosnam, Bernhard Langer, Wayne Grady, Mike Reid, Fulton Allem

British Open winners since 1990.

Eight players, not otherwise eligible, designated by The Players Championship Committee as "special selections."

Costantino Rocca, Sam Torrance, Robert Allenby, Mark McNulty, Masashi Ozaki, Brian Watts

Any players, not otherwise eligible, who are among the top 10 money winners from the 1997 Official Money List through the Bay Hill Invitational

To complete a field of 144 players, those players in order, not otherwise eligible, from the 1997 Official Money List through the Bay Hill Invitational.

Source:^[7]

Field

Robert Damron, Joe Durant, Donnie Hammond, Brian Henninger, Peter Jacobsen, Don Pooley, Ted Tryba

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, March 27, 1997

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Steve Elkington	66	−6
T2	Mark Calcavecchia	67	−5
	Russ Cochran
	David Edwards
	Tom Lehman
	Fuzzy Zoeller
T7	Billy Andrade	68	−4
	Michael Bradley
	Ernie Els
	Jay Haas
	Sandy Lyle
	Larry Mize
	Naomichi Ozaki
	Tom Purtzer
	Taylor Smith
	Dave Stockton

Source:^[8]

Second round

Friday, March 28, 1997

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Steve Elkington	66-69=135	−9
2	Larry Mize	68-68=136	−8
T3	David Edwards	67-70=137	−7
T3	Tommy Tolles	70-67=137	−7
T3	Tom Lehman	67-71=138	−6
	Davis Love III	72-66=138
	Craig Parry	71-67=138
	Brian Watts	70-68=138
T7	Ernie Els	68-71=139	−5
	Brad Faxon	70-69=139
	Tom Purtzer	68-71=139
	Dave Stockton	68-71=139
	Kirk Triplett	71-68=139
	Fuzzy Zoeller	67-72=139

Source:^[9]

Third round

Saturday, March 29, 1997

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Steve Elkington	66-69-68=203	−13
2	Scott Hoch	69-71-65=205	−11
T3	Billy Andrade	68-72-68=208	−8
T3	Tom Purtzer	68-71-69=208	−8
5	Kirk Triplett	71-68-70=209	−7
T6	Mark Brooks	72-68-70=210	−6
	Larry Mize	68-68-74=210
	Tommy Tolles	70-67-73=210
T9	Ernie Els	68-71-72=211	−5
	Brad Faxon	70-69-72=211
	Robert Gamez	70-73-68=211
	Tom Lehman	67-71-73=211
	Davis Love III	72-66-73=211
	Colin Montgomerie	70-70-71=211
	Loren Roberts	70-74-67=211

Source:^[10]

Final round

Sunday, March 30, 1997

Champion

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
1	Steve Elkington (c)	66-69-68-69=272	−16	630,000
2	Scott Hoch	69-71-65-74=279	−9	378,000
3	Loren Roberts	70-74-67-69=280	−8	238,000
4	Brad Faxon	70-69-72-70=281	−7	168,000
5	Billy Andrade	68-72-68-74=282	−6	140,000
6	Tom Lehman	67-71-73-72=283	−5	126,000
T7	Mark Brooks	72-68-70-74=284	−4	109,083
	Colin Montgomerie	70-70-71-73=284
	Tommy Tolles	70-67-73-74=284
T10	Russ Cochran	67-74-72-72=285	−3	84,000
	Fred Couples (c)	71-74-71-69=285
	Ernie Els	68-71-72-74=285
	Kirk Triplett	71-68-70-76=285

Leaderboard below the top 10
Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
T14	Stuart Appleby	71-71-70-74=286	−2	54,250
	Paul Azinger	72-72-71-71=286
	Michael Bradley	68-74-72-72=286
	David Edwards	67-70-76-73=286
	Fred Funk	71-75-68-72=286
	Larry Mize	68-68-74-76=286
	Paul Stankowski	73-70-71-72=286
	Fuzzy Zoeller	67-72-73-74=286
T22	John Cook	73-69-72-73=287	−1	37,800
T22	Craig Parry	71-67-80-69=287	−1	37,800
T24	Mark Calcavecchia	67-75-71-75=288	E	27,700
	Nick Faldo	71-72-73-72=288
	Robert Gamez	70-73-68-77=288
	Doug Martin	72-71-75-70=288
	Len Mattiace	71-72-71-74=288
	Nick Price (c)	75-68-74-71=288
	Tom Purtzer	68-71-69-80=288
T31	Rick Fehr	74-67-75-73=289	+1	20,300
	Bernhard Langer	71-73-75-70=289
	Chris Perry	74-71-70-74=289
	Joey Sindelar	71-73-73-72=289
	Vijay Singh	71-69-74-75=289
	Tiger Woods	71-73-72-73=289
T37	Nolan Henke	72-73-73-72=290	+2	15,400
	Lee Janzen (c)	73-73-74-70=290
	Pete Jordan	72-74-73-71=290
	Justin Leonard	71-71-70-78=290
	Brian Watts	70-68-74-78=290
	Willie Wood	74-71-70-75=290
T43	David Duval	74-69-74-74=291	+3	11,550
	Jay Haas	68-76-74-73=291
	Mark McNulty	71-73-69-78=291
	Costantino Rocca	74-69-73-75=291
	Duffy Waldorf	71-70-75-75=291
T48	Peter Jacobsen	75-71-73-73=292	+4	9,345
T48	Omar Uresti	73-69-72-78=292	+4	9,345
T50	Masashi Ozaki	70-76-71-76=293	+5	8,610
	Dave Stockton Jr.	68-71-77-77=293
	Hal Sutton (c)	70-71-74-78=293
T53	Phil Blackmar	71-74-74-75=294	+6	7,953
	Robert Damron	69-72-78-75=294
	Jim Furyk	71-74-70-79=294
	Andrew Magee	71-71-76-76=294
	Gil Morgan	71-72-73-78=294
	Greg Norman (c)	71-72-72-79=294
	Taylor Smith	68-73-76-77=294
	Tom Watson	70-71-79-74=294
61	Glen Day	70-72-76-77=295	+7	7,630
T62	Jay Don Blake	73-72-72-79=296	+8	7,490
	Mike Hulbert	70-71-77-78=296
	Mike Reid	71-74-74-77=296
T65	Scott Gump	71-75-72-79=297	+9	7,280
	Steve Lowery	73-72-74-78=297
	Naomichi Ozaki	68-74-74-81=297
T68	John Huston	72-70-77-79=298	+10	7,105
T68	Don Pooley	71-74-71-82=298	+10	7,105
T70	Jim Gallagher Jr.	72-74-75-78=299	+11	6,930
	Sandy Lyle (c)	68-74-77-80=299
	Mark O'Meara	73-72-76-78=299
73	Mike Brisky	71-71-80-79=301	+13	6,790
74	John Wilson	70-74-79-79=302	+14	6,720
75	Lee Rinker	74-72-77-81=304	+16	6,650
CUT	Emlyn Aubrey	74-73=147	+3
	Jim Carter	72-75=147
	Kelly Gibson	71-76=147
	Brian Henninger	75-72=147
	Neal Lancaster	74-73=147
	Billy Mayfair	74-73=147
	Rocco Mediate	72-75=147
	Corey Pavin	75-72=147
	Payne Stewart	69-78=147
	Bob Tway	74-73=147
	John Adams	74-74=148	+4
	Olin Browne	73-75=148
	Marco Dawson	74-74=148
	Joel Edwards	71-77=148
	Tom Kite (c)	75-73=148
	Greg Kraft	73-75=148
	John Maginnes	74-74=148
	Scott Simpson	71-77=148
	Jeff Sluman	78-70=148
	Ted Tryba	72-76=148
	Mark Wiebe	74-74=148
	Brandel Chamblee	73-76=149	+5
	Lennie Clements	74-75=149
	Dudley Hart	76-73=149
	Scott McCarron	73-76=149
	John Morse	74-75=149
	Kenny Perry	73-76=149
	Craig Stadler	73-76=149
	Steve Stricker	74-75=149
	Sam Torrance	78-71=149
	Grant Waite	78-71=149
	Paul Goydos	77-73=150	+6
	Donnie Hammond	74-76=150
	Steve Jones	73-77=150
	David Ogrin	77-73=150
	Jesper Parnevik	75-75=150
	Dicky Pride	75-75=150
	Woody Austin	76-75=151	+7
	Scott Dunlap	75-76=151
	Joe Durant	73-78=151
	Dan Forsman	76-75=151
	Tim Herron	75-76=151
	Mark McCumber (c)	77-74=151
	Ronnie Black	78-74=152	+8
	Larry Nelson	73-79=152
	Frank Nobilo	74-78=152
	Hugh Royer III	77-75=152
	Brad Bryant	75-78=153	+9
	Wayne Levi	76-77=153
	Phil Mickelson	77-76=153
	David Toms	77-76=153
	D. A. Weibring	77-76=153
	Jerry Kelly	79-75=154	+10
	Jeff Maggert	76-78=154
	Blaine McCallister	74-80=154
	Clarence Rose	74-80=154
	Wayne Grady	80-75=155	+11
	Curtis Strange	81-74=155	+11
	Brad Fabel	78-78=156	+12
	Fulton Allem	80-77=157	+13
	Chip Beck	77-80=157	+13
	Robert Allenby	83-77=160	+16
	Ben Crenshaw	81-79=160	+16
WD	Guy Boros	74	+2
	John Daly	76	+4
	Ian Woosnam	76	+4
	Patrick Burke	80	+8
	David Frost	81	+9
DQ	Davis Love III (c)	72-66-73=211	−5

Source:^[11]

References

^ ^a ^b "PGA Players Championship". Wilmington Morning Star. (North Carolina). March 31, 1997. p. 8B.
^ ^a ^b "Elkington rules tour's best field". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. March 31, 1997. p. 2B.
^ Reilly, Rick (April 7, 1997). "Show of shows". Sports Illustrated. p. 70.
^ "Last putt puts Aussie in money". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. April 1, 1991. p. 2B.
^ Garrity, John (April 8, 1991). "From shadows to glory". Sports Illustrated. p. 28.
^ "Official Money – 1996". PGA Tour. Retrieved May 13, 2023.
^ "1997 PGA Tour Media Guide" (PDF). PGA Tour. p. 3-37. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 24, 2020.
^ "Elkington emerges with lead in TPC". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. March 28, 1997. p. 2C.
^ "Elkington escapes wind, still leads". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. March 29, 1997. p. 3D.
^ "Elkington maintains lead with 68". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. March 30, 1997. p. 3G.
^ "Past Results 1974 – present". PGA Tour. Archived from the original on September 1, 2020. Retrieved March 1, 2020.