2021 Players Championship

The 2021 Players Championship was the 47th Players Championship and was played March 11–14 at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. It was the fortieth edition held at the Stadium Course; the 2020 tournament was abandoned before the first round was completed, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

2021 Players Championship
Tournament information
DatesMarch 11–14, 2021
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)[1]
Field154 players, 71 after cut
Cut144 (E)
Prize fund$15 million
Winner's share$2.7 million
Champion
United States Justin Thomas
274 (−14)
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
← 2020
2022 →

Justin Thomas shot a four-under 68 in the final round for 274 (−14) to win his first Players, one stroke ahead of runner-up Lee Westwood, the 54-hole leader. [2] Defending champion Rory McIlroy (2019) missed the 36-hole cut.[3]

Venue edit

Course layout edit

The 2021 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
Par 4 5 3 4 4 4 4 3 5 36 4 5 4 3 4 4 5 3 4 36 72
Round 1 417 544 184 394 463 378 436 224 586 3,626 404 565 341 188 461 457 515 143 468 3,542 7,168
Round 2 439 536 165 386 474 393 448 213 574 3,628 430 534 368 168 480 452 537 146 453 3,568 7,196
Round 3 420 525 173 374 459 382 451 231 591 3,606 407 558 289 192 472 478 508 121 472 3,497 7,103
Round 4 431 539 155 382 472 389 437 244 572 3,621 423 535 308 151 483 450 521 133 444 3,448 7,069

Source:[4]

Field edit

The field consists of 154 players meeting various criteria; they include tournament winners on the PGA Tour since the previous Players Championship, recent winners of major championships, The Players and World Golf Championships, and leading players in the FedEx Cup standings from the current and preceding seasons.[5][6] The field was expanded from the usual 144 with the late decision to include the top 125 players from the 2019–20 FedEx Cup standings.[7]

Eligibility criteria edit

This list details the eligibility criteria for the 2021 Players Championship and the players who qualified under them; any additional criteria under which players were eligible is indicated in parentheses.

1. Winners of official PGA Tour events since the last completed Players Championship (2019)

2. Recent winners of the Masters Tournament (2016–2020)

3. Recent winners of The Players Championship (2015–2019)

4. Recent winners of The Open Championship (2015–2019)

5. Recent winners of the U.S. Open (2015–2020)

6. Recent winners of the PGA Championship (2015–2020)

7. Recent winners of the Tour Championship (2017–2018)

8. Recent winners of the WGC Championship (2018–2021)

9. Recent winners of the WGC Match Play (2018–2019)

10. Recent winners of the WGC Invitational (2017–2020)

11. Recent winners of the WGC-HSBC Champions (2017–2019)

12. Recent winners of the Arnold Palmer Invitational (2018–2021)

13. Recent winners of the Memorial Tournament (2017–2020)

14. Recent winners of the Genesis Invitational (2020–2021)

15. The top 125 players who earned the most FedEx Cup points from the start of the 2019–20 season to February 29, 2021

16. The top 125 players who fulfilled the terms of a major medical extension

17. The top 50 players from the Official World Golf Ranking as of March 1, 2021

18. The Senior Players champion from the previous year

19. Remaining positions and alternates are filled through the current season's FedEx Cup standings as of March 1, 2021

20. The top 125 players in the 2019–20 FedEx Cup regular season standings[f]

Notes edit

  1. ^ a b English withdrew on the morning of the first round; Ventura replaced him in the field.[8]
  2. ^ a b Koepka withdrew on the Sunday prior to the start of the tournament due to a knee injury; Lahiri replaced him in the field.[9]
  3. ^ a b Wolff withdrew with a hand injury; Vegas replaced him in the field.[10]
  4. ^ a b Willett withdrew after testing positive for COVID-19; Hickok replaced him in the field.[11]
  5. ^ a b Rose withdrew on the morning of the first round due to a back injury; Stricker replaced him in the field.[12]
  6. ^ Unlike other categories, any player qualifying via this criterion would not have been replaced should they have withdrawn prior to the start of the tournament.

Round summaries edit

First round edit

Thursday, March 11, 2021
Friday, March 12, 2021

Sergio García, champion in 2008, took the first round lead with a 7-under-par 65, two strokes ahead of Brian Harman. Defending champion (2019) Rory McIlroy was 14 strokes back at 79. Play was suspended due to darkness, with 21 players on the course.[14]

Place Player Score To par
1   Sergio García 65 −7
2   Brian Harman 67 −5
T3   Corey Conners 68 −4
  Matt Fitzpatrick
  Shane Lowry
T6   Bryson DeChambeau 69 −3
  Tom Hoge
  Denny McCarthy
  Rory Sabbatini
  Lee Westwood
Source:[3]

Second round edit

Friday, March 12, 2021
Saturday, March 13, 2021

Lee Westwood led with a 9-under-par score of 135, a stroke ahead of Matt Fitzpatrick. The first round leader, Sergio García, had a 72 and was tied for third place with Chris Kirk who had a second round 65. Play was again suspended due to darkness, with 8 players still to complete their second rounds.[15] 71 players scoring even par or better, made the cut.

Place Player Score To par
1   Lee Westwood 69-66=135 −9
2   Matt Fitzpatrick 68-68=136 −8
T3   Sergio García 65-72=137 −7
  Chris Kirk 72-65=137
T5   Bryson DeChambeau 69-69=138 −6
  Doug Ghim 71-67=138
  Brian Harman 71-67=138
  Charley Hoffman 70-68=138
  Im Sung-jae 72-66=138
  Denny McCarthy 69-69=138
Source:[3]

Third round edit

Saturday, March 13, 2021

Lee Westwood had a third round of 68 to lead by two strokes over Bryson DeChambeau. The previous week, the two had played together in the final round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational, DeChambeau beating Westwood by a stroke. Justin Thomas shot a third round 64 to be tied for third place with Doug Ghim.[16]

Place Player Score To par
1   Lee Westwood 69-66-68=203 −13
2   Bryson DeChambeau 69-69-67=205 −11
T3   Doug Ghim 71-67-68=206 −10
  Justin Thomas 71-71-64=206
T5   Paul Casey 73-67-67=207 −9
  Brian Harman 71-67-69=207
  Jon Rahm 72-68-67=207
T8   Matt Fitzpatrick 68-68-72=208 −8
  Sergio García 65-72-71=208
  Chris Kirk 72-65-71=208
Source:[3]

Final round edit

Sunday, March 14, 2021

Justin Thomas had a final round four-under-par 68 to finish with a score of 274, 14-under-par, to win by a stroke over Lee Westwood. Thomas was four shots behind Westwood after a bogey at the 8th hole. He then went birdie-birdie-eagle-birdie from the 9th to the 12th holes to take a two stroke lead. Westwood had a birdie at the 14th but made a three-putt bogey at the short 17th to drop two behind Thomas, level with his playing partner Bryson DeChambeau, who had eagled the 16th hole. Westwood had a birdie at the final hole to finish runner-up, with DeChambeau tied for third place with Brian Harman.[2]

Champion
(c) = past champion
Place Player Score To par Money ($)
1   Justin Thomas 71-71-64-68=274 −14 2,700,000
2   Lee Westwood 69-66-68-72=275 −13 1,635,000
T3   Bryson DeChambeau 69-69-67-71=276 −12 885,000
  Brian Harman 67-71-69-69=276
T5   Paul Casey 73-67-67-70=277 −11 579,375
  Talor Gooch 71-68-71-67=277
7   Corey Conners 68-72-72-66=278 −10 506,250
8   Shane Lowry 68-74-69-68=279 −9 468,750
T9   Daniel Berger 74-68-71-67=280 −8 339,375
  Matt Fitzpatrick 68-68-72-72=280
  Sergio García (c) 65-72-71-72=280
  Charles Howell III 73-70-71-66=280
  Kim Si-woo (c) 72-70-67-71=280
  Jason Kokrak 70-72-71-67=280
  Victor Perez 73-71-69-67=280
  Jon Rahm 72-68-67-73=280
Source:[3]

Scorecard edit

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
  Thomas −10 −10 −10 −10 −10 −10 −10 −9 −10 −11 −13 −14 −14 −13 −13 −14 −14 −14
  Westwood −14 −13 −13 −12 −12 −12 −12 −11 −12 −12 −12 −12 −12 −13 −13 −13 −12 −13
  DeChambeau −11 −11 −11 −9 −9 −9 −10 −9 −9 −9 −9 −10 −11 −10 −10 −12 −12 −12
  Harman −9 −10 −9 −10 −10 −9 −9 −9 −9 −9 −9 −10 −11 −11 −11 −11 −12 −12
  Casey −9 −10 −10 −9 −8 −9 −10 −10 −9 −9 −9 −9 −10 −10 −10 −11 −11 −11
  Gooch −5 −6 −6 −7 −6 −6 −7 −8 −8 −8 −9 −9 −10 −10 −10 −11 −11 −11
  Conners −4 −5 −5 −5 −4 −5 −6 −6 −6 −7 −9 −9 −10 −10 −10 −10 −10 −10
  Lowry −6 −6 −6 −6 −7 −7 −7 −7 −8 −9 −9 −9 −9 −9 −9 −9 −8 −9

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

Eagle Birdie Bogey Double bogey

Source:[3]

References edit

  1. ^ "The Players Stadium Course". PGA Tour. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  2. ^ a b Ferguson, Doug (March 14, 2021). "Thomas lives on edge and rallies to win Players Championship". Associated Press. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "The Players Championship: Leaderboard". ESPN. March 14, 2021. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
  4. ^ "Players Championship | Hole Locations". PGA Tour. Retrieved March 16, 2021.
  5. ^ Bolton, Rob (February 23, 2021). "2020-21 Qualifiers for majors, The Players, WGCs". PGA Tour. Retrieved March 1, 2021.
  6. ^ "Inside the Field: The Players Championship". PGA Tour. March 5, 2021. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
  7. ^ "The Players Championship: Field list". PGA Tour. March 5, 2021. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
  8. ^ "Harris English a late WD ahead of The Players". NBC Sports. March 11, 2021. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
  9. ^ "Lahiri to play at The Players Championship after Koepka pulls out due to injury". The Times of India. PTI. March 8, 2021. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  10. ^ Smits, Garry (March 5, 2021). "Players Championship: All but one of top 50 in World ranking headed to TPC Sawgrass". Golfweek. USA Today. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  11. ^ "Danny Willett out of The Players Championship after positive coronavirus test". Sky Sports. March 9, 2021. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
  12. ^ Stafford, Ali (March 11, 2021). "The Players Championship: Justin Rose withdraws due to injury and replaced by Steve Stricker". Sky Sports. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
  13. ^ Stanley, Adam (March 7, 2021). "The First Look: The Players Championship". PGA Tour. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  14. ^ "2021 Players Championship leaderboard breakdown: Sergio Garcia goes low with an all-time Round 1 effort". CBS Sports. March 11, 2021. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
  15. ^ Everill, Ben (March 12, 2021). "Round 2 review: The Players Championship". PGA Tour. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
  16. ^ "2021 Players Championship leaderboard breakdown: Bryson DeChambeau, Justin Thomas aim to run down Lee Westwood". CBS Sports. March 13, 2021. Retrieved March 14, 2021.

External links edit