The Players Championship is the PGA Tour's flagship event and is sometimes referred to as the fifth major, even though it isn't and doesn't fall within the Tour's signature event. But the sheer magnitude of the event features 144 golfers, a $25 million purse, and a 7,245-yard course at TPC Sawgrass.
The Players Championship 2025 will be held from March 13-16 and hosted by the Tournament Players Club (TPC) Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
What is the Players Championship format?
The format of the Players Championship is a 72-hole event. For the first two rounds, the field is split up into threesomes. Each threesome will begin one round on the first tee and the other on the tenth. The threesomes (as well as one twosome) will be assigned tee times for the morning and afternoon waves on the tee sheet.
After 36 holes, the top 65 players and ties are cut, and they move on to the third and fourth rounds. Each player's cumulative score after two and three rounds determines the pairings and tee times, respectively. The top-scoring players advance first, followed by those with the lowest total scores in the final group, and so on.
After 72 holes, the player with the lowest overall score wins and receives their share of the purse. The winner will also receive about 80 Official World Golf Ranking points and 750 FedEx Cup points, along with several exemptions on the PGA Tour and the majors (via Golf News Net).
The Players Championship Play-Off Format
After 72 holes of regulation play, a playoff occurs when multiple golfers share the same score at the top of the leaderboard. In 2014, the playoff rules for The Players Championship were altered and switched to a three-hole aggregate method, in which the winner is the player who takes the fewest strokes over the three allotted holes (16, 17, 18). The golfers return to the 17th for a shootout if no winner is determined. Before this, sudden-death shootouts were used to determine the winner on the 17th hole (via Bunkered).
Also Read: The Players Championship Course
FAQs on The Players Championship Format
A. The Players Championship consists of four rounds (72 holes) played over four days.
A. The Players Championship 2025 will be held at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, from March 13 to March 16, 2025.
A. After 36 holes, the full field of 144 golfers is cut to the top 65 players and ties who advance to the weekend rounds.
A. The Players Championship is held at the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass and plays as a par 72 over 7,245 yards.
A. The Players Championship trophy was created by Tiffany & Co. in 2019. It is 17 inches tall, weighs about eight pounds, and is composed of 24k gold vermeil and sterling silver.
