The Players Championship Preview: A Different Sawgrass Feel

Has The Players Championship lost its identity?

The Players Championship has long been considered the unofficial fifth major. The best and biggest event on the golf calendar outside the Masters, PGA, U.S. Open and The Open. But, in 2024, it does not seem to have that same feel.

The Players Championship has been the most affected by LIV golf. It cannot even come close to a major feel when several of the top golfers in the world are not in the field. 144 players are competing this week, so it poses the question: is it now just a normal PGA Tour event?

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Golf course aside, it now feels harder to get excited for the Players Championship because of so many notable absentees. All this points back to golf’s need to get all the top players back together for this tournament, among others, to get back to its full spectacle. The Players’ identity has been skewed.

TV vs Reality

People on the grounds in Florida may have an alternative perception of The Players Championship Week compared to someone who has never been. The property is still a special place and the course, a Pete Dye design, is still up there with the most notorious in the world. The practice rounds are still much more populated than regular ones on Tour.

There is so much build-up on TV from Monday to Wednesday, like a major week. With a plethora of talking points highlighting the in-form players and endless stats and figures. It almost feels overwhelming by the time you reach Thursday because the build-up feels overzealous.

There is only so much you can say preceding the first round. The players, and the fans, are just itching for it to get underway.

Viktor was asked today — re: Scottie's putting — about how tough it is to deal with being asked over and over and over again about one part of your game. Something he's experienced as it relates to his short game.

I thought his answer was awesome. pic.twitter.com/hfJJ7ULxJr

— Kyle Porter (@KylePorterNS) March 13, 2024

Can anyone beat Scottie?

The world’s hottest golfer right now is Scottie Scheffler. Defending champion, who won last week at Bay Hill. He has been at the top of his game for an incredible length of time.

After finally finding his form with the putter, Scottie will be licking his lips at defending his title and winning two weeks on the bounce.

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There does not appear to be anyone else on Tour right now who can come close to Scottie when he is in tune. Obviously, we should not get carried away, golf is still indefinitely a tough sport and winning every week just does not happen.

Mainly down to the sheer number of players in the field. The likelihood is, that someone will have an outlier week and play out of their skin. But this Scottie run just feels different. He looks unstoppable, and if he has now unlocked his putting, then we could be in for one of the greatest runs in recent history.

There has never been a back-to-back winner at TPC Sawgrass, but that could all change come Sunday evening.

The Rise of Wyndham Clark

It is time for someone to compete with Scheffler. Someone needs to up their game and step up. Because if he is in the mix going into Sunday, then you would not want to bet against the man who has the potential to reel off multiple wins this season.

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Wyndham Clark is the only man capable of challenging Scheffler now. His second-place finish last week at Bay Hill puts him in good stead going into Players week.

He has had quite the 12 months, first winning Wells Fargo in May before winning the U.S. Open at LACC, and then at Pebble Beach in February. He has built up an impressive resume and is the man to pip Scottie to the title this week.

A Historic Place

Despite the absence of the LIV players, the golf course has stayed the same. Going back to the same track every year adds a sense of purpose and memory. One of the appealing aspects of TPC Sawgrass is that you can remember every hole.

The course design is up there with the absolute best, so it makes sense to have the Tour’s signature event here. The Players this year celebrates its 50th anniversary since its inception in 1974.

The Tour felt as if it should have this own major, aside from the other four that were run by individual governing golfing bodies: The R&A, the USGA, the Masters and the PGA of America. The Championship’s pitch is that the best players would all be in attendance every year. It was decided as the one tournament that every single top player would play in.

Is TPC Sawgrass up there with the best?

Over the years, there have been some big-name winners, and on a historic golf course like Sawgrass, it tends to make for exciting viewing. But another attribute of the Players is that we typically see different players at the top of the leaderboard each year as well. This leads to the notion that anyone can win at Sawgrass.

Whilst the course denotes that driving accuracy is the most crucial part of the game that needs to click, players who have not driven the ball particularly well, or far, have still been victorious.

But what makes Sawgrass so special? Well, the final three holes are widely perceived as the best closing stretch on Tour. You have the par five 16th with water right. You have the most iconic par-three in the entire world as the 17th with the island green. Bob Tway made an unfortunate 12 on the 17th in 2005, the worst score ever recorded.

And then a par-four dog leg left finale with water up the left. It is truly a gruelling finish to a tough golf course that has all the possibilities of dramas and meltdowns.

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