Dates: March 9-15, 2020 Where: Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida Course: THE PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass Defending champion: Rory McIlroy Purse: $15,000,000 ($2,700,000/winner) FedExCup: 600 points to the winner Field size: 144 Format: 72-hole stroke play
Players Championship Preview HIghlights
World No. 1 Rory McIlroy seeks his first successful title defense on
the PGA TOUR; no defending champion
has ever won THE PLAYERS
McIlroy is on an active streak of seven consecutive top-fives, becoming
only the second player to reach that mark since 2000
110 players in the field have won on the PGA TOUR, the most of any
tournament in the FedExCup era
Notable first-timers include
the last three
players to win in
their first 20 career starts:
Collin Morikawa, Matthew Wolff, Viktor Hovland
Players Championship Preview Notes on the Field
110 PGA TOUR winners, is the most of any tournament in the FedExCup era
(previous: 109, 2017 THE PLAYERS)
122 players that qualified for the previous season’s FedExCup Playoffs,
the most of any tournament in the FedExCup era; Tiger Woods, Kelly Kraft, and
Jonas Blixt are all missing the event due to
injury
All of the top 10 in the Official World Golf Ranking, the first such
field since the 2019 BMW Championship, and 47 of the top 50
10 past PLAYERS winners: Adam Scott (2004), Phil Mickelson (2007),
Sergio Garcia (2008), Henrik Stenson (2009), Matt Kuchar (2012), Rickie Fowler
(2015), Jason Day (2016), Si Woo Kim (2017), Webb Simpson (2018) and Rory
McIlroy (2019)
Eight of 11 FedExCup champions: Jim Furyk (2010),
Brandt Snedeker (2012),
Henrik Stenson (2013),
Billy Horschel (2014), Jordan
Spieth (2015), Rory McIlroy (2016, 2019), Justin Thomas (2017), Justin Rose (2018)
A look back at THE PLAYERS Championship 2019
Pos.
Player
R1
R2
R3
R4
Total
1
Rory McIlroy
67
65
70
70
272 (-16)
2
Jim Furyk
71
64
71
67
273 (-15)
T3
Eddie
Pepperell
72
68
68
66
274 (-14)
T3
Jhonattan Vegas
72
69
67
66
274 (-14)
Rory McIlroy won his first of three titles during the 2018-19 season en
route to winning the FedExCup and PGA TOUR Player of the Year honors
Became the first player to win THE PLAYERS and the FedExCup in the same season
Became the third player to win THE PLAYERS, a major championship, a World Golf Championships event and the FedExCup in his career (joining Tiger
Woods and Henrik Stenson)
Marked his third victory at a Pete Dye-designed course,
including The Ocean
Course at Kiawah Island (2012 PGA
Championship) and Crooked Stick Golf Club (2012 BMW Championship)
Dustin Johnson, who recorded his first top-10
in the event (T5), became the first player
since Steve Elkington
in 1997 to record all four rounds in the 60s at THE PLAYERS
THE PLAYERS Championship and the FedExCup
23rd official FedExCup event in the 2019-20 season
11 of the 13 winners of the event have advanced to the season-ending TOUR Championship in the FedExCup era (Henrik Stenson/2009, Si Woo Kim/2017 did not)
In 2019, Rory McIlroy became the first player to win THE PLAYERS and go on to win the FedExCup in the same season
Current FedExCup standings
The top 10 in the FedExCup at the conclusion of the PGA TOUR Regular Season
will be recognized through the Wyndham Rewards Top 10 program and be
well-positioned entering the FedExCup Playoffs
With the winner of THE PLAYERS receiving 600 FedExCup points, each
player currently in the top 10 is within reach of the No. 1 position this week
Sungjae Im holds the lead for the first time, becoming the third-youngest player to take over the FedExCup lead (21 years, 344 days)
Pos.
Player
Points
Wins
Top-10s
Pts. Behind
Starts
Projected Bonus
1
Sungjae Im
1,458
1
5
–
14
$2 million
2
Justin
Thomas
1,403
2
5
55
8
$1.5
million
3
Rory McIlroy
1,179
1
6
279
6
$1.2 million
4
Brendon Todd
1,110
2
3
348
14
$1.1 million
5
Webb Simpson
1,083
1
4
375
5
$1 million
6
Patrick Reed
1,077
1
4
381
8
$850,000
7
Marc Leishman
1,059
1
3
399
9
$700,000
8
Lanto Griffin
1,026
1
3
432
16
$600,000
9
Sebastián Muñoz
1,006
1
3
452
15
$550,000
10
Hideki Matsuyama
869
0
4
589
11
$500,000
Defending champion and World No. 1 Rory McIlroy
No player has ever won THE PLAYERS back-to-back
McIlroy has never successfully defended a PGA TOUR title (0-for-11; did not defend three of 14 titles won prior to 2019 THE PLAYERS Championship)
Tournament
Result
2020 THE
PLAYERS Championship
TBD
2019 Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard
T6
2017 TOUR Championship
Did not qualify
2017 Dell Technologies Championship
MC
2016 Wells Fargo Championship
T4
2016 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play
4th
2015 PGA Championship
17th
2015 WGC-FedEx St. Jude
Invitational
DNP
2015 The Open Championship
DNP
2013 BMW
Championship
T59
2013 Deutsche Bank Championship
T47
2013 PGA Championship
T8
2013 The Honda Classic
WD
2012 U.S. Open
MC
2011 Wells Fargo Championship
MC
McIlroy has multiple wins at four different PGA TOUR events
Tournament
Years
TOUR
Championship
2016, 2019
Deutsche Bank Championship
2012, 2016
Wells Fargo Championship
2010, 2015
PGA Championship
2012, 2014
McIlroy holds the No. 1 position in the Official World Golf Ranking for the 100th week, becoming the third player in history (est. 1986) to reach that mark (Tiger Woods/683, Greg Norman/331)
McIlroy has five wins when entering the week No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking: 2012 Deutsche Bank Championship, 2012 BMW Championship, 2014 PGA Championship, 2015 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, 2015 Wells Fargo Championship
Last World No. 1 to win THE PLAYERS: Jason Day (2016)
Last World No. 1 to win on TOUR: Brooks Koepka (2019 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational)
McIlroy is No. 3 in the FedExCup standings with one win (WGC-HSBC Champions) and five top-10s in six starts
McIlroy leads the PGA TOUR in the following statistical categories:
Statistic
Value
Scoring Average
68.437
Par-5 Scoring Average
4.40
Scrambling
70.40%
Top-10s
6
With a T5 at last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, McIlroy became the second player since 2000 with top-fives in seven or more consecutive starts on TOUR (Tiger Woods holds the longest streak in that span at 14)
Tournament
Finish
2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by
Mastercard
T5
2020 WGC-Mexico Championship
5th
2020 The Genesis Invitational
T5
2020 Farmers Insurance Open
T3
2019 WGC-HSBC Champions
Win
2019 ZOZO
CHAMPIONSHIP
T3
2019 TOUR Championship
Win
Jon Rahm (FedExCup No. 21, World No. 2)
Making fourth start at THE PLAYERS (T72/2017, T63/2018, T12/2019)
Held the 54-hole lead in 2019, the first of his PGA TOUR career, before
closing with a 4-over 76
Three-time PGA TOUR winner (2017 Farmers Insurance Open, 2018 The
American Express, 2019 Zurich Classic of New Orleans with Ryan Palmer)
Four top-10s in five starts
during the 2019-20
season, highlighted by a runner-up
at the Farmers Insurance Open and T3 at the WGC-Mexico Championship
Brooks Koepka (FedExCup No. 213, World No. 3)
Limited to five starts
to date during the 2019-20
season due to knee injury
(withdrew from THE CJ CUP @ NINE
BRIDGES on October 18 and did not return until The Genesis Invitational in February)
Seven-time PGA TOUR winner and four-time major champion (2017 U.S. Open, 2018 U.S. Open, 2018 PGA
Championship, 2019 PGA Championship)
Tied the course record at TPC Sawgrass with a final-round 63 in 2018
Best finish in five starts at the event: T11/2018
Justin Thomas (FedExCup No. 2, World No. 4)
One of two players
with multiple wins during the 2019-20
season (THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES,
Sentry Tournament of Champions), along with Brendon Todd
One top-10 in five starts at the event
(T3/2016)
Can become the fourth player to win THE PLAYERS,
the FedExCup, a major championship and a World Golf
Championships event (Tiger Woods, Henrik Stenson, Rory McIlroy); Justin Rose
can as well
49 career top-10s on the PGA TOUR
Dustin Johnson (FedExCup No. 111, World No. 5)
Two top-10s in four starts during the 2019-20 season (T7/Sentry Tournament of Champions, T10/The
Genesis Invitational)
In 2019, became
the first player
since Steve Elkington in 1997 to record all four rounds
in the 60s at THE PLAYERS
(69-68-69-69)
T5 in 2019 marked his first top-10 in 11 starts at the event
20-time PGA TOUR winner (tied for 34th all-time)
In search of first victory of the season; active
streak of wins in 12 straight seasons to start his career is the fourth-
longest of all-time (17/Jack Nicklaus, 17/Arnold Palmer, 14/Tiger Woods)
FedExCup leader Sungjae Im (World No. 23)
Took over the FedExCup lead after a third-place result at last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard
At age 21 years, 344 days, is the third player to hold the FedExCup lead before turning 22 and the second this season (youngest: Joaquin Niemann/after 2019 A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier; second-youngest: Jordan Spieth/after 2015 Masters Tournament)
Won his first PGA TOUR title at The Honda Classic two weeks ago
Top-three results on TOUR this season (4): Won/The Honda Classic, P2/Sanderson Farms Championship, 3rd/Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard, T3/ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP
Missed the cut in his debut at THE PLAYERS in 2019; made a hole-in-one at the par-3 13th (R2)
Notable players making first start at THE PLAYERS
Collin Morikawa, who has not missed a cut in 20 starts as a
professional, holds the TOUR’s longest active made- cuts streak (21) and
second-longest made-cuts streak to start a professional career since 1990
(longest: Tiger Woods/25)
Viktor Hovland became the first PGA TOUR winner from Norway and the
first rookie to win in 2019-20 when he won the 2020 Puerto Rico Open
Matthew Wolff, a teammate of Hovland’s at Oklahoma State, won the 2019
3M Open in just his fourth career start at age 20 to become the PGA TOUR’s
youngest winner since Jordan Spieth
at the 2013 John Deere Classic
