2008 Players Championship

2008 Players Championship
Tournament information
Dates	May 8–11, 2008
Location	Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
Course(s)	TPC at Sawgrass
Tour(s)	PGA Tour
Statistics
Par	72
Length	7,215 yards (6,597 m)
Field	144 players, 74 after cut
Cut	147 (+3)
Prize fund	$9.5 million
Winner's share	$1.71 million
Champion
	Sergio García
	283 (−5), playoff
	← 2007 2009 →

TPC Sawgrass

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Location in the United States

The 2008 Players Championship was a golf tournament in Florida on the PGA Tour, held May 8–11 at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, southeast of Jacksonville. It was the 35th Players Championship and was won by Sergio García, who gained the biggest win of his career to date in a sudden-death playoff over Paul Goydos.^[1]^[2]

Defending champion Phil Mickelson finished nine strokes back, in a tie for 21st place.

Venue

This was the 27th Players Championship held at the TPC at Sawgrass Stadium Course and it remained at 7,215 yards (6,597 m).

Course layout

The 2008 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
Yards	n/a	423	532	177	384	471	393	442	237	583	3,642	424	558	358	181	481	449	523	137	462	3,573	7,215
Par		4	5	3	4	4	4	4	3	5	36	4	5	4	3	4	4	5	3	4	36	72

Past champions in the field

Made the cut

Player	Country	Year(s) won	R1	R2	R3	R4	Total	To par	Finish
Stephen Ames	Canada	2006	74	68	74	72	288	E	5
Fred Couples	United States	1984, 1996	70	72	77	72	291	+3	T15
Phil Mickelson	United States	2007	70	73	71	78	292	+4	T21
Steve Elkington	Australia	1991, 1997	69	76	77	72	294	+6	T32
Davis Love III	United States	1992, 2003	73	74	70	80	297	+9	T54
Adam Scott	Australia	2004	75	71	71	80	297	+9	T54

Source:^[2]

Missed the cut

Player	Country	Year won	R1	R2	Total	To par
Justin Leonard	United States	1998	75	74	149	+5
Fred Funk	United States	2005	74	77	151	+7

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
1	Sergio García	Spain	66	−6
T2	Paul Goydos	United States	68	−4
T2	Kenny Perry	United States	68	−4
T4	Steve Elkington	Australia	69	−3
	Niclas Fasth	Sweden
	Todd Hamilton	United States
	Ian Poulter	England
	Heath Slocum	United States
T9	Ángel Cabrera	Argentina	70	−2
	Fred Couples	United States
	Ben Crane	United States
	Miguel Ángel Jiménez	Spain
	Anthony Kim	United States
	Troy Matteson	United States
	John Merrick	United States
	Phil Mickelson	United States
	José María Olazábal	Spain
	Brett Quigley	United States
	Kevin Stadler	United States
	Nicholas Thompson	United States
	D. J. Trahan	United States
	Boo Weekley	United States

Source:^[3]

Second round

Friday, May 9, 2008

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
1	Kenny Perry	United States	68-70=138	−6
T2	Sergio García	Spain	66-73=139	−5
	Paul Goydos	United States	68-71=139
	Bernhard Langer	Germany	72-67=139
5	Anthony Kim	United States	70-70=140	−4
6	Boo Weekley	United States	70-71=141	−3
T7	Stephen Ames	Canada	74-68=142	−2
	Briny Baird	United States	71-71=142
	Fred Couples	United States	70-72=142
	Ben Crane	United States	70-72=142
	John Merrick	United States	70-72=142
	Kevin Stadler	United States	70-72=142

Source:^[4]

Third round

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
1	Paul Goydos	United States	68-71-70=209	−7
2	Kenny Perry	United States	68-70-72=210	−6
3	Sergio García	Spain	66-73-73=212	−4
T4	Bernhard Langer	Germany	72-67-75=214	−2
	Phil Mickelson	United States	70-73-71=214
	Jeff Quinney	United States	71-73-70=214
T7	Stuart Appleby	Australia	72-72-71=215	−1
	Briny Baird	United States	71-71-73=215
	J. B. Holmes	United States	72-72-71=215
	Greg Kraft	United States	75-72-68=215
	Tom Lehman	United States	73-73-69=215
	Tim Petrovic	United States	73-73-69=215
	Boo Weekley	United States	70-71-74=215

Source:^[5]

Final round

Sunday, May 11, 2008

In windy conditions, the final pairing struggled on the final day; overnight leader Paul Goydos managed a 2-over-par 74, whilst Kenny Perry crashed to an 81 (+9). In the groups ahead, the pairing of Jeff Quinney and Sergio García produced some of the best golf of the day, and García became the clubhouse leader at 5-under-par 283. Goydos still led, but missed a 15-foot (4.6 m) par putt to win on the final hole, forcing a sudden-death playoff.^[2]

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par	Money ($)
T1	Sergio García	Spain	66-73-73-71=283	−5	Playoff
T1	Paul Goydos	United States	68-71-70-74=283	−5	Playoff
3	Jeff Quinney	United States	71-73-70-70=284	−4	646,000
4	Briny Baird	United States	71-71-73-72=287	−1	456,000
5	Stephen Ames	Canada	74-68-74-72=288	E	380,000
T6	Ben Crane	United States	70-72-75-72=289	+1	307,563
	Ernie Els	South Africa	72-71-74-72=289
	Tom Lehman	United States	73-73-69-74=289
	Brett Quigley	United States	70-76-72-71=289
T10	Chad Campbell	United States	73-72-77-68=290	+2	218,500
	J. B. Holmes	United States	72-72-71-75=290
	Greg Kraft	United States	75-72-68-75=290
	Henrik Stenson	Sweden	73-71-75-71=290
	Dean Wilson	United States	74-72-75-69=290

Source:^[2]

Scorecard

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
García	−3	−3	−3	−3	−3	−3	−4	−3	−3	−3	−4	−5	−4	−5	−5	−5	−5	−5
Goydos	−7	−6	−5	−6	−5	−5	−5	−5	−5	−6	−6	−7	−7	−6	−5	−6	−6	−5
Quinney	−3	−4	−3	−3	−3	−3	−2	−2	−2	−2	−3	−3	−4	−4	−4	−5	−5	−4
Baird	−1	−1	−2	−2	−2	−2	−3	−3	−3	−3	−3	−3	−3	−3	−2	−2	−1	−1
Ames	E	E	E	+2	+2	+2	+1	+1	E	−1	−1	−1	−1	−1	−2	−2	−2	E
Perry	−5	−5	−5	−4	−5	−5	−4	−4	−4	−3	−2	−2	−2	−2	+1	+1	+2	+3

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

	Birdie		Bogey		Double bogey		Triple bogey+

Source:^[6]

Playoff

At the first playoff hole, the infamous par-3 17th, Goydos' went first and his tee shot found water. Garcia stayed dry, stopping 4 feet (1.2 m) from the pin and the playoff was essentially over. Goydos finished the hole with a double bogey to give Garcia three putts to win; he two-putted for par and the title.^[1] It was the first playoff at the Players Championship since 1987 and the first to start at the 17th hole.^[2]

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par	Money ($)
1	Sergio García	Spain	3	E	1,710,000
2	Paul Goydos	United States	5	+2	1,026,000

References

^ ^a ^b Bamberger, Michael (May 19, 2008). "A Fresh Breeze". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved May 9, 2016.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Ferguson, Doug (May 12, 2008). "Garcia wins Players Championship". Victoria Advocate. Texas. Associated Press. p. C1.
^ "Golf: Players Championship - First round scores". Tuscaloosa News. Alabama. Associated Press. May 9, 2008. p. 2C.
^ "Youth gives way at Players". Tuscaloosa News. Alabama. Associated Press. May 10, 2008. p. 5C.
^ "Goydos takes control at Players". Tuscaloosa News. Alabama. Associated Press. May 11, 2008. p. 5C.
^ "The Players Championship". ESPN. Retrieved September 14, 2015.

External links

30°11′53″N 81°23′38″W / 30.198°N 81.394°W / 30.198; -81.394

[fbrz-1] Bamberger, Michael (May 19, 2008). "A Fresh Breeze". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved May 9, 2016.

[gwplch08-2] Ferguson, Doug (May 12, 2008). "Garcia wins Players Championship". Victoria Advocate. Texas. Associated Press. p. C1.

[0-3] "Golf: Players Championship - First round scores". Tuscaloosa News. Alabama. Associated Press. May 9, 2008. p. 2C.

[ythgway-4] "Youth gives way at Players". Tuscaloosa News. Alabama. Associated Press. May 10, 2008. p. 5C.

[gtcapl-5] "Goydos takes control at Players". Tuscaloosa News. Alabama. Associated Press. May 11, 2008. p. 5C.

[ldr-6] "The Players Championship". ESPN. Retrieved September 14, 2015.

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Venues	Atlanta Country Club (1974) Colonial Country Club (1975) Inverrary Country Club (1976) Sawgrass Country Club (1977–1981) Tournament Players Club at Sawgrass (1982–present)