Adam Scott – previous winner and playing well – file photo European Tour
The Players Championship, the USPGA Tour’s flagship event, has long been considered one of golf’s most significant tournaments, not only for the fascination the TPC Sawgrass provides to television viewers and on-course fans, but that the field is typically one of the strongest of any event worldwide.
In 2022, another dimension is added when increased prizemoney takes it to the most lucrative in the game by some margin. This year’s purse is a massive US$20 million, a jump of US$5 million from the 15 million on offer in 2021 with the winner to take home US$3.6 million.
The next highest purse on the PGA Tour is likely to be that offered by the US Open and although that event’s prizemoney for 2022 has not yet been announced it is expected to be around $14 million, ensuring the Players Championship is head and shoulders above the next best in that regard.
The field of 144 will include seven Australians and one New Zealander headed by Cameron Smith the world’s 10th ranked player and he will be joined in world ranking order by Adam Scott, Marc Leishman, Lucas Herbert, Matt Jones, Cameron Davis, Jason Day and New Zealand’s Danny Lee.
The Australasians in this field to have won the event are Adam Scott who, in his third start at the Players he got up and down after finding the water at the last to win by one over Padraig Harrington, and Jason Day, who in 2016 lead by four at the halfway mark and went on to win by that margin over Kevin Chappell.
Scott has been very solid with his form in recent times missing only two cuts in his last 32 starts worldwide and his recent 4th place at Riviera suggests he is not too far from where he needs to be to contend this week.
Jason Day played well recently when 3rd at Torrey Pines and although the passing of his mother, Denning, last week will be playing on his mind this week it might also serve to inspire him to greater things given the role she played in getting him established in the game.
Cameron Smith’s best in four starts has been when 17th last year, Marc Leishman has recorded only one top ten in 11 starts at the TPC Sawgrass, Matt Jones a best of 17th in seven appearances, Cameron Davis missed the cut in his only start in 2021, Lucas Herbert plays the event for the first occasion and Danny Lee was 7th in 2018 but has missed three of has other five cuts.
There have been several surprise winners of the Players Championship including and none more so than New Zealand’s Craig Perks, who in 2002 finished eagle, birdie par to defeat Stephen Ames by two.
