1996 Players Championship

Golf tournament

TPC Sawgrass

Location in the United States

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TPC Sawgrass

Location in Florida

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The 1996 Players Championship was a golf tournament in Florida on the PGA Tour, held March 28–31 at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, southeast of Jacksonville. It was the 23rd Players Championship.

Tournament summary

Fred Couples shot a final round 64 to win his second Players, four strokes ahead of runners-up Colin Montgomerie and Tommy Tolles, the 54-hole leader.^[2]^[3]^[4] Couples' previous win was twelve years earlier in 1984.^[5]^[6]

Defending champion Lee Janzen finished thirteen strokes back, in a tie for 46th place.

Venue

This was the fifteenth Players Championship held at the TPC at Sawgrass Stadium Course, and it remained at 6,896 yards (6,306 m).^[1]

Eligibility requirements

The top 125 PGA Tour members from the final 1995 Official Money List.^[7]

Greg Norman, Billy Mayfair, Lee Janzen, Corey Pavin, Steve Elkington, Davis Love III, Peter Jacobsen, Jim Gallagher Jr., Vijay Singh, Mark O'Meara, David Duval, Payne Stewart, Mark Calcavecchia, Ernie Els, Tom Lehman, Jay Haas, Scott Simpson, Scott Hoch, Nick Faldo, Bob Tway, Kenny Perry, Justin Leonard, Ben Crenshaw, Woody Austin, Brad Bryant, Fred Funk, Loren Roberts, Phil Mickelson, Kirk Triplett, Nick Price, Jeff Sluman, Hal Sutton, Jim Furyk, Jeff Maggert, Duffy Waldorf, Steve Lowery, Ted Tryba, Steve Stricker, Bob Estes, John Morse, Bill Glasson, Jim McGovern, Mark McCumber, Mark Brooks, Curtis Strange, David Frost, Lennie Clements, Mike Heinen, Colin Montgomerie, Jay Don Blake, Scott Verplank, Brett Ogle, John Daly, Tom Watson, Bob Lohr, Gene Sauers, Mike Hulbert, Guy Boros, Fred Couples, John Huston, Craig Parry, Joe Ozaki, Larry Mize, Robin Freeman, Billy Andrade, Bruce Lietzke, Andrew Magee, Gil Morgan, John Adams, Brian Claar, Grant Waite, Blaine McCallister, Nolan Henke, Steve Jones, Jay Delsing, Doug Martin, Don Pooley, David Edwards, Jesper Parnevik, Michael Bradley, Brandel Chamblee, Dillard Pruitt, Robert Gamez, Joey Sindelar, Dan Forsman, Jonathan Kaye, Hale Irwin, Lee Rinker, John Cook, Scott Gump, Paul Azinger, Neal Lancaster, Jim Carter, Charlie Rymer, Tom Kite, Curt Byrum, Ken Green, Kelly Gibson, Fuzzy Zoeller, Chip Beck, Mark Wiebe, Mike Sullivan, Brian Henninger, Bobby Wadkins, Tommy Tolles, Dan Pohl, Brian Kamm, Patrick Burke, John Mahaffey, Phil Blackmar, Ed Dougherty, David Ogrin, Dave Stockton Jr., John Wilson, Rick Fehr, Joe Acosta Jr., Scott McCarron, Paul Goydos, Keith Fergus

All winners of PGA Tour events awarding official money and official victory status in the preceding 12 months, concluding with the Freeport-McDermott Classic and dating from the 1995 Players Championship.

Craig Stadler

Winners in the last 10 calendar years of The Players Championship, Masters Tournament, U.S. Open, PGA Championship, and NEC World Series of Golf.

Sandy Lyle, Jeff Sluman, Ian Woosnam, Larry Nelson, Mike Reid, Tom Purtzer, Fulton Allem

British Open winners since 1990.

Ian Baker-Finch

Six players, not otherwise eligible, designated by The Players Championship Committee as "special selections."

Costantino Rocca, Masashi Ozaki, Sam Torrance, Robert Allenby, Michael Campbell, Frank Nobilo

Any players, not otherwise eligible, who are among the top-10 money-winners from the 1996 Official Money List through the Freeport-McDermott Classic.^[7]

Tim Herron

To complete a field of 144 players, those players in order, not otherwise eligible, from the 1996 Official Money List through the Freeport-McDermott Classic.^[7]

Omar Uresti, Tom Scherrer, Jerry Kelly, Marco Dawson, Joel Edwards, Rocco Mediate, Brad Fabel, Glen Day, David Toms, Mike Brisky, Lanny Wadkins

Source:^[8]

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, March 28, 1996
Friday, March 29, 1996

Place	Player	Score	To par
T1	Justin Leonard	65	−7
T1	Kenny Perry	65	−7
T3	Fred Couples	66	−6
	Craig Parry
	Fuzzy Zoeller
T6	Mark Calcavecchia	67	−5
	David Frost
	Hale Irwin
	Corey Pavin
	Kirk Triplett

Source:^[9]^[10]

Second round

Friday, March 29, 1996

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Tommy Tolles	69-64=133	−11
T2	Mark Calcavecchia	67-68=135	−9
T2	Justin Leonard	65-70=135	−9
T4	David Duval	70-66=136	−8
	Jay Haas	68-68=136
	Kenny Perry	65-71=136
	Fuzzy Zoeller	66-70=136
T8	Chip Beck	68-69=137	−7
	David Frost	67-70=137
	Larry Mize	70-67=137

Source:^[9]

Third round

Saturday, March 30, 1996

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Tommy Tolles	69-64-69=202	−14
2	David Duval	70-66-68=204	−12
T3	Jay Haas	68-68-69=205	−11
T3	Michael Bradley	72-67-66=205	−11
T5	Fred Couples	66-72-68=206	−10
	Ernie Els	71-70-65=206
	Fred Funk	70-69-67=206
	Scott Gump	70-68-68=206
	Colin Montgomerie	71-69-66=206
	Kenny Perry	65-71-70=206
	Vijay Singh	70-68-68=206

Source:^[11]

Final round

Sunday, March 31, 1996

Champion

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
1	Fred Couples (c)	66-72-68-64=270	−18	630,000
T2	Colin Montgomerie	71-69-66-68=274	−14	308,000
T2	Tommy Tolles	69-64-69-72=274	−14	308,000
T4	David Duval	70-66-68-71=275	−13	137,812
	Rocco Mediate	74-69-66-66=275
	Kenny Perry	65-71-70-69=275
	Fuzzy Zoeller	66-70-72-67=275
T8	Ernie Els	71-70-65-70=276	−12	94,500
	Jay Haas	68-68-69-71=276
	Tom Lehman	70-72-67-67=276
	Vijay Singh	70-68-68-70=276
	Grant Waite	68-72-68-68=276

Leaderboard below the top 10
Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
T13	Fred Funk	70-69-67-71=277	−11	65,625
	Jim Furyk	70-70-67-70=277
	Larry Mize	70-67-71-69=277
	Gil Morgan	70-69-69-69=277
T17	Patrick Burke	72-71-69-66=278	−10	54,250
T17	David Frost	67-70-72-69=278	−10	54,250
T19	Michael Bradley	72-67-66-74=279	−9	35,735
	John Daly	68-70-69-72=279
	Joel Edwards	71-67-71-70=279
	Steve Elkington (c)	68-73-68-70=279
	Wayne Grady	72-69-68-70=279
	Scott Gump	70-68-68-73=279
	Nolan Henke	71-68-68-72=279
	Tim Herron	69-73-68-69=279
	Scott Hoch	71-70-70-68=279
	Kirk Triplett	67-72-73-67=279
T29	Mark Calcavecchia	67-68-75-70=280	−8	23,275
	Robert Gamez	68-73-70-69=280
	Mark O'Meara	73-69-69-69=280
	Masashi Ozaki	71-69-69-71=280
T33	John Adams	71-69-71-70=281	−7	17,718
	Jay Don Blake	74-68-68-71=281
	Jim Carter	70-72-66-73=281
	Marco Dawson	72-71-69-69=281
	Steve Jones	70-69-69-73=281
	Phil Mickelson	71-72-64-74=281
	Loren Roberts	73-70-70-68=281
	Tom Watson	72-68-69-72=281
T41	Blaine McCallister	72-70-66-74=282	−6	12,950
	Jeff Sluman	68-72-72-70=282
	Craig Stadler	73-70-71-68=282
	Payne Stewart	73-70-68-71=282
	Bobby Wadkins	71-70-68-73=282
T46	Hale Irwin	67-73-69-74=283	−5	9,360
	Lee Janzen (c)	70-71-70-72=283
	Davis Love III (c)	69-70-72-72=283
	Steve Lowery	73-70-68-72=283
	Corey Pavin	67-71-76-69=283
	Nick Price (c)	70-69-73-71=283
	Dillard Pruitt	71-71-71-70=283
T53	Guy Boros	69-72-70-73=284	−4	7,990
	Neal Lancaster	73-70-69-72=284
	Jeff Maggert	70-70-77-67=284
	Jesper Parnevik	69-70-72-73=284
	Craig Parry	66-74-72-72=284
	Gene Sauers	69-72-72-71=284
	Hal Sutton (c)	72-69-73-70=284
T60	Chip Beck	68-69-76-72=285	−3	7,665
T60	Frank Nobilo	68-72-72-73=285	−3	7,665
T62	Larry Nelson	71-69-73-73=286	−2	7,490
	Dan Pohl	72-70-73-71=286
	Tom Purtzer	74-69-72-71=286
T65	Justin Leonard	65-70-80-72=287	−1	7,315
T65	Mike Reid	70-73-72-72=287	−1	7,315
T67	Woody Austin	72-71-72-73=288	E	7,105
	Brian Kamm	68-74-71-75=288
	Doug Martin	69-71-76-72=288
	Don Pooley	69-73-74-72=288
T71	Michael Campbell	70-73-69-77=289	+1	6,895
T71	Mike Hulbert	73-70-73-73=289	+1	6,895
T73	Ben Crenshaw	70-73-71-76=290	+2	6,685
	Jim Gallagher Jr.	71-70-76-73=290
	Ken Green	71-71-74-74=290
	John Morse	68-74-74-74=290
77	Mark McCumber (c)	69-74-71-79=293	+5	6,510
CUT	Fulton Allem	73-71=144	E
	Paul Azinger	73-71=144
	Mark Brooks	69-75=144
	Curt Byrum	72-72=144
	Brian Claar	72-72=144
	Lennie Clements	75-69=144
	John Cook	73-71=144
	Dan Forsman	72-72=144
	Bill Glasson	72-72=144
	Peter Jacobsen	73-71=144
	Tom Kite (c)	71-73=144
	David Ogrin	74-70=144
	Costantino Rocca	73-71=144
	Tom Scherrer	70-74=144
	Duffy Waldorf	68-76=144
	John Wilson	73-71=144
	Ian Woosnam	72-72=144
	David Edwards	70-75=145	+1
	Bob Estes	71-74=145
	Nick Faldo	70-75=145
	Mike Heinen	74-71=145
	Bruce Lietzke	71-74=145
	Andrew Magee	76-69=145
	Dave Stockton Jr.	69-76=145
	David Toms	73-72=145
	Robert Allenby	75-71=146	+2
	Billy Andrade	74-72=146
	Glen Day	74-72=146
	Jay Delsing	71-75=146
	John Huston	72-74=146
	Sandy Lyle (c)	76-70=146
	John Mahaffey (c)	71-75=146
	Greg Norman (c)	73-73=146
	Naomichi Ozaki	72-74=146
	Scott Simpson	70-76=146
	Joey Sindelar	76-70=146
	Bob Tway	72-74=146
	Lanny Wadkins (c)	71-75=146
	Joe Acosta Jr.	73-74=147	+3
	Brad Bryant	76-71=147
	Robin Freeman	79-68=147
	Bob Lohr	76-71=147
	Charlie Rymer	75-72=147
	Steve Stricker	75-72=147
	Brandel Chamblee	73-75=148	+4
	Keith Fergus	73-75=148
	Jerry Kelly	74-74=148
	Omar Uresti	70-78=148
	Mike Standly	72-77=149	+5
	Curtis Strange	75-74=149
	Mike Sullivan	73-76=149
	Ian Baker-Finch	73-77=150	+6
	Brad Fabel	75-75=150
	Kelly Gibson	80-70=150
	Paul Goydos	75-75=150
	Brett Ogle	76-74=150
	Lee Rinker	74-76=150
	Sam Torrance	74-76=150
	Mike Brisky	72-79=151	+7
	Scott McCarron	75-76=151	+7
	Billy Mayfair	76-76=152	+8
	Mark Wiebe	76-76=152	+8
	Phil Blackmar	73-80=153	+9
	Rick Fehr	73-80=153
Brian Henninger	79-74=153
Jim McGovern	76-77=153
Ted Tryba	80-73=153
WD	Scott Verplank	78	+6
WD	Ed Dougherty	81	+9

Source:^[12]

References

^ ^a ^b "Players Championship". Wilmington Morning Star. (North Carolina). April 1, 1996. p. 4C.
^ Reilly, Rick (April 8, 1996). "As easy as T-P-C". Sports Illustrated. p. 50.
^ "Wet green helps Couples win 'long green' in TPC". Wilmington Morning Star. (North Carolina). Associated Press. April 1, 1996. p. 1C.
^ "Couples takes charge for TPC title". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. April 1, 1996. p. 3B.
^ "Two birdies aid Couples' biggest win". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. April 2, 1984. p. 3C.
^ Jenkins, Dan (April 9, 1984). "Gone, even with the wind". Sports Illustrated. p. 53.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Golf Stat and Records | PGA TOUR". www.pgatour.com. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
^ "1996 PGA Tour Media Guide" (PDF). PGA Tour. p. 311. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 24, 2020.
^ ^a ^b "Golf: The Players Championship". Wilmington Morning Star. (North Carolina). March 30, 1996. p. 4C.
^ "Golf: The Players Championship". Wilmington Morning Star. (North Carolina). March 29, 1996. p. 2C.
^ "Tolles just wants a PGA triumph". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. March 31, 1996. p. 3H.
^ "Past Results 1974 – present". PGA Tour. Archived from the original on September 1, 2020. Retrieved March 1, 2020.