2018 Players Championship

This article is about the golf tournament. For the snooker tournament, see 2018 Players Championship (snooker). For the curling tournament, see 2018 Players' Championship.

The 2018 Players Championship was a professional golf tournament, held from May 10–13 at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. The flagship event of the PGA Tour, this was the 45th edition of The Players Championship, and the 37th edition held at the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass. The tournament was won by Webb Simpson, four strokes ahead of three runners-up.^[1]

2018 Players Championship

Tournament information
Dates	May 10–13, 2018
Location	Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida 30.198°N 81.394°W / 30.198; -81.394
Course(s)	TPC Sawgrass, Stadium Course
Tour(s)	PGA Tour
Statistics
Par	72
Length	7,189 yards (6,574 m)
Field	144 players, 80 after first cut 71 after second cut
Cut	143 (−1)
Prize fund	$11 million
Winner's share	$1.98 million
Champion
Webb Simpson
270 (−18)
Location map
TPC Sawgrass Location in the United States Show map of the United States TPC Sawgrass Location in Florida Show map of Florida
← 2017 2019 →

Defending champion Kim Si-woo opened with a five-under 67, but finished 15 strokes back, tied for 63rd place.

This was the twelfth consecutive Players Championship held in May; it returned to March in 2019.

Venue

Main article: TPC at Sawgrass

Course layout

The 2018 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	76.4 / 155	423	532	177	384	471	393	451	237	583	3,651	424	558	302	181	481	470	523	137	462	3,538	7,189
Par		4	5	3	4	4	4	4	3	5	36	4	5	4	3	4	4	5	3	4	36	72

Field

The field consisted of 144 players meeting the following criteria.^[2] Each player is listed according to the first category by which he qualified with additional categories in which he qualified shown in parentheses.

1. Winners of PGA Tour events since last Players

Ryan Armour, Daniel Berger (2,9), Patrick Cantlay (2,9), Austin Cook, Jason Day (2,4,5,7,8,9), Bryson DeChambeau (2,9), Jason Dufner (2,4,8), Brice Garnett, Billy Horschel (2), Dustin Johnson (2,4,7,9,13), Kim Si-woo (2,5,9), Kevin Kisner (2,9), Patton Kizzire (2,13), Satoshi Kodaira (9), Brooks Koepka (2,4,9), Andrew Landry (13), Marc Leishman (2,8,9), Hideki Matsuyama (2,7,9), Rory McIlroy (2,4,6,8,9), Phil Mickelson (2,4,7,9,13), Grayson Murray (2), Pat Perez (2,9), Scott Piercy (2), Ted Potter Jr., Ian Poulter (2,9), Jon Rahm (2,9,13), Patrick Reed (2,4,9,13), Justin Rose (2,4,9,13), Xander Schauffele (2,6,9), Jordan Spieth (2,4,6,9), Kyle Stanley (2,9), Brendan Steele (2,9), Henrik Stenson (2,4,9), Chris Stroud (2), Justin Thomas (2,4,9,13), Jhonattan Vegas (2), Bubba Watson (2,4,9,13), Gary Woodland (2,9)

• Paul Casey (2,9) did not play due to injury.^[3]

2. Top 125 from previous season's FedEx Cup points list

An Byeong-hun, Blayne Barber, Ryan Blaum, Jonas Blixt, Dominic Bozzelli, Keegan Bradley, Scott Brown, Wesley Bryan, Rafa Cabrera-Bello (9), Chad Campbell, Bud Cauley, Kevin Chappell (9), Stewart Cink, Harris English, Derek Fathauer, Tony Finau (9,13), Martin Flores, Rickie Fowler (5,9), Sergio García (4,9), Robert Garrigus, Brian Gay, Lucas Glover, Branden Grace (9), Cody Gribble, Emiliano Grillo, Bill Haas, Adam Hadwin (9), James Hahn, Brian Harman (9), Russell Henley (9), J. J. Henry, Charley Hoffman (9), J. B. Holmes, Charles Howell III, Mackenzie Hughes, John Huh, Zach Johnson (4), Kang Sung-hoon, Michael Kim, Kim Meen-whee, Chris Kirk, Russell Knox (7), Jason Kokrak, Kelly Kraft, Matt Kuchar (9), Anirban Lahiri, Martin Laird, Danny Lee, David Lingmerth (8), Luke List, Jamie Lovemark, Ben Martin, William McGirt (8), Francesco Molinari (9), Ryan Moore, Kevin Na, Geoff Ogilvy, Sean O'Hair, Louis Oosthuizen (9), Rod Pampling, Pan Cheng-tsung, D. A. Points, Chez Reavie, Patrick Rodgers, Rory Sabbatini, Ollie Schniederjans, Charl Schwartzel, Adam Scott (7), Webb Simpson (9), Cameron Smith (9), Brandt Snedeker, J. J. Spaun, Scott Stallings, Robert Streb, Kevin Streelman, Steve Stricker, Hudson Swafford, Nick Taylor, Vaughn Taylor, Kevin Tway, Tyrone van Aswegen, Harold Varner III, Jimmy Walker (4), Nick Watney, Richy Werenski

• Graham DeLaet, Luke Donald, Brandon Hagy, Jim Herman, Morgan Hoffmann, and Camilo Villegas did not play.
• Noh Seung-yul was unable to compete due to a military obligation in South Korea.

3. Top 125 (medical)

Ryan Palmer, Michael Thompson

4. Major champions from the past five years

Martin Kaymer (5), Danny Willett

5. Players Championship winners from the past five years

Tiger Woods

6. The Tour Championship winners from the past three years

7. World Golf Championship winners from the past three years

Shane Lowry

8. Memorial Tournament and Arnold Palmer Invitational winners from the past three years

9. Top 50 from the Official World Golf Ranking

Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Ross Fisher, Matt Fitzpatrick, Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton, Alexander Lévy, Li Haotong, Alex Norén

10. Senior Players champion from prior year

Scott McCarron

11. Web.com Tour money leader from prior season

Chesson Hadley (12)

12. Money leader during the Web.com Tour Finals

13. Top 10 current year FedEx Cup points leaders

14. Remaining positions and alternates filled through current year FedEx Cup standings

Brandon Harkins, Tom Hoge, Beau Hossler, Keith Mitchell, Trey Mullinax

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, May 10, 2018

Kim Si-woo shot 67 (−5), the lowest first round score by a defending champion since the event moved to Florida; six players were a shot better at 66.

Place	Player	Score	To par
T1	Patrick Cantlay	66	−6
	Chesson Hadley
	Dustin Johnson
	Matt Kuchar
	Alex Norén
	Webb Simpson
T7	Kim Si-woo	67	−5
	Andrew Landry
	Keith Mitchell
	Rory Sabbatini
	Steve Stricker
	Jhonattan Vegas

Source:^[4]

Second round

Friday, May 11, 2018

Webb Simpson tied the course record with a round of 63 (−9) to open up a five-shot lead. Simpson had six consecutive birdies on holes 11–16 which also tied a tournament record. He was 11-under on his round until his tee shot found the water on the par-3 17th and made double bogey. His score of 129 (−15) after 36 holes tied Jason Day (2016) for the tournament record, while his five-shot lead set a new record.^[5]

For the second consecutive year, at least eighty players made the 36-hole cut, which invoked a 54-hole cut.

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Webb Simpson	66-63=129	−15
T2	Patrick Cantlay	66-68=134	−10
	Danny Lee	68-66=134
	Charl Schwartzel	68-66=134
T5	Chesson Hadley	66-69=135	−9
	Charles Howell III	68-67=135
	Alex Norén	66-69=135
T8	Jason Day	69-67=136	−8
	Xander Schauffele	68-68=136
	Steve Stricker	67-69=136

Source:^[4]

Third round

Saturday, May 12, 2018

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Webb Simpson	66-63-68=197	−19
2	Danny Lee	68-66-70=204	−12
3	Dustin Johnson	66-71-69=206	−10
T4	Jason Day	69-67-71=207	−9
	Jason Dufner	72-69-66=207
	Xander Schauffele	68-68-71=207
	Charl Schwartzel	68-66-73=207
	Jimmy Walker	69-68-70=207
T9	Patrick Cantlay	66-68-74=208	−8
	Tommy Fleetwood	69-71-68=208
	Matt Kuchar	66-71-71=208
	Ian Poulter	70-69-69=208
	Jordan Spieth	75-68-65=208
	Harold Varner III	71-67-70=208
	Tiger Woods	72-71-65=208

Source:^[4]

Final round

Sunday, May 13, 2018

Champion

(c) = past champion

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
1	Webb Simpson	66-63-68-73=270	−18	1,980,000
T2	Xander Schauffele	68-68-71-67=274	−14	821,333
	Charl Schwartzel	68-66-73-67=274
	Jimmy Walker	69-68-70-67=274
T5	Jason Day (c)	69-67-71-68=275	−13	418,000
	Jason Dufner	72-69-66-68=275
T7	Keegan Bradley	69-69-72-66=276	−12	331,375
	Tommy Fleetwood	69-71-68-68=276
	Danny Lee	68-66-70-72=276
	Harold Varner III	71-67-70-68=276

Leaderboard below the top 10
Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
T11	Chesson Hadley	66-69-75-67=277	−11	225,500
	Brooks Koepka	70-70-74-63=277
	Ian Poulter	70-69-69-69=277
	Adam Scott (c)	69-68-72-68=277
	Justin Thomas	73-70-68-66=277
	Tiger Woods (c)	72-71-65-69=277
T17	Rafa Cabrera-Bello	71-71-67-69=278	−10	148,866
	Charles Howell III	68-67-74-69=278
	Dustin Johnson	66-71-69-72=278
	Matt Kuchar (c)	66-71-71-70=278
	Jamie Lovemark	76-67-68-67=278
	Alex Norén	66-69-77-66=278
T23	Scott Brown	70-71-69-69=279	−9	92,714
	Patrick Cantlay	66-68-74-71=279
	Ryan Palmer	74-67-69-69=279
	Justin Rose	68-72-73-66=279
	Henrik Stenson (c)	68-70-71-70=279
	Steve Stricker	67-69-73-70=279
	Richy Werenski	70-71-68-70=279
T30	An Byeong-hun	71-70-69-70=280	−8	65,371
	Kiradech Aphibarnrat	71-71-71-67=280
	Cody Gribble	68-71-72-69=280
	Ryan Moore	71-70-73-66=280
	Grayson Murray	72-68-69-71=280
	Chez Reavie	71-71-69-69=280
	Rory Sabbatini	67-71-71-71=280
T37	Bryson DeChambeau	70-67-73-71=281	−7	50,600
	Emiliano Grillo	69-71-72-69=281
	Billy Horschel	68-70-73-70=281
	Nick Watney	70-72-72-67=281
T41	Brice Garnett	69-69-73-71=282	−6	40,700
	Ted Potter Jr.	70-70-72-70=282
	Patrick Reed	72-68-70-72=282
	Jordan Spieth	75-68-65-74=282
	Jhonattan Vegas	67-72-70-73=282
T46	Austin Cook	72-70-71-70=283	−5	27,980
	Matt Fitzpatrick	72-70-70-71=283
	Branden Grace	69-71-73-70=283
	Beau Hossler	70-69-73-71=283
	Chris Kirk	70-71-70-72=283
	Jason Kokrak	72-69-71-71=283
	Shane Lowry	75-68-69-71=283
	Kevin Na	69-71-72-71=283
	Pan Cheng-tsung	68-70-76-69=283
	Chris Stroud	70-70-72-71=283
	Kevin Tway	70-72-72-69=283
T57	Daniel Berger	74-68-72-70=284	−4	24,310
	Tony Finau	70-72-71-71=284
	Adam Hadwin	72-68-71-73=284
	Mackenzie Hughes	76-67-68-73=284
	Martin Laird	72-71-70-71=284
	Bubba Watson	68-71-73-72=284
T63	Kim Si-woo (c)	67-72-74-72=285	−3	23,320
	Marc Leishman	71-71-67-76=285
	Jon Rahm	68-70-77-70=285
66	Tyrone van Aswegen	74-68-70-74=286	−2	22,880
T67	Brandon Harkins	75-68-73-71=287	−1	22,440
	J. J. Henry	72-71-69-75=287
	Andrew Landry	67-75-71-74=287
70	Sergio García (c)	68-69-75-76=288	E	22,000
71	Ross Fisher	70-73-73-73=289	+1	21,780
T72	Brian Gay	72-71-74=217
	Lucas Glover	68-71-78=217
	Tom Hoge	70-69-78=217
T75	Zach Johnson	71-69-78=218	+2	20,790
	Ollie Schniederjans	68-71-79=218
T77	Ryan Blaum	71-72-77=220	+4	20,350
	Keith Mitchell	67-75-78=220
T79	Brendan Steele	72-69-81=222	+6	19,910
	Nick Taylor	69-74-79=222
CUT	Jonas Blixt	75-69=144	E
	Wesley Bryan	71-73=144
	Kevin Chappell	72-72=144
	John Huh	69-75=144
	Anirban Lahiri	69-75=144
	Alexander Lévy	73-71=144
	Luke List	70-74=144
	J. J. Spaun	71-73=144
	Rickie Fowler (c)	74-71=145	+1
	Robert Garrigus	75-70=145
	James Hahn	73-72=145
	Russell Henley	72-73=145
	Martin Kaymer (c)	71-74=145
	Rory McIlroy	71-74=145
	Kyle Stanley	75-70=145
	Robert Streb	73-72=145
	Kevin Streelman	70-75=145
	Ryan Armour	73-73=146	+2
	Bud Cauley	73-73=146
	Tyrrell Hatton	75-71=146
	Charley Hoffman	71-75=146
	Russell Knox	74-72=146
	Kelly Kraft	74-72=146
	Francesco Molinari	73-73=146
	Pat Perez	76-70=146
	Scott Piercy	77-69=146
	Hudson Swafford	75-71=146
	Gary Woodland	74-72=146
	Stewart Cink	75-72=147	+3
	J. B. Holmes	75-72=147
	Kim Meen-whee	75-72=147
	Kevin Kisner	77-70=147
	Patton Kizzire	72-75=147
	Satoshi Kodaira	74-73=147
	David Lingmerth	75-72=147
	William McGirt	73-74=147
	Trey Mullinax	72-75=147
	Vaughn Taylor	72-75=147
	Blayne Barber	76-72=148	+4
	Chad Campbell	74-74=148
	Harris English	77-71=148
	Martin Flores	80-68=148
	Bill Haas	74-74=148
	Hideki Matsuyama	79-69=148
	Louis Oosthuizen	78-71=149	+5
	D. A. Points	75-74=149
	Patrick Rodgers	73-76=149
	Scott Stallings	75-75=150	+6
	Michael Thompson	76-74=150
	Dominic Bozzelli	77-74=151	+7
	Ben Martin	78-73=151
	Cameron Smith	76-75=151
	Danny Willett	74-77=151
	Scott McCarron	79-73=152	+8
	Phil Mickelson (c)	79-73=152
	Geoff Ogilvy	78-74=152
	Derek Fathauer	77-76=153	+9
	Brian Harman	74-80=154	+10
	Michael Kim	78-76=154
	Rod Pampling	74-80=154
	Brandt Snedeker	82-72=154
	Kang Sung-hoon	78-77=155	+11
	Li Haotong	76-80=156	+12
WD	Sean O'Hair	79	+7

Source:^[6]

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
Simpson	−19	−19	−19	−19	−19	−19	−20	−19	−19	−18	−19	−19	−19	−19	−19	−20	−20	−18
Schauffele	−9	−10	−10	−11	−11	−11	−10	−10	−11	−11	−12	−13	−13	−13	−13	−13	−13	−14
Schwartzel	−9	−10	−9	−9	−9	−9	−10	−10	−10	−10	−10	−11	−12	−12	−12	−13	−13	−14
Walker	−9	−10	−10	−10	−10	−11	−11	−11	−11	−11	−12	−13	−14	−14	−14	−14	−14	−14
Day	−9	−10	−10	−11	−11	−11	−11	−11	−13	−13	−13	−13	−13	−13	−13	−13	−13	−13
Dufner	−10	−11	−11	−11	−11	−12	−13	−12	−13	−13	−14	−14	−14	−14	−14	−14	−14	−13
Lee	−12	−13	−14	−14	−14	−14	−14	−14	−14	−14	−14	−13	−13	−13	−13	−12	−12	−12
Woods	−8	−8	−9	−10	−11	−11	−11	−11	−12	−12	−13	−14	−14	−13	−13	−13	−11	−11

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

Eagle

Birdie

Bogey

Double bogey

Source:^[4]