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  • 21 Aug, 2019

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2015 Players Championship

The 2015 Players Championship was a golf tournament in Florida on the PGA Tour, held May 7–10 at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, southeast of Jacksonville. It was the 42nd Players Championship.

Rickie Fowler won the tournament, beating Kevin Kisner and Sergio García in a playoff.

Trailing by five shots with six holes to play, Fowler played them at six-under-par, going birdie-par-birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie to force a playoff. After the three-hole aggregate playoff (holes 16–18) ended with Kisner and Fowler still tied, they returned to the 17th for sudden-death. Fowler put his tee shot to five feet (1.5 m) on the island green 17th, and made birdie to win.

Defending champion Martin Kaymer finished twelve strokes back at even par, tied for 56th place.

Venue

This was the 34th Players Championship held at the TPC at Sawgrass Stadium Course and it remained at 7,215 yards (6,597 m).

Course layout

The 2015 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 76.8 / 155 423 532 177 384 471 393 442 237 583 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

Field

The field consisted of 144 players meeting the following criteria:

1. Winners of PGA Tour events since last Players

Bae Sang-moon (2), Ángel Cabrera (2), Alex Čejka, Ben Crane (2), Jason Day (2,6,8,12), Matt Every (2,8), Jim Furyk (2,8), Bill Haas (2,8), James Hahn (2), Brian Harman (2), Pádraig Harrington, Charley Hoffman (2,8,12), J. B. Holmes (2,8,12), Billy Horschel (2,7,8), Dustin Johnson (2,6,8,12), Martin Kaymer (2,4,5,8), Chris Kirk (2,8), Brooks Koepka (8), Hunter Mahan (2,8), Ben Martin (2), Hideki Matsuyama (2,8,12), Rory McIlroy (2,4,6,8), Ryan Moore (2,8,12), Geoff Ogilvy (2), Patrick Reed (2,6,8,12), Justin Rose (2,4,8), Adam Scott (2,4,8), Brandt Snedeker (2,7,8), Jordan Spieth (2,4,8,12), Robert Streb (2), Kevin Streelman (2), Nick Taylor, Brendon Todd (2,8), Camilo Villegas (2), Jimmy Walker (2,8,12), Bubba Watson (2,4,6,8,12)

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

Robert Allenby, Aaron Baddeley, Ricky Barnes, Jonas Blixt, Jason Bohn, Steven Bowditch, Keegan Bradley (4,6,8), Scott Brown, Paul Casey (8), Kevin Chappell, K. J. Choi (5), Stewart Cink, Erik Compton, Brian Davis, Brendon de Jonge, Graham DeLaet, Luke Donald, Jason Dufner (4), Ernie Els (4), Harris English, Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño, Martin Flores, Rickie Fowler (8), Sergio García (8), Brice Garnett, Robert Garrigus, Retief Goosen, Luke Guthrie, Chesson Hadley, David Hearn, Russell Henley (8), Morgan Hoffmann, Charles Howell III, John Huh, Billy Hurley III, Ryo Ishikawa, Freddie Jacobson, Zach Johnson (8), Matt Jones, Jerry Kelly, Kevin Kisner, Russell Knox, Jason Kokrak, Matt Kuchar (5,6,8), Scott Langley, Danny Lee, Marc Leishman, Justin Leonard, Will MacKenzie, Graeme McDowell (4,8), William McGirt, George McNeill, Troy Merritt, Phil Mickelson (4,8), Bryce Molder, Kevin Na (8), Noh Seung-yul, Louis Oosthuizen (4,8), Jeff Overton, Ryan Palmer (8), Pat Perez, Carl Pettersson, Ian Poulter (6,8), Michael Putnam, Andrés Romero, Rory Sabbatini, Charl Schwartzel (4,8), John Senden, Webb Simpson (4,8), Vijay Singh, Scott Stallings, Brendan Steele, Shawn Stefani, Henrik Stenson (7,8), Steve Stricker, Chris Stroud, Brian Stuard, Daniel Summerhays, Andrew Svoboda, Michael Thompson, David Toms, Cameron Tringale, Bo Van Pelt, Jhonattan Vegas, Nick Watney, Boo Weekley, Lee Westwood (8), Tim Wilkinson, Gary Woodland

3. Top 125 from current season - Medical Extension

Spencer Levin, Scott Piercy

4. Major champions from the past five years

Darren Clarke

5. Players Championship winners from the past five years

Tiger Woods (6)

6. WGC winners from the past three years
7. The Tour Championship winners from the past three years
8. Top 50 from the Official World Golf Ranking

Jamie Donaldson, Stephen Gallacher, Branden Grace, Thongchai Jaidee, Anirban Lahiri, Shane Lowry, Joost Luiten, Bernd Wiesberger, Danny Willett

9. Senior Players champion from prior year

Bernhard Langer

10. Web.com Tour money leader from prior season

Adam Hadwin

11. Money leader during the Web.com Tour Finals

Derek Fathauer

12. Top 10 current year FedEx Cup points leaders
13. Remaining positions and alternates filled through current year FedEx Cup standings

Daniel Berger, Sean O'Hair, Justin Thomas

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, May 7, 2015

Place Player Score To par
T1 Canada David Hearn 67 −5
United States Charley Hoffman
Japan Hideki Matsuyama
United States Kevin Na
T5 United States Derek Fathauer 68 −4
United States Billy Horschel
United States Charles Howell III
United States Ben Martin
United States Troy Merritt
United States Brendon Todd

Second round

Friday, May 8, 2015

Place Player Score To par
T1 United States Jerry Kelly 71-65=136 −8
United States Kevin Na 67-69=136
T3 United States Rickie Fowler 69-69=138 −6
South Africa Branden Grace 71-67=138
Canada David Hearn 67-71=138
United States Chris Kirk 70-68=138
T7 United States Scott Brown 72-67=139 −5
United States Bill Haas 72-67=139
United States Zach Johnson 71-68=139
United States Ben Martin 68-71=139
United States Troy Merritt 68-71=139
United States Chris Stroud 70-69=139

Third round

Saturday, May 9, 2015

Place Player Score To par
1 United States Chris Kirk 70-68-68=206 −10
T2 United States Bill Haas 72-67-68=207 −9
United States Kevin Kisner 73-67-67=207
United States Ben Martin 68-71-68=207
T5 United States Scott Brown 72-67-69=208 −8
Spain Sergio García 69-72-67=208
Canada David Hearn 67-71-70=208
United States Jerry Kelly 71-65-72=208
United States Kevin Na 67-69-72=208
United States Justin Thomas 73-70-65=208

Final round

Sunday, May 10, 2015

Champion
(c) = past champion
Place Player Score To par Money ($)
T1 United States Rickie Fowler 69-69-71-67=276 −12 Playoff
Spain Sergio García (c) 69-72-67-68=276
United States Kevin Kisner 73-67-67-69=276
T4 United States Bill Haas 72-67-68-70=277 −11 440,000
United States Ben Martin 68-71-68-70=277
T6 United States Kevin Na 67-69-72-71=279 −9 347,500
South Africa Rory Sabbatini 70-71-69-69=279
T8 Wales Jamie Donaldson 70-72-71-67=280 −8 270,000
United States Brian Harman 71-69-70-70=280
Japan Ryo Ishikawa 71-69-69-71=280
Northern Ireland Rory McIlroy 69-71-70-70=280
Australia John Senden 73-70-67-70=280

Source:

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
United States Fowler −6 −6 −6 −6 −6 −6 −7 −7 −7 −6 −6 −6 −7 −7 −8 −10 −11 −12
Spain García −7 −8 −8 −9 −10 −11 −11 −11 −11 −11 −11 −11 −11 −10 −10 −11 −12 −12
United States Kisner −9 −10 −10 −9 −8 −9 −9 −9 −9 −9 −9 −10 −10 −10 −10 −11 −12 −12
United States Haas −9 −9 −10 −10 −10 −10 −9 −8 −7 −8 −8 −8 −8 −9 −10 −11 −11 −11
United States Martin −9 −10 −10 −10 −9 −9 −9 −9 −8 −9 −10 −10 −10 −9 −10 −11 −12 −11
United States Na −8 −8 −8 −6 −6 −7 −8 −8 −8 −8 −8 −8 −8 −9 −9 −10 −10 −9
South Africa Sabbatini −6 −6 −6 −6 −6 −7 −7 −7 −7 −8 −8 −8 −8 −8 −8 −8 −9 −9
United States Kirk −10 −10 −10 −9 −8 −8 −9 −9 −9 −9 −9 −9 −9 −8 −7 −7 −7 −7

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

Eagle Birdie Bogey Double bogey

Source:

Playoff

The playoff was the first at The Players to use the three-hole aggregate format, adopted the prior year, which began at par-5 16th hole. After the three holes, Fowler and Kisner were tied, but García missed his birdie putt on 18 to continue and was eliminated. The same three holes were scheduled for sudden-death, but started at the par-3 17th, which both had birdied twice Sunday. Fowler birdied it again (his fifth on the 17th hole in six attempts for the week) to win the title. The birdies were a first for the Players; its four previous playoffs, all sudden-death, had no under-par scoring.

Place Player Country Three-hole Sudden-death Money ($)
Score To par Score To par
1 United States Rickie Fowler 5-2-4=11 −1 2 −1 1,800,000
T2 United States Kevin Kisner 5-2-4=11 −1 3 E 880,000
Spain Sergio García 5-3-5=13 +1  
  • García just missed his birdie putt on 18 to continue; his one-handed tap-in did not drop and it was scored a bogey.

Source:

Scorecard
Hole 16 17 18 17
Par 5 3 4 3
United States Fowler E −1 −1 −2
United States Kisner E −1 −1 −1
Spain García E E +1  

Cumulative playoff scores, relative to par

Birdie Bogey

Source:

References

  1. ^ "Rickie Fowler rallies, overcomes 2 in playoff to claim Players". ESPN. Associated Press. May 11, 2015. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
  2. ^ "Rickie Fowler outlasts logjam to win Players Championship". New York Times. May 11, 2015. Retrieved May 12, 2015.
  3. ^ "Rickie Fowler wins title after superb finish". BBC Sport. May 11, 2015. Retrieved May 12, 2015.
  4. ^ Biggane, Brian (May 10, 2015). "'Overrated' Fowler wins The Players Championship in playoff". Palm Beach Post. (Florida). Retrieved May 2, 2017.
  5. ^ Thompson, Edgar (May 10, 2015). "Rickie Fowler answers critics by winning the Players Championship". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
  6. ^ "Unequaled finish earns Fowler PLAYERS Championship". PGA Tour. Associated Press. May 10, 2015. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
  7. ^ Bamberger, Michael (May 18, 2015). "The Players a player". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
  8. ^ Morfit, Cameron (May 11, 2015). "Rickie Fowler wins Players Championship in playoff". GOLF. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
  9. ^ "Past Results 1974 – present". PGA Tour. Archived from the original on September 1, 2020. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
  10. ^ "The Players Championship". ESPN. (Golf). May 10, 2015. Retrieved May 2, 2017.