The 2016 Players Championship was a golf tournament in Florida on the PGA Tour, held May 12–15 at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, southeast of Jacksonville. It was the 43rd Players Championship.

Jason Day, number one in the world rankings and reigning PGA Champion, led wire-to-wire to win his first Players, four strokes ahead of runner-up Kevin Chappell. With favorable scoring conditions early, Day was at 129 (−15) after 36 holes and then shot even par on the weekend.

Defending champion Rickie Fowler missed the 36-hole cut by a stroke.

This was the 35th Players Championship held at the TPC at Sawgrass Stadium Course and it remained at 7,215 yards (6,597 m).

The 2016 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

The field consisted of 144 players meeting the following criteria:

1. Winners of PGA Tour events since last Players

Steven Bowditch (2), Jason Day (2,4,7,8,9,13), Jason Dufner (2,4), Tony Finau (2), Rickie Fowler (2,5,9), Fabián Gómez (2), Branden Grace (9), Emiliano Grillo (9), James Hahn (2), J. J. Henry (2), Jim Herman (2), Charley Hoffman (2,9), Zach Johnson (2,4,9), Smylie Kaufman (9), Chris Kirk (2), Kevin Kisner (2,9,13), Russell Knox (2,7,9,13), Danny Lee (2,9), David Lingmerth (2,8,9), Davis Love III (2), Shane Lowry (7,9), Peter Malnati, Hideki Matsuyama (2,9), Graeme McDowell, Rory McIlroy (2,4,7,9), Troy Merritt (2), Scott Piercy (2), Adam Scott (2,4,7,9,13), Brandt Snedeker (2,9,13), Jordan Spieth (2,4,6,9,13), Brian Stuard, Vaughn Taylor, Justin Thomas (2,9,13), Bubba Watson (2,4,7,9,13), Danny Willett (4,9)

• Charl Schwartzel (2,9) did not play.

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

Daniel Berger (9), Zac Blair, Jonas Blixt, Jason Bohn, Keegan Bradley (4), Scott Brown, Chad Campbell, Paul Casey (9), Alex Čejka, Kevin Chappell, Chad Collins, Erik Compton, Jon Curran, Brendon de Jonge, Graham DeLaet, Luke Donald, Ken Duke, Harris English, Matt Every (8), Jim Furyk (9), Sergio García (9), Andres Gonzales, Retief Goosen, Jason Gore, Bill Haas (9), Chesson Hadley, Adam Hadwin, Brian Harman, Pádraig Harrington, David Hearn, Russell Henley, Morgan Hoffmann, J. B. Holmes (9), Billy Horschel (6,9), Charles Howell III, John Huh, Dustin Johnson (7,9), Matt Jones, Jerry Kelly, Colt Knost, Brooks Koepka (9), Jason Kokrak, Matt Kuchar (5,9), Martin Laird, Marc Leishman (9), Spencer Levin, Hunter Mahan, Ben Martin, William McGirt, George McNeill, Phil Mickelson (4,9), Bryce Molder, Francesco Molinari, Ryan Moore (9), Kevin Na (9,13), Sean O'Hair, Louis Oosthuizen (9), Carlos Ortiz, Jeff Overton, Greg Owen, Ryan Palmer, Carl Pettersson, Scott Pinckney, Ian Poulter, Patrick Reed (7,9,13), Kyle Reifers, Justin Rose (4,9), John Senden, Vijay Singh, Brendan Steele, Shawn Stefani, Henrik Stenson (6,9), Robert Streb, Kevin Streelman, Chris Stroud, Daniel Summerhays, Hudson Swafford, Nick Taylor, Brendon Todd, Cameron Tringale, Camilo Villegas, Johnson Wagner, Jimmy Walker (9), Boo Weekley, Steve Wheatcroft, Will Wilcox, Mark Wilson, Gary Woodland

• Bae Sang-moon, Stewart Cink, Tim Clark, Ryo Ishikawa, Pat Perez, John Peterson, Rory Sabbatini, Webb Simpson (4), Nick Watney, and Lee Westwood (9) did not play.

3. Top 125 (medical)

Freddie Jacobson

4. Major champions from the past five years

Ernie Els, Martin Kaymer (5)

• Darren Clarke did not play.

5. Players Championship winners from the past five years

K. J. Choi

• Tiger Woods (7) did not play.

6. The Tour Championship winners from the past three years

7. World Golf Championship winners from the past three years

8. Memorial Tournament and Arnold Palmer Invitational winners since 2015

9. Top 50 from the Official World Golf Ranking

An Byeong-hun, Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Rafa Cabrera-Bello, Matt Fitzpatrick, Søren Kjeldsen, Andy Sullivan, Bernd Wiesberger

• Thongchai Jaidee and Kim Kyung-tae did not play.

10. Senior Players champion from prior year

Bernhard Langer

11. Web.com Tour money leader from prior season

Patton Kizzire

12. Money leader during the Web.com Tour Finals

Chez Reavie

13. Top 10 current year FedEx Cup points leaders

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

Ricky Barnes, Kim Si-woo, Jamie Lovemark, Patrick Rodgers, Harold Varner III, Jhonattan Vegas

• These players were all in the first 73 places in the standings, as of May 2.
• Aaron Baddeley – replaced Webb Simpson

Thursday, May 12, 2016

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Jason Day	63	−9
T2	Bill Haas	65	−7
	Shane Lowry
	Justin Rose
	Brendan Steele
	Cameron Tringale
T7	Daniel Berger	66	−6
	Ernie Els
	Brooks Koepka
	Francesco Molinari
	Hudson Swafford
	Boo Weekley

Friday, May 13, 2016
Saturday, May 14, 2016

A two-hour weather delay on Friday afternoon caused several players to suspend their rounds due to darkness. Among these was Day, who completed the final four holes of his second round on Saturday morning; play resumed at 9:15 a.m. EDT.

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Jason Day	63-66=129	−15
2	Shane Lowry	65-68=133	−11
T3	Jonas Blixt	67-67=134	−10
	Alex Čejka	67-67=134
	Cameron Tringale	65-69=134
T6	Jerry Kelly	67-68=135	−9
	Colt Knost	72-63=135
	Russell Knox	68-67=135
	Francesco Molinari	66-69=135
	Boo Weekley	66-69=135
	Gary Woodland	67-68=135

Saturday, May 14, 2016

With the second round completed on Saturday morning, the third round was played in groupings of three from split tees. Scores were significantly higher than the first two rounds, as the course conditions toughened. Ken Duke shot 65 (−7) for the best round of the day and Hideki Matsuyama carded a 67; both joined Alex Čejka in a tie for second, four strokes behind Day, who recorded a one-over 73.

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Jason Day	63-66-73=202	−14
T2	Alex Čejka	67-67-72=206	−10
	Ken Duke	74-67-65=206
	Hideki Matsuyama	68-71-67=206
5	Francesco Molinari	66-69-72=207	−9
T6	Kevin Chappell	71-67-70=208	−8
	Retief Goosen	70-68-70=208
T8	Jonas Blixt	67-67-75=209	−7
	Colt Knost	72-63-74=209
	Cameron Tringale	65-69-75=209

Sunday, May 15, 2016

Champion

(c) = past champion

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
1	Jason Day	63-66-73-71=273	−15	1,890,000
2	Kevin Chappell	71-67-70-69=277	−11	1,134,000
T3	Ken Duke	74-67-65-72=278	−10	504,000
	Colt Knost	72-63-74-69=278
	Matt Kuchar (c)	71-67-72-68=278
	Justin Thomas	70-68-75-65=278
T7	Hideki Matsuyama	68-71-67-73=279	−9	338,625
	Francesco Molinari	66-69-72-72=279
T9	Daniel Berger	66-72-73-69=280	−8	283,500
	Alex Čejka	67-67-72-74=280
	Graeme McDowell	72-70-69-69=280

Leaderboard below the top 10
Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
T12	Retief Goosen	70-68-70-73=281	−7	212,625
	Rory McIlroy	72-64-75-70=281
	Bryce Molder	70-68-72-71=281
	Adam Scott (c)	73-65-75-68=281
T16	Shane Lowry	65-68-78-71=282	−6	168,000
	Cameron Tringale	65-69-75-73=282
	Boo Weekley	66-69-78-69=282
T19	Jonas Blixt	67-67-75-74=283	−5	131,775
	Jerry Kelly	67-68-77-71=283
	Russell Knox	68-67-80-68=283
	Justin Rose	65-74-78-66=283
T23	Paul Casey	68-72-76-68=284	−4	93,450
	Kim Si-woo	68-70-72-74=284
	Ryan Palmer	67-70-75-72=284
	Scott Piercy	70-68-75-71=284
	Daniel Summerhays	69-71-71-73=284
T28	David Hearn	71-71-72-71=285	−3	68,325
	J. J. Henry	70-69-74-72=285
	Billy Horschel	68-70-75-72=285
	Dustin Johnson	70-70-77-68=285
	Louis Oosthuizen	72-67-74-72=285
	Vijay Singh	70-70-73-72=285
	Gary Woodland	67-68-76-74=285
T35	Keegan Bradley	72-67-76-71=286	−2	52,893
	Jim Furyk	71-70-75-70=286
	Brooks Koepka	66-70-77-73=286
	Danny Lee	67-71-72-76=286
T39	Chad Campbell	68-71-78-70=287	−1	44,100
	Jon Curran	70-71-79-67=287
	Adam Hadwin	70-70-74-73=287
	Martin Kaymer (c)	68-72-76-71=287
T43	K. J. Choi (c)	73-68-73-74=288	E	33,670
	Bill Haas	65-73-77-73=288
	James Hahn	67-73-79-69=288
	Søren Kjeldsen	72-70-74-72=288
	William McGirt	72-65-76-75=288
	Bubba Watson	69-71-74-74=288
T49	Zac Blair	71-70-73-75=289	+1	25,914
	Jason Dufner	70-66-80-73=289
	Morgan Hoffmann	69-73-75-72=289
	Freddie Jacobson	70-69-78-72=289
	Bernd Wiesberger	71-67-78-73=289
T54	Sergio García (c)	72-66-77-75=290	+2	24,150
	Brian Harman	69-70-77-74=290
	Zach Johnson	67-69-80-74=290
T57	Brendon de Jonge	71-67-76-77=291	+3	23,100
	Branden Grace	72-70-78-71=291
	Ian Poulter	69-68-79-75=291
	Brendan Steele	65-76-74-76=291
	Hudson Swafford	66-73-77-75=291
	Harold Varner III	73-66-78-74=291
	Jhonattan Vegas	67-71-79-74=291
T64	Ernie Els	66-73-78-75=292	+4	21,735
	Marc Leishman	70-72-75-75=292
	Jamie Lovemark	71-71-79-71=292
	Sean O'Hair	70-67-76-79=292
	Kyle Reifers	71-70-76-75=292
	Johnson Wagner	70-71-77-74=292
70	Camilo Villegas	71-71-78-73=293	+5	21,000
71	Steve Wheatcroft	68-74-79-73=294	+6	20,790
T72	Shawn Stefani	74-68-80-73=295	+7	20,475
	Will Wilcox	68-71-82-74=295
T74	Fabián Gómez	73-69-79-75=296	+8	20,055
	Kevin Streelman	72-70-80-74=296
76	Patton Kizzire	71-70-82-77=300	+12	19,740
CUT	An Byeong-hun	75-68=143	−1
	Rafa Cabrera-Bello	72-71=143
	Matt Fitzpatrick	69-74=143
	Rickie Fowler (c)	72-71=143
	Charley Hoffman	73-70=143
	J. B. Holmes	70-73=143
	David Lingmerth	71-72=143
	Davis Love III (c)	71-72=143
	George McNeill	70-73=143
	Phil Mickelson (c)	70-73=143
	Kevin Na	73-70=143
	Carl Pettersson	68-75=143
	Patrick Reed	71-72=143
	Jordan Spieth	72-71=143
	Vaughn Taylor	71-72=143
	Danny Willett	70-73=143
	Kiradech Aphibarnrat	75-69=144	E
	Aaron Baddeley	69-75=144
	Luke Donald	70-74=144
	Martin Laird	71-73=144
	Bernhard Langer	72-72=144
	Greg Owen	69-75=144
	Chez Reavie	73-71=144
	John Senden	75-69=144
	Brian Stuard	71-73=144
	Scott Brown	73-72=145	+1
	Harris English	75-70=145
	Andres Gonzales	75-70=145
	Kevin Kisner	74-71=145
	Ryan Moore	70-75=145
	Robert Streb	71-74=145
	Brendon Todd	73-72=145
	Mark Wilson	74-71=145
	Ricky Barnes	72-74=146	+2
	Emiliano Grillo	71-75=146
	Pádraig Harrington	72-74=146
	Hunter Mahan	77-69=146
	Jeff Overton	73-73=146
	Nick Taylor	67-79=146
	Graham DeLaet	70-77=147	+3
	Tony Finau	72-75=147
	Jason Gore	72-75=147
	Russell Henley	74-73=147
	Charles Howell III	72-75=147
	Smylie Kaufman	72-75=147
	Spencer Levin	76-71=147
	Troy Merritt	73-74=147
	Scott Pinckney	74-73=147
	Patrick Rodgers	73-74=147
	Brandt Snedeker	71-76=147
	Chad Collins	75-73=148	+4
	Erik Compton	77-71=148
	Chesson Hadley	78-70=148
	Carlos Ortiz	77-72=149	+5
	Henrik Stenson (c)	77-73=150	+6
	Andy Sullivan	77-73=150
	Jason Bohn	74-77=151	+7
	Matt Every	73-78=151
	Jim Herman	75-76=151
	Peter Malnati	77-74=151
	Matt Jones	78-74=152	+8
	Ben Martin	75-77=152
	Steven Bowditch	80-73=153	+9
	John Huh	77-76=153
Jimmy Walker	71-82=153
WD	Chris Kirk	73	+1
	Jason Kokrak	73
	Chris Stroud	75	+3

Source:

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
Day	−14	−14	−14	−14	−14	−13	−13	−13	−12	−13	−13	−14	−14	−14	−14	−15	−15	−15
Chappell	−9	−9	−8	−7	−7	−7	−6	−6	−7	−7	−9	−9	−9	−9	−9	−10	−11	−11
Duke	−9	−10	−10	−10	−11	−11	−11	−10	−10	−9	−10	−10	−10	−10	−9	−10	−10	−10
Knost	−7	−8	−8	−8	−6	−6	−7	−8	−9	−9	−9	−10	−9	−10	−10	−10	−10	−10
Kuchar	−6	−7	−7	−7	−6	−7	−7	−7	−8	−8	−8	−9	−9	−9	−9	−10	−10	−10
Thomas	−4	−5	−5	−5	−5	−6	−6	−7	−7	−7	−8	−8	−7	−8	−8	−9	−9	−10
Matsuyama	−9	−9	−7	−7	−7	−8	−8	−8	−8	−8	−8	−8	−9	−8	−8	−9	−9	−9
Molinari	−9	−10	−9	−9	−9	−8	−8	−8	−9	−9	−9	−10	−10	−8	−8	−9	−9	−9

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

Eagle

Birdie

Bogey

Double bogey

Source:

• Official website