1997 Players Championship


The 1997 Players Championship was a golf tournament in Florida on the PGA Tour, held at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, southeast of Jacksonville. It was the 24th Players Championship.
Steve Elkington led wire-to-wire, with all four rounds in the sixties, to win his second Players at 272, a record seven strokes ahead of runner-up Scott Hoch. Elkington's previous win was six years earlier in 1991.
In his first Players, 21-year-old Tiger Woods tied for 31st at 289 ; two weeks later, he won the Masters by a record margin.
Defending champion Fred Couples finished thirteen strokes back, in a tie for tenth place.

Venue

This was the sixteenth Players Championship held at the TPC at Sawgrass Stadium Course, and it remained at.

Field

, Fulton Allem, Robert Allenby, Billy Andrade, Stuart Appleby, Emlyn Aubrey, Woody Austin, Paul Azinger, Chip Beck, Ronnie Black, Phil Blackmar, Jay Don Blake, Guy Boros, Michael Bradley, Mike Brisky, Mark Brooks, Olin Browne, Brad Bryant, Patrick Burke, Mark Calcavecchia, Jim Carter, Brandel Chamblee, Lennie Clements, Russ Cochran, John Cook, Fred Couples, Ben Crenshaw, John Daly, Robert Damron, Marco Dawson, Glen Day, Scott Dunlap, Joe Durant, David Duval, David Edwards, Joel Edwards, Steve Elkington, Ernie Els, Brad Fabel, Nick Faldo, Brad Faxon, Rick Fehr, Dan Forsman, David Frost, Fred Funk, Jim Furyk, Jim Gallagher Jr., Robert Gamez, Kelly Gibson, Paul Goydos, Wayne Grady, Scott Gump, Jay Haas, Donnie Hammond, Dudley Hart, Nolan Henke, Brian Henninger, Tim Herron, Scott Hoch, Mike Hulbert, John Huston, Peter Jacobsen, Lee Janzen, Steve Jones, Pete Jordan, Jerry Kelly, Tom Kite, Greg Kraft, Neal Lancaster, Bernhard Langer, Tom Lehman, Justin Leonard, Wayne Levi, Davis Love III, Steve Lowery, Sandy Lyle, Andrew Magee, Jeff Maggert, John Maginnes, Doug Martin, Len Mattiace, Billy Mayfair, Blaine McCallister, Scott McCarron, Mark McCumber, Mark McNulty, Rocco Mediate, Phil Mickelson, Larry Mize, Colin Montgomerie, Gil Morgan, John Morse, Larry Nelson, Frank Nobilo, Greg Norman, Mark O'Meara, David Ogrin, Masashi Ozaki, Naomichi Ozaki, Jesper Parnevik, Craig Parry, Corey Pavin, Chris Perry, Kenny Perry, Don Pooley, Nick Price, Dicky Pride, Tom Purtzer, Mike Reid, Lee Rinker, Loren Roberts, Costantino Rocca, Clarence Rose, Hugh Royer III, Scott Simpson, Joey Sindelar, Vijay Singh, Jeff Sluman, Taylor Smith, Craig Stadler, Paul Stankowski, Payne Stewart, Dave Stockton Jr., Curtis Strange, Steve Stricker, Hal Sutton, Tommy Tolles, David Toms, Sam Torrance, Kirk Triplett, Ted Tryba, Bob Tway, Omar Uresti, Grant Waite, Duffy Waldorf, Tom Watson, Brian Watts, D. A. Weibring, Mark Wiebe, John Wilson, Willie Wood, Tiger Woods, Ian Woosnam, Fuzzy Zoeller

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, March 27, 1997
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Steve Elkington66−6
T2Mark Calcavecchia67−5
T2Russ Cochran67−5
T2David Edwards67−5
T2Tom Lehman67−5
T2Fuzzy Zoeller67−5
T7Billy Andrade68−4
T7Michael Bradley68−4
T7Ernie Els68−4
T7Jay Haas68−4
T7Sandy Lyle68−4
T7Larry Mize68−4
T7Naomichi Ozaki68−4
T7Tom Purtzer68−4
T7Taylor Smith68−4
T7Dave Stockton68−4

Source:

Second round

Friday, March 28, 1997
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Steve Elkington66-69=135−9
2Larry Mize68-68=136−8
T3David Edwards67-70=137−7
T3Tommy Tolles70-67=137−7
T3Tom Lehman67-71=138−6
T3Davis Love III72-66=138−6
T3Craig Parry71-67=138−6
T3Brian Watts70-68=138−6
T7Ernie Els68-71=139−5
T7Brad Faxon70-69=139−5
T7Tom Purtzer68-71=139−5
T7Dave Stockton68-71=139−5
T7Kirk Triplett71-68=139−5
T7Fuzzy Zoeller67-72=139−5

Source:

Third round

Saturday, March 29, 1997
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Steve Elkington66-69-68=203−13
2Scott Hoch69-71-65=205−11
T3Billy Andrade68-72-68=208−8
T3Tom Purtzer68-71-69=208−8
5Kirk Triplett71-68-70=209−7
T6Mark Brooks72-68-70=210−6
T6Larry Mize68-68-74=210−6
T6Tommy Tolles70-67-73=210−6
T9Ernie Els68-71-72=211−5
T9Brad Faxon70-69-72=211−5
T9Robert Gamez70-73-68=211−5
T9Tom Lehman67-71-73=211−5
T9Davis Love III72-66-73=211−5
T9Colin Montgomerie70-70-71=211−5
T9Loren Roberts70-74-67=211−5

Source:

Final round

Sunday, March 30, 1997