The 2001 Players Championship was a

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

tournament in

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on the

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, held at

TPC Sawgrass The Tournament Players Club Sawgrass (TPC Sawgrass) is a golf course in the southeastern United States, located in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, southeast of Jacksonville. The course opened in the autumn of 1980 and was the first of several Tourn ...

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, southeast of

Jacksonville Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

. It was the 28th Players Championship.

Tournament summary

Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins, PGA Tour wins, ranks second in List of men's major championships winning golfers, men's m ...

won the first of his two Players Championships, one stroke ahead of runner-up

Vijay Singh Vijay Singh ( ; born 22 February 1963) is a Fijians, Fijian professional golfer. In 1982, Singh turned professional and played on the local Asia Golf Circuit. However, his early career met with controversy, as he was accused of numerous rules ...

. Because of bad weather, the tournament was completed on Monday, March 26. In the final pairing with 54-hole leader

Jerry Kelly Jerome Patrick Kelly (born November 23, 1966) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour and PGA Tour Champions. Early life and amateur career Kelly was born and raised in Madison, Wisconsin. Kelly was an all-city ice hockey ...

, Woods played the final nine holes on Monday. He had also won the previous week, at

Arnold Palmer Arnold Daniel Palmer (September 10, 1929 – September 25, 2016) was an American professional golfer who is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most charismatic players in the sport's history. Since embarking on a professional career in ...

Bay Hill Invitational The Arnold Palmer Invitational is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour. It is played each March at the Bay Hill Club and Lodge, a private golf resort owned since 1974 by Arnold Palmer in Bay Hill, Florida, Bay Hill, a suburb southwest of ...

Woods had won the previous three majors in

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

; he won the

Masters Tournament The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply the Masters, or as the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four men's major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week in April, the Masters is the ...

two weeks later to hold all four major titles at once, the '' Tiger Slam'', as well as this Players, the unofficial "fifth major." He won his second Players a dozen years later in

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

. Tiger Woods(2001), Scottie Scheffler(2024), and Rory Mcilroy(2025) are the only three players to ever win both a Players Championship and a Masters Tournament in the same calendar year. Woods was the third Players champion to win a major in the same calendar year, joining

Jack Nicklaus Jack William Nicklaus (; born January 21, 1940), nicknamed "the Golden Bear", is an American retired professional golfer and List of golf courses designed by Jack Nicklaus, golf course designer. He is widely considered to be one of the greate ...

(1978) and

Hal Sutton Hal Evan Sutton (born April 28, 1958) is an American professional golfer, currently playing on the PGA Tour Champions, who achieved 14 victories on the PGA Tour, including the 1983 PGA Championship (a major championship) and the 1983 and 2000 ...

(1983); it expanded to six with Martin Kaymer in

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, Cameron Smith in

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

and Scheffler in

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

Defending champion Sutton finished seven strokes back, in a tie for fifth place.

Venue

This was the 20th Players Championship held at the TPC at Sawgrass Stadium Course and it remained at .

Field

1. Winners of PGA Tour co-sponsored or approved tournaments, whose victories are considered official, since the 2000 Players Championship * Robert Allenby *

Billy Andrade William Thomas Andrade (born January 25, 1964) is an American professional golfer who currently plays on the PGA Champions Tour. He was previously a member of the PGA Tour, where he was a four-time winner. Early life Andrade was born in Bris ...

* Notah Begay III *

Mark Calcavecchia Mark John Calcavecchia (born June 12, 1960) is an American professional golfer and a former PGA Tour member. During his professional career, he won 13 PGA Tour events, including the 1989 Open Championship. He plays on the Champions Tour as well ...

Stewart Cink Stewart Ernest Cink (born May 21, 1973) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour. He won the 2009 Open Championship, defeating Tom Watson in a four-hole aggregate playoff. He spent over 40 weeks in the top 10 of the Official ...

* Michael Clark II *

Chris DiMarco Christian Dean DiMarco (born August 23, 1968) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour Champions. DiMarco has won eight tournaments as a pro, including three PGA Tour events. Early life Born in Huntington, New York, DiMarco ...

* Joe Durant *

David Duval David Robert Duval (born November 9, 1971) is an American professional golfer and former World No. 1 Golfer who competed on the PGA Tour and currently plays on the PGA Tour Champions. Duval won 13 PGA Tour tournaments between 1997 and 2001; inc ...

Ernie Els Theodore Ernest Els (; born 17 October 1969) is a South African professional golfer. A former , he is nicknamed "the Big Easy" due to his physical stature along with his fluid golf swing. Among his more than 70 career victories are four major ...

Brad Faxon Bradford John Faxon Jr. (born August 1, 1961) is an American professional golfer. He has won eight times on the PGA Tour. Early life and amateur career Faxon was born in Oceanport, New Jersey and raised in Barrington, Rhode Island. He attended F ...

* Carlos Franco *

Jim Furyk James Michael Furyk (born May 12, 1970) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour and the PGA Tour Champions. In 2010, he was the FedEx Cup champion and PGA Tour Player of the Year. He has won one major championship, the 2 ...

John Huston John Marcellus Huston ( ; August 5, 1906 – August 28, 1987) was an American film director, screenwriter and actor. He wrote the screenplays for most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered classics. He rec ...

Justin Leonard Justin Charles Garrett Leonard (born June 15, 1972) is an American professional golfer. He has 12 career wins on the PGA Tour, including one major, the 1997 Open Championship. He currently plays on the PGA Tour Champions. He is one of only five ...

Davis Love III Davis Milton Love III (born April 13, 1964) is an American professional golfer who has won 21 events on the PGA Tour, including one major championship: the 1997 PGA Championship. He won the Players Championship in 1992 and 2003. He was in th ...

* Steve Lowery *

Rocco Mediate Rocco Anthony Mediate (born December 17, 1962) is an American professional golfer who has won six times on the PGA Tour and three times on the PGA Tour Champions. In the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines South Course, he finished runner-up after ...

Phil Mickelson Philip Alfred Mickelson (born June 16, 1970) is an American professional golfer who currently plays in the LIV Golf League. He has won 45 events on the PGA Tour, including six Men's major golf championships, major championships: three Masters ...

Jesper Parnevik Jesper Bo Parnevik (; born 7 March 1965) is a Swedish professional golfer. He spent 38 weeks in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking in 2000 and 2001. Early years and amateur career Parnevik was born in Botkyrka, Stockholm County, a ...

* Dennis Paulson *

Loren Roberts Loren Lloyd Roberts (born June 24, 1955) is an American professional golfer, who has played on the PGA Tour and the PGA Tour Champions. Early life Roberts was born in San Luis Obispo, California. He competed for San Luis Obispo Senior High Sch ...

* Rory Sabbatini * Tom Scherrer *

Steve Stricker Steven Charles Stricker (born February 23, 1967) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour and the PGA Tour Champions. He has twelve victories on the PGA Tour, including the WGC-Match Play title in 2001 WGC-Accenture Match Pla ...

David Toms David Wayne Toms (born January 4, 1967) is an American professional golfer who currently plays on the PGA Tour Champions. From 1992 to 2017, Toms was a member of the PGA Tour, where he won 13 events, including one major, the 2001 PGA Champions ...

Scott Verplank Scott Rachal Verplank (born July 9, 1964) is an American professional golfer, who has played on the PGA Tour and the PGA Tour Champions. Early life Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, Verplank was a leading member of the W.T. White High School g ...

* Duffy Waldorf *

Mike Weir Michael Richard Weir, (born May 12, 1970) is a Canadian professional golfer. He currently plays on the PGA Tour Champions. He spent over 110 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Ranking between 2001 and 2005. He plays golf left-hande ...

* Garrett Willis *

2. Those players among the top 125 finishers on the 2000 Official Money List * Stephen Ames *

Stuart Appleby Stuart Appleby (born 1 May 1971) is an Australian professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour Champions. He was a nine-time winner on the PGA Tour. Early life Appleby was born in Cohuna, Victoria, and grew up on a nearby dairy farm. He be ...

* Tommy Armour III *

Woody Austin Albert Woody Austin II (born January 27, 1964) is an American professional golfer who played the majority of his career on the PGA Tour, but now plays on the PGA Tour Champions. Early life and amateur career Austin was born in Tampa, Florida and ...

Paul Azinger Paul William Azinger (born January 6, 1960) is an American professional golfer and TV golf He won 12 times on the PGA Tour, including one major championship, the 1993 PGA Championship. He spent almost 300 weeks in the top-10 of the Official Wo ...

* Doug Barron * Mark Brooks *

Olin Browne Olin Douglas Browne (born May 22, 1959) is an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour and now plays on the PGA Tour Champions. Early life and amateur career Browne was born in Washington, D.C. In 1977, he graduated from Holdern ...

* Bob Burns * Tom Byrum * Jim Carter * Greg Chalmers * Brandel Chamblee * Russ Cochran * John Cook *

Fred Couples Frederick Steven Couples (born October 3, 1959) is an American professional golfer who has competed on the PGA Tour and the PGA Tour Champions. A former World No. 1, he has won 64 professional tournaments, most notably the Masters Tournament ...

* Robert Damron * Glen Day * Jay Don Blake * Doug Dunakey * Scott Dunlap * Joel Edwards * Brad Elder * Bob Estes *

Steve Flesch Stephen J. Flesch (born May 23, 1967) is an American professional golfer who currently plays on the PGA Tour Champions. He was a four-time winner on the PGA Tour, and worked briefly as a TV golf analyst for Fox Sports and Golf Channel before joi ...

Harrison Frazar Harrison Frazar (born July 29, 1971) is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour and the Web.com Tour and currently plays on the PGA Tour Champions. Amateur career Frazar was born in Dallas, Texas and was raised there an ...

* Robin Freeman * Edward Fryatt *

Fred Funk Frederick Funk (born June 14, 1956) is an American professional golfer. He currently plays on the PGA Tour Champions. He previously played on the PGA Tour, where he was an eight-time winner. Funk's signature win came at The Players Championship ...

* Sergio García * Brian Gay * Brent Geiberger *

Bill Glasson Bill Glasson may refer to: * Bill Glasson (golfer) (born 1960), American golfer * Bill Glasson (politician) (1925–2012), Australian politician * Bill Glasson (surgeon) (born 1953), Australian ophthalmologist {{hndis, Glasson, Bill ...

* Matt Gogel * Mathew Goggin *

Paul Goydos Paul David Goydos (born June 20, 1964) is an American professional golfer who currently plays on the PGA Tour Champions. He was previously a member of the PGA Tour, where he was a two-time winner. Early life Goydos was born and raised in Long ...

* Jimmy Green * Dudley Hart * J. P. Hayes * Brian Henninger * Tim Herron *

Glen Hnatiuk Glen Anthony Hnatiuk (born May 15, 1965) is a Canadian professional golfer. Early life Hnatiuk was born in Selkirk, Manitoba, Canada and attended the University of Southern Mississippi for college in the United States. He turned professional in 1 ...

Scott Hoch Scott Mabon Hoch ( ; born November 24, 1955) is an American professional golfer, who represented his country in the Ryder Cup in 1997 and 2002. Early life Hoch was born in Raleigh, North Carolina. While attending Needham B. Broughton High Scho ...

* Bradley Hughes *

Lee Janzen Lee McLeod Janzen (born August 28, 1964) is an American professional golfer who is best known for winning the U.S. Open twice in 1993 and 1998. He currently plays on the PGA Tour Champions, and was an eight-time winner on the PGA Tour. Earl ...

* Brandt Jobe * Steve Jones * Pete Jordan * Jonathan Kaye *

Skip Kendall Jules Ira "Skip" Kendall (born September 9, 1964) is an American professional golfer. He plays on the PGA Tour Champions and formerly played on the Web.com Tour and the PGA Tour. Early and personal life Kendall was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, ...

Greg Kraft Greg Kraft (born April 4, 1964) is an American professional golfer who has played on the Nationwide Tour and the PGA Tour. Kraft was born in Detroit, Michigan. He graduated from the University of Tampa in 1986 and turned professional later that ...

* Neal Lancaster * Franklin Langham *

Tom Lehman Thomas Edward Lehman (born March 7, 1959) is an American professional golfer. A former #1 ranked golfer, his tournament wins include one major title, the 1996 Open Championship; and he is the only golfer in history to have been awarded the Pla ...

* J. L. Lewis *

Frank Lickliter Franklin Ray Lickliter II (born July 28, 1969) is an American professional golfer. He featured in the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking, going as high as 41st in 2001. Early life Lickliter was born in Middletown, Ohio, adjacent to his ho ...

* Andrew Magee * Jeff Maggert * Len Mattiace *

Billy Mayfair William Fred Mayfair (born August 6, 1966) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour Champions. He was previously a member of the PGA Tour, where he won five times, including at the 1995 Tour Championship. Early years and am ...

* Blaine McCallister * Scott McCarron * Shaun Micheel * Larry Mize *

Gary Nicklaus Gary Nicklaus (born January 15, 1969) is an American former professional golfer. He spent three years as a member of the PGA Tour from 2000 to 2003, and has played on numerous tours, including most recently the PGA Tour Champions. He is best kno ...

Greg Norman Gregory John Norman (born 10 February 1955) is an Australian former professional golfer who spent 331 weeks as List of World Number One male golfers, world number one in the 1980s and 1990s. He won 88 professional tournaments, including 20 PGA ...

* Joe Ogilvie *

Mark O'Meara Mark Francis O'Meara (born January 13, 1957) is an American retired professional golfer. He was a tournament winner on the PGA Tour and around the world from the mid-1980s to the late 1990s. He spent nearly 200 weeks in the top-10 of the Offici ...

* Joe Ozaki * Craig Parry * Steve Pate * Carl Paulson *

David Peoples David Webb Peoples (born February 9, 1940) is an American screenwriter who co-wrote ''Blade Runner'' (1982), and later wrote ''Unforgiven'' (1992) and ''12 Monkeys'' (1995). He has been nominated for Oscar, Golden Globe, and BAFTA awards. Peopl ...

Kenny Perry James Kenneth Perry (born August 10, 1960) is an American professional golfer who currently plays on the PGA Tour Champions. He won 14 PGA Tour events and has won nine PGA Tour Champions events including four senior major championships: the 2 ...

Nick Price Nicholas Raymond Leige Price (born 28 January 1957) is a Zimbabwean former professional golfer who has won three major championships in his career: the PGA Championship twice (in 1992 and 1994) and The Open Championship in 1994. In the mid-1 ...

* Chris Riley *

Jeff Sluman Jeffrey George Sluman (born September 11, 1957) is an American professional golfer who has won numerous professional golf tournaments including six PGA Tour victories. Early life and amateur career Sluman was born and reared in Rochester, New Yo ...

* Jerry Smith *

Craig Stadler Craig Robert Stadler (born June 2, 1953) is an American professional golfer who has won numerous tournaments at both the PGA Tour and Champions Tour level, including one major championship, the 1982 Masters Tournament. Early life Stadler was bo ...

* Paul Stankowski * David Sutherland * Kevin Sutherland * Esteban Toledo *

Kirk Triplett Kirk Alan Triplett (born March 29, 1962) is an American professional golfer who has played on the PGA Tour, Nationwide Tour, and PGA Tour Champions. Early life and amateur career Born in Moses Lake, Washington, Triplett grew up on the Palouse in ...

Bob Tway Robert Raymond Tway IV (born May 4, 1959) is an American professional golfer. He has won numerous tournaments including eight PGA Tour victories. He spent 25 weeks in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking in 1986–87. Early life Tway wa ...

* Jean van de Velde * Grant Waite *

Mark Wiebe Mark Charles Wiebe (born September 13, 1957) is an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour, Nationwide Tour and PGA Tour Champions. Early life Wiebe was born in Seaside, Oregon and grew up in Escondido, California. He attended ...

* Jay Williamson 3. Winners of the Players Championship, Masters Tournament, U.S. Open, British Open, and PGA Championship in the last ten years (1990–1999) *

Ben Crenshaw Ben Daniel Crenshaw (born January 11, 1952) is a retired American professional golfer who has won 19 events on the PGA Tour, including two major championships: the Masters Tournament in 1984 and 1995. He is nicknamed '' Gentle Ben''. Early lif ...

* John Daly *

Nick Faldo Sir Nicholas Alexander Faldo (born 18 July 1957) is an English retired professional golfer and television commentator. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, he was renowned for his dedication to the game, and was ranked No. ...

Tom Kite Thomas Oliver Kite Jr. (born December 9, 1949) is an American professional golfer and golf course architect. He won the U.S. Open in 1992 and spent 175 weeks in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Ranking between 1989 and 1994. Early life a ...

Bernhard Langer Bernhard Langer (; born 27 August 1957) is a German professional golfer. He is a two-time Masters champion and was one of the world's leading golfers throughout the 1980s and 1990s. In 1986, he became the sport's first number one ranked playe ...

* Paul Lawrie * Corey Pavin * Ian Woosnam 4. Winners of the NEC World Series of Golf from 1990–1998 * Fulton Allem * Tom Purtzer 5. Winners of the Tour Championship in the last three years, beginning with the 1998 winner 6. Winners of official money World Golf Championship events in the last three years (1998–2000) *

Darren Clarke Darren Christopher Clarke (born 14 August 1968) is a professional golfer from Northern Ireland who currently plays on the PGA Tour Champions and has previously played on the European Tour and PGA Tour. He has won 21 tournaments worldwide on ...

7. Any player(s), not otherwise eligible, among the top 50 leaders from the Official World Golf Ranking through the Bay Hill Invitational *

Thomas Bjørn Thomas Bjørn (born 18 February 1971) is a Danish professional golfer who plays on the European Tour. He is the most successful Danish golfer to have played the game having won fifteen tournaments worldwide on the European Tour. In 1997 he also b ...

Ángel Cabrera Ángel Leopoldo Cabrera (; born 12 September 1969) is an Argentine professional golfer who has played on both the European Tour and PGA Tour. He is known affectionately as ''"El Pato"'' in Spanish ''("The Duck")'' for his waddling gait. He is a ...

Michael Campbell Michael Shane Campbell (born 23 February 1969) is a New Zealand professional golfer who is best known for having won the 2005 U.S. Open and, at the time, the richest prize in golf, the £1,000,000 HSBC World Match Play Championship, in the ...

Retief Goosen Retief Goosen (born 3 February 1969) is a South African professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour Champions. He has won two U.S. Opens, in 2001 and 2004, headed the European Tour Order of Merit in 2001 and 2002, and was in the top ten of t ...

Pádraig Harrington Pádraig Peter Harrington (born 31 August 1971) is an Irish professional golfer who plays on the European Tour, PGA Tour and the PGA Tour Champions. He has won three men's major golf championships, major championships: The Open Championship in 2 ...

Miguel Ángel Jiménez Miguel Ángel Jiménez Rodríguez (born 5 January 1964) is a Spanish professional golfer. He has won 21 times on the European Tour, holds the records for the most starts on the European Tour and being the first player over 50 to win on the Euro ...

Colin Montgomerie Colin Stuart Montgomerie (born 23 June 1963) is a Scottish professional golfer. He has won a record eight European Tour PGA European Tour#Order of Merit winners, Order of Merit titles, including a streak of seven consecutive ones from 1993 to 1 ...

José María Olazábal José María Olazábal Manterola (, ; born 5 February 1966) is a Spanish Basques, Basque professional golfer from the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country, who has enjoyed success on both the European Tour and the PGA Tour, and has wo ...

* Eduardo Romero *

Lee Westwood Lee John Westwood (born 24 April 1973) is an English professional golfer. He is one of the few golfers who has won tournaments on five continents – Europe, North America, Asia, Africa and Oceania – including victories on the European Tour an ...

8. Any player(s), not otherwise eligible, who are among the top 10 money-winners from the 2001 Official Money List below 10th position through the Bay Hill Invitational 9. To complete a field of 144 players, those players, not otherwise eligible, from the 2001 Official Money List below 10th position through the Bay Hill Invitational, in order of their positions on the money list 10. The Players Championship Committee may invite a player(s), not otherwise eligible, who is a current inductee of the World Golf Hall of Fame. (Such player(s) would be added to the list.) Source:

Round summaries

First round

''Thursday, March 22, 2001'' Source:

Second round

''Friday, March 23, 2001'' Source:

Third round

''Saturday, March 24, 2001'' Source:

Final round

''Sunday, March 25, 2001''
''Monday, March 26, 2001''

Scorecard

''Final round'' ''Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par'' Source:

References

External links

The Players Championship websiteFull Leaderboard
{{DEFAULTSORT:Players Championship

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

2001 in golf 2001 in American sports 2001 in sports in Florida March 2001 sports events in the United States