Playoffs at The Players Championship: Format, Winners, Scores

The list of winners at The Players Championship goes back to the 1970s. How many times in that span has the so-called "fifth major" ended with a playoff? And what is the playoff format for this tournament?

So far in Players Championship history, there have been six playoffs. That is a surprisingly low number for a tournament that has been played more than 50 times. But let's start with the format.

What is the playoff format at The Players Championship? From its inaugural event in 1974 through the 2013 tournament, the playoff format for The Players Championship was sudden death (also known as hole-by-hole: first golfer to win a hole wins the playoff). In 2014, the format changed to a three-hole, aggregate-score format. The three holes that are played as part of any playoff are the 16th, 17th and 18th holes. If the golfers in the playoff are still tied after those three holes, the playoff reverts to sudden-death.

The List: Players Championship Playoffs

• 1981 — The first playoff in The Players Championship was also the last time the tournament was played somewhere other than TPC Sawgrass. Raymond Floyd won this sudden-death playoff over Curtis Strange and Barry Jaeckel on the first playoff hole at Sawgrass Country Club.
• 1987 — Sandy Lyle won the first playoff that took place at TPC Sawgrass. He beat Jeff Sluman on the third sudden-death hole.
• 2008 — On the first sudden-death hole, which was the island green No. 17, Paul Goydos hit into the water, giving Sergio Garcia the victory.
• 2011 — The last playoff using the sudden-death format. K.J. Choi defeated David Toms on the first extra hole.
• 2015 — This was the first three-hole aggregate playoff at The Players Championship, but it had to continue into sudden-death. Rickie Fowler and Kevin Kisner finished the three holes still tied at 1-under par. The third man in the playoff, Sergio Garcia, was at even-par and knocked out after the three holes. Fowler and Kisner continued into sudden death, and Fowler birdied that first additional hole (fourth hole overall) to win.
• 2025 — Rory McIlroy and J.J. Spaun faced off in this playoff, which was held over until Monday morning due to weather delays Thursday-Sunday. McIlroy won the playoff, scoring 4-4-5 (birdie-bogey-bogey). Spaun picked up on the final playoff hole after making par-double bogey (he hit into the water on No. 17).