Aussie history at The Players Championship

By 1980, The Players Championship was no longer a newcomer to the golf scene.

Started in 1974 by then PGA Tour Commissioner Deane Beman at Atlanta Country Club in Georgia, The Players Championship rotated to various courses throughout the U.S., before finally moving permanently to the enclave of Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., in 1977, a city outside Jacksonville where the PGA Tour would eventually move its headquarters. Sawgrass Country Club hosted the event from 1977 to 1981, so in the final year the Tour contested the tournament at the seaside golf course, Aussie players Jack Newton, Bruce Devlin, David Graham and Bob Shearer all teed it up in the tournament but none made it to the weekend. It was the first time in Players history that an Australian had not played 72 holes in what had become the PGA Tour’s flagship event.

In 1998, that dubious history repeated itself. Stuart Appleby, Craig Parry and Wayne Grady didn’t play well at TPC Sawgrass, the tournament’s home since 1982, and they, too, sat on the sidelines on the weekend. In every other year of the tournament’s 43-year history, Australians have made the cut, many playing well and some—we’re looking at you Steve Elkington, Greg Norman, Adam Scott and Jason Day—winning the tournament.

This month, another group of Australians will try to join that quartet, etching their names in history as Australians who have won The Players Championship, a tournament contested on an iconic golf course. Here’s a look at the best finish, by year, of Australians in The Players Championship.

Story submitted via the PGA Tour

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