# 2016 Players Championship

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.

## Venue

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

### Course layout

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 |

## Field

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.

### 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

### 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

## Round summaries
### First round

Thursday, May 12, 2016
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
| 1 | Jason Day | 63 | −9 |
| T2 | Bill Haas | 65 | −7 |
| T2 | Shane Lowry | 65 | −7 |
| T2 | Justin Rose | 65 | −7 |
| T2 | Brendan Steele | 65 | −7 |
| T2 | Cameron Tringale | 65 | −7 |
| T7 | Daniel Berger | 66 | −6 |
| T7 | Ernie Els | 66 | −6 |
| T7 | Brooks Koepka | 66 | −6 |
| T7 | Francesco Molinari | 66 | −6 |
| T7 | Hudson Swafford | 66 | −6 |
| T7 | Boo Weekley | 66 | −6 |

### Second round

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 |
| T3 | Alex Čejka | 67-67=134 | −10 |
| T3 | Cameron Tringale | 65-69=134 | −10 |
| T6 | Jerry Kelly | 67-68=135 | −9 |
| T6 | Colt Knost | 72-63=135 | −9 |
| T6 | Russell Knox | 68-67=135 | −9 |
| T6 | Francesco Molinari | 66-69=135 | −9 |
| T6 | Boo Weekley | 66-69=135 | −9 |
| T6 | Gary Woodland | 67-68=135 | −9 |

### Third round

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 |
| T2 | Ken Duke | 74-67-65=206 | −10 |
| T2 | Hideki Matsuyama | 68-71-67=206 | −10 |
| 5 | Francesco Molinari | 66-69-72=207 | −9 |
| T6 | Kevin Chappell | 71-67-70=208 | −8 |
| T6 | Retief Goosen | 70-68-70=208 | −8 |
| T8 | Jonas Blixt | 67-67-75=209 | −7 |
| T8 | Colt Knost | 72-63-74=209 | −7 |
| T8 | Cameron Tringale | 65-69-75=209 | −7 |

### Final round

Sunday, May 15, 2016
* Champion
* (c) = past champion
| Place | Player | Score | To par | Money ($) |
| 1 | Jason Day | 63-66-73-71=273 | −15 | 1,890,000 |
| 2 | Kevin Chappell | 71-67-70-69=277 | −11 | 1,134,000 |
| T3 | Ken Duke | 74-67-65-72=278 | −10 | 504,000 |
| T3 | Colt Knost | 72-63-74-69=278 | −10 | 504,000 |
| T3 | Matt Kuchar (c) | 71-67-72-68=278 | −10 | 504,000 |
| T3 | Justin Thomas | 70-68-75-65=278 | −10 | 504,000 |
| T7 | Hideki Matsuyama | 68-71-67-73=279 | −9 | 338,625 |
| T7 | Francesco Molinari | 66-69-72-72=279 | −9 | 338,625 |
| T9 | Daniel Berger | 66-72-73-69=280 | −8 | 283,500 |
| T9 | Alex Čejka | 67-67-72-74=280 | −8 | 283,500 |
| T9 | Graeme McDowell | 72-70-69-69=280 | −8 | 283,500 |
Leaderboard below the top 10 :
| Place | Player | Score | To par | Money ($) |
| T12 | Retief Goosen | 70-68-70-73=281 | −7 | 212,625 |
| T12 | Rory McIlroy | 72-64-75-70=281 | −7 | 212,625 |
| T12 | Bryce Molder | 70-68-72-71=281 | −7 | 212,625 |
| T12 | Adam Scott (c) | 73-65-75-68=281 | −7 | 212,625 |
| T16 | Shane Lowry | 65-68-78-71=282 | −6 | 168,000 |
| T16 | Cameron Tringale | 65-69-75-73=282 | −6 | 168,000 |
| T16 | Boo Weekley | 66-69-78-69=282 | −6 | 168,000 |
| T19 | Jonas Blixt | 67-67-75-74=283 | −5 | 131,775 |
| T19 | Jerry Kelly | 67-68-77-71=283 | −5 | 131,775 |
| T19 | Russell Knox | 68-67-80-68=283 | −5 | 131,775 |
| T19 | Justin Rose | 65-74-78-66=283 | −5 | 131,775 |
| T23 | Paul Casey | 68-72-76-68=284 | −4 | 93,450 |
| T23 | Kim Si-woo | 68-70-72-74=284 | −4 | 93,450 |
| T23 | Ryan Palmer | 67-70-75-72=284 | −4 | 93,450 |
| T23 | Scott Piercy | 70-68-75-71=284 | −4 | 93,450 |
| T23 | Daniel Summerhays | 69-71-71-73=284 | −4 | 93,450 |
| T28 | David Hearn | 71-71-72-71=285 | −3 | 68,325 |
| T28 | J. J. Henry | 70-69-74-72=285 | −3 | 68,325 |
| T28 | Billy Horschel | 68-70-75-72=285 | −3 | 68,325 |
| T28 | Dustin Johnson | 70-70-77-68=285 | −3 | 68,325 |
| T28 | Louis Oosthuizen | 72-67-74-72=285 | −3 | 68,325 |
| T28 | Vijay Singh | 70-70-73-72=285 | −3 | 68,325 |
| T28 | Gary Woodland | 67-68-76-74=285 | −3 | 68,325 |
| T35 | Keegan Bradley | 72-67-76-71=286 | −2 | 52,893 |
| T35 | Jim Furyk | 71-70-75-70=286 | −2 | 52,893 |
| T35 | Brooks Koepka | 66-70-77-73=286 | −2 | 52,893 |
| T35 | Danny Lee | 67-71-72-76=286 | −2 | 52,893 |
| T39 | Chad Campbell | 68-71-78-70=287 | −1 | 44,100 |
| T39 | Jon Curran | 70-71-79-67=287 | −1 | 44,100 |
| T39 | Adam Hadwin | 70-70-74-73=287 | −1 | 44,100 |
| T39 | Martin Kaymer (c) | 68-72-76-71=287 | −1 | 44,100 |
| T43 | K. J. Choi (c) | 73-68-73-74=288 | E | 33,670 |
| T43 | Bill Haas | 65-73-77-73=288 | E | 33,670 |
| T43 | James Hahn | 67-73-79-69=288 | E | 33,670 |
| T43 | Søren Kjeldsen | 72-70-74-72=288 | E | 33,670 |
| T43 | William McGirt | 72-65-76-75=288 | E | 33,670 |
| T43 | Bubba Watson | 69-71-74-74=288 | E | 33,670 |
| T49 | Zac Blair | 71-70-73-75=289 | +1 | 25,914 |
| T49 | Jason Dufner | 70-66-80-73=289 | +1 | 25,914 |
| T49 | Morgan Hoffmann | 69-73-75-72=289 | +1 | 25,914 |
| T49 | Freddie Jacobson | 70-69-78-72=289 | +1 | 25,914 |
| T49 | Bernd Wiesberger | 71-67-78-73=289 | +1 | 25,914 |
| T54 | Sergio García (c) | 72-66-77-75=290 | +2 | 24,150 |
| T54 | Brian Harman | 69-70-77-74=290 | +2 | 24,150 |
| T54 | Zach Johnson | 67-69-80-74=290 | +2 | 24,150 |
| T57 | Brendon de Jonge | 71-67-76-77=291 | +3 | 23,100 |
| T57 | Branden Grace | 72-70-78-71=291 | +3 | 23,100 |
| T57 | Ian Poulter | 69-68-79-75=291 | +3 | 23,100 |
| T57 | Brendan Steele | 65-76-74-76=291 | +3 | 23,100 |
| T57 | Hudson Swafford | 66-73-77-75=291 | +3 | 23,100 |
| T57 | Harold Varner III | 73-66-78-74=291 | +3 | 23,100 |
| T57 | Jhonattan Vegas | 67-71-79-74=291 | +3 | 23,100 |
| T64 | Ernie Els | 66-73-78-75=292 | +4 | 21,735 |
| T64 | Marc Leishman | 70-72-75-75=292 | +4 | 21,735 |
| T64 | Jamie Lovemark | 71-71-79-71=292 | +4 | 21,735 |
| T64 | Sean O'Hair | 70-67-76-79=292 | +4 | 21,735 |
| T64 | Kyle Reifers | 71-70-76-75=292 | +4 | 21,735 |
| T64 | Johnson Wagner | 70-71-77-74=292 | +4 | 21,735 |
| 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 |
| T72 | Will Wilcox | 68-71-82-74=295 | +7 | 20,475 |
| T74 | Fabián Gómez | 73-69-79-75=296 | +8 | 20,055 |
| T74 | Kevin Streelman | 72-70-80-74=296 | +8 | 20,055 |
| 76 | Patton Kizzire | 71-70-82-77=300 | +12 | 19,740 |
| CUT | An Byeong-hun | 75-68=143 | −1 | |
| CUT | Rafa Cabrera-Bello | 72-71=143 | −1 | |
| CUT | Matt Fitzpatrick | 69-74=143 | −1 | |
| CUT | Rickie Fowler (c) | 72-71=143 | −1 | |
| CUT | Charley Hoffman | 73-70=143 | −1 | |
| CUT | J. B. Holmes | 70-73=143 | −1 | |
| CUT | David Lingmerth | 71-72=143 | −1 | |
| CUT | Davis Love III (c) | 71-72=143 | −1 | |
| CUT | George McNeill | 70-73=143 | −1 | |
| CUT | Phil Mickelson (c) | 70-73=143 | −1 | |
| CUT | Kevin Na | 73-70=143 | −1 | |
| CUT | Carl Pettersson | 68-75=143 | −1 | |
| CUT | Patrick Reed | 71-72=143 | −1 | |
| CUT | Jordan Spieth | 72-71=143 | −1 | |
| CUT | Vaughn Taylor | 71-72=143 | −1 | |
| CUT | Danny Willett | 70-73=143 | −1 | |
| CUT | Kiradech Aphibarnrat | 75-69=144 | E | |
| CUT | Aaron Baddeley | 69-75=144 | E | |
| CUT | Luke Donald | 70-74=144 | E | |
| CUT | Martin Laird | 71-73=144 | E | |
| CUT | Bernhard Langer | 72-72=144 | E | |
| CUT | Greg Owen | 69-75=144 | E | |
| CUT | Chez Reavie | 73-71=144 | E | |
| CUT | John Senden | 75-69=144 | E | |
| CUT | Brian Stuard | 71-73=144 | E | |
| CUT | Scott Brown | 73-72=145 | +1 | |
| CUT | Harris English | 75-70=145 | +1 | |
| CUT | Andres Gonzales | 75-70=145 | +1 | |
| CUT | Kevin Kisner | 74-71=145 | +1 | |
| CUT | Ryan Moore | 70-75=145 | +1 | |
| CUT | Robert Streb | 71-74=145 | +1 | |
| CUT | Brendon Todd | 73-72=145 | +1 | |
| CUT | Mark Wilson | 74-71=145 | +1 | |
| CUT | Ricky Barnes | 72-74=146 | +2 | |
| CUT | Emiliano Grillo | 71-75=146 | +2 | |
| CUT | Pádraig Harrington | 72-74=146 | +2 | |
| CUT | Hunter Mahan | 77-69=146 | +2 | |
| CUT | Jeff Overton | 73-73=146 | +2 | |
| CUT | Nick Taylor | 67-79=146 | +2 | |
| CUT | Graham DeLaet | 70-77=147 | +3 | |
| CUT | Tony Finau | 72-75=147 | +3 | |
| CUT | Jason Gore | 72-75=147 | +3 | |
| CUT | Russell Henley | 74-73=147 | +3 | |
| CUT | Charles Howell III | 72-75=147 | +3 | |
| CUT | Smylie Kaufman | 72-75=147 | +3 | |
| CUT | Spencer Levin | 76-71=147 | +3 | |
| CUT | Troy Merritt | 73-74=147 | +3 | |
| CUT | Scott Pinckney | 74-73=147 | +3 | |
| CUT | Patrick Rodgers | 73-74=147 | +3 | |
| CUT | Brandt Snedeker | 71-76=147 | +3 | |
| CUT | Chad Collins | 75-73=148 | +4 | |
| CUT | Erik Compton | 77-71=148 | +4 | |
| CUT | Chesson Hadley | 78-70=148 | +4 | |
| CUT | Carlos Ortiz | 77-72=149 | +5 | |
| CUT | Henrik Stenson (c) | 77-73=150 | +6 | |
| CUT | Andy Sullivan | 77-73=150 | +6 | |
| CUT | Jason Bohn | 74-77=151 | +7 | |
| CUT | Matt Every | 73-78=151 | +7 | |
| CUT | Jim Herman | 75-76=151 | +7 | |
| CUT | Peter Malnati | 77-74=151 | +7 | |
| CUT | Matt Jones | 78-74=152 | +8 | |
| CUT | Ben Martin | 75-77=152 | +8 | |
| CUT | Steven Bowditch | 80-73=153 | +9 | |
| CUT | John Huh | 77-76=153 | +9 | |
| CUT | Jimmy Walker | 71-82=153 | +9 | |
| WD | Chris Kirk | 73 | +1 | |
| WD | Jason Kokrak | 73 | +1 | |
| WD | Chris Stroud | 75 | +3 | |
Source:

#### Scorecard

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: