The Players Championship: Winners

Since the legendary Jack Nicklaus won the very first Players Championship in 1974, the event has been clinched by the top-ranked players in the world of golf.

Names like Lee Trevino, Fred Couples, Davis Love III, and, of course, the out and out leader of the golfing fraternity today, the awesome Tiger Woods, litter the list of winners with regularity.

What is also remarkable is that so few players from outside the States have been successful at Ponte Vedra Beach. Is it home ground advantage, or is it merely an indication of the dominance of American golfers in the world today?

One possible reason is that the Players Championship is not an official event of the European Tour, but it could also simply be that the event coincides with another similar tournament of the European Tour. In 2008 the Italian Open runs at exactly the same time at the Players Championship.

What is surprising is that the current world number one, Tiger Woods, has only won the title of Players Championship winner at Ponte Vedra Beach on one occasion, and that was way back in 2001 when he was still learning his trade.

His outing at the Players Championship in 2007 was a real shocker for a man of his stature. He shot a 3-over par 75 in the first round, missing birdies for the first time in four years. He almost missed the cut, and his Saturday round of 1-over 73 insured that he was out of contention for the rest of the tournament. He did manage to salvage a bit of pride though, with his final round score of 5-under par 67. Even the giants of the game seem to lose it at Sawgrass!

It will interesting to see whether defending champion and the current world number two, Phil Mickelson will be able to claim a consecutive title in 2008.

He has been playing some of his finest golf of recent years, claiming a further two wins in 2007 – the AT & T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, and the coveted Deutsche Bank Championship, the second play-off event of the new FedEx Cup competition - he showed his pedigree by beating Tiger Woods by two strokes.

Whatever the outcome at the Players Championship in 2008 the Stadium Course at the TPC Sawgrass will surely frustrate the golfers and entertain the fans, and it will be really interesting to see how many balls land up in the water at the infamous 17th – the Island Green!

Why not try and anticipate the winner of the Players Championship 2008? Take a look at our Players Championship Betting Guide and Betting odds page, then simply go online and place your bet!

The Players Championship: Winners

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