What are The Players playoff rules?

There have been five playoffs in the storied history of The Players. 

Raymond Floyd triumphed in the first ever playoff, defeating Barry Jaeckel and Curtis Strange in sudden death to lift one of the most prestigious titles on the PGA Tour back in 1981.

That was the year before The Players moved to TPC Sawgrass at Ponte Vedra Beach, which has remained the tournament’s home ever since.

A playoff takes place when there is more than one golfer on the same score at the summit of the leaderboard after 72 holes of regulation play.

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Sandy Lyle, KJ Choi, Sergio Garcia and Rickie Fowler have also won playoffs at TPC Sawgrass.

Fowler won the most recent sudden-death showdown at The Players in 2015, beating Garcia and Kevin Kisner to win his most prestigious tournament to date.

Over the years, the rules and format of playoffs at The Players have changed. Here is everything you need to know about the playoffs at The Players…

The Players playoff rules and format

The Players playoffs were sudden-death shootouts until 2013, starting on the iconic par-3 17th hole.

That changed in 2014, when The Players moved to a three-hole aggregate system, where the player who takes the least amount of shots in the three allocated holes is the champion.

The holes chosen are the final three – 16,17 and 18 – played in order. If a winner is not found, the players move back to the 17th for a shootout.

In 2015, Fowler won The Players on the sudden death hole after he tied is three hole playoff score with Kisner.

The Players Championship celebrates its 50th year in 2024, after Jack Nicklaus became the first winner of the tournament all the way back in 1974.

The winner of the showpiece tournament wins $4.5million.