The 2025 Players Championship is underway as Scottie Scheffler looks to defend his crown… again. Twelve months ago he made history by becoming the first player ever to win this prestigious tournament back to back. It was an incredible year for the man from New Jersey in 2024 and his victory at the iconic TPC Sawgrass was just one of many highlights.
This tournament, unofficially the fifth major, boasts prize money that is right up there with the big four events in the game. There is $25m up for grabs in 2025, with the winner set to take home $4.5m of that. The Players attracts a field as good as any event in golf too but over the years neither Jack Nicklaus, nor Tiger Woods, nor indeed anybody else, managed to defend their title at Sawgrass.
Now Scheffler, who won by a shot in 2024 and by a massive five strokes in 2023, has the chance of extending his record by making it a hat-trick of wins. But whilst the current world number one may be the only golfer ever to land this event in consecutive years, he is not the most successful player in its history. Let’s take a look at the elite group of golfers to have landed this massive event more than once.
Photo credit: isogood, Bigstock
Jack Nicklaus Leads the Way
| Year | Score (to Par) | Margon of Victory | Winnings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | 289 (+1) | 1 Stroke | $60,000 |
| 1976 | 269 (-19) | 3 Strokes | $60,000 |
| 1974 | 272 (-16) | 2 Strokes | $50,000 |
Despite this tournament only being inaugurated in 1974, 12 years after the Golden Bear won his first major, and after which he “only” won six more, it is Nicklaus who has won the Players more than any other player. His haul of three wins puts him one ahead of a group of six players, with just seven having landed it more than once and all but one of those hailing from the USA.
Nicklaus, who has won more majors than any player too, was certainly not over the hill in 1974 but it would probably be fair to say he was past his very peak. Probably the greatest player of all time, the Ohio-born ace won the Players in 1974, 1976 and 1978, also finishing tied fifth in 1977, the closest he came to landing consecutive titles.
For his first two wins, he beat J.C. Snead (nephew of Sam) into second, his first win notable because he overturned a three-shot deficit heading into the final round to win by two with a score of 16 under. Two years later he went even lower, his score of -19 being three better than Snead’s. His last victory in this contest was rather strange, with tough conditions seeing him need 20 shots more to play his four rounds, his one over, 289 aggregate enough for a single-shot victory over 1975 US Open champ Lou Graham.
Scheffler Most Recent to Two and Most Likely to Make Three
| Year | Score (to Par) | Margon of Victory | Winnings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 268 (-20) | 1 Stroke | $4,500,000 |
| 2023 | 271 (-17) | 5 Strokes | $4,500,000 |
As said, Scheffler won by five shots in 2023, seeing off Englishman Tyrell Hatton. Last year he did things the hard way, coming from five back with 18 holes left courtesy of a sensational closing round of 64. That took him to a brilliant score of -20 and was enough for a win by a single stroke.
The tournament in 2025 is the fifth time he has teed it up at the Players and he began the bid for a hat-trick well enough with an opening round of 69 to sit three off the lead. Of the players with more than one win in the tournament, he is the only one with a realistic chance of adding to his tally… though the next player we will consider may well disagree with that assessment.
Woods Wins Second Twelve Years On
| Year | Score (to Par) | Margon of Victory | Winnings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 275 (-13) | 2 Strokes | $1,710,000 |
| 2001 | 274 (-14) | 1 Stroke | $1,080,000 |
Tiger Woods is still doing his best to play but injuries, age, and off-course concerns have seriously dented the second half of his career. In reality, his chances of winning any pro event again are slim, let alone the Players.
Back when he won his first Players Championship title, in 2001, things were very different and he had the golfing world at his feet. He was playing pretty much the best golf of his career then and, quite possibly, the best that has ever been played, ever, by anyone, anywhere. He came into the event having won the previous three majors and would go on to complete the “Tiger Slam” shortly after by landing the Masters.
He is the only player in history to win four majors in a row and as well as holding all four of those titles simultaneously, he won the Players as well. When he beat Vijay Singh to claim his first Players title in 2001, few would have expected that he would have to wait 12 years to claim his second. That came in 2013, well after his fall from grace and the top of the game, but was part of his return to dominance. Most would have expected him to join Nicklaus on three wins in this tournament, but it wasn’t to be.
Delayed Second Win a Common Theme
Four other players have also won two times at TPC Sawgrass and three of those, like Woods, had a big gap between their first victories and their second. Let’s start with the one player who didn’t, who also happens to be the only non-American to have tasted glory multiple times at this lucrative event.
Steve Elkington
| Year | Score (to Par) | Margon of Victory | Winnings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 272 (-16) | 7 Strokes | $630,000 |
| 1991 | 276 (-12) | 1 Stroke | $288,000 |
Aussie Steve Elkington won in 1991 and 1997 (those two wins were the highlights of his career), alongside his solitary major win, which came in the 1995 US PGA Championship. Now 62 years old, Elkington reached a peak of number three in the world rankings, that coming not long after his second win at the Players.
Hal Sutton
| Year | Score (to Par) | Margon of Victory | Winnings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 278 (-10) | 1 Stroke | $1,080,000 |
| 1983 | 283 (-5) | 1 Stroke | $126,000 |
The golfer with the biggest gap between his two wins is Hal Sutton, who claimed his first win in 1983, overturning a four-shot disadvantage to win by one on the Sunday from Bob Eastwood. Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino and other greats of years gone by trailed in his wake back then. An amazing 17 years later, it was Woods who Sutton beat into second, a really surprising result. Sutton’s victory in 1983 was the first where the winner claimed a six-figure cheque, whilst his second saw the tournament’s first seven-figure winner’s prize.
Fred Couples
| Year | Score (to Par) | Margon of Victory | Winnings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 270 (-18) | 4 Strokes | $630,000 |
| 1984 | 277 (-11) | 1 Stroke | $144,000 |
A year after Sutton’s first win Fred Couples pipped Lee Trevino to claim his first win at this tournament. Twelve years later Boom Boom got the better of Colin Montgomerie and Tommy Tolles. Our final winner could not quite match that wait of a dozen years but had 11 between his first and second triumphs.
Davis Love III
| Year | Score (to Par) | Margon of Victory | Winnings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 271 (-17) | 6 Strokes | $1,170,000 |
| 1992 | 273 (-15) | 4 Strokes | $324,000 |
Davis Love III, like Couples, Sutton and Elkington, won just one major, but twice at Sawgrass. His first success came in 1992 and his second in 2003. Both times he shot at least 15 under par and both times he overturned a deficit of at least two shots to take glory.