The 1996 Players Championship was a golf tournament in Florida on the PGA Tour, held at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, southeast of Jacksonville. It was the 23rd Players Championship.
Tournament summary Fred Couples shot a final round 64 to win his second Players, four strokes ahead of runners-up Colin Montgomerie and Tommy Tolles, the 54-hole leader. Couples' previous win was twelve years earlier in 1984.
Defending champion Lee Janzen finished thirteen strokes back, in a tie for 46th place.
Venue
This was the fifteenth Players Championship held at the TPC at Sawgrass Stadium Course, and it remained at .
Eligibility requirements The top 125 PGA Tour members from the final 1995 Official Money List.
Greg Norman, Billy Mayfair, Lee Janzen, Corey Pavin, Steve Elkington, Davis Love III, Peter Jacobsen, Jim Gallagher Jr., Vijay Singh, Mark O'Meara, David Duval, Payne Stewart, Mark Calcavecchia, Ernie Els, Tom Lehman, Jay Haas, Scott Simpson, Scott Hoch, Nick Faldo, Bob Tway, Kenny Perry, Justin Leonard, Ben Crenshaw, Woody Austin, Brad Bryant, Fred Funk, Loren Roberts, Phil Mickelson, Kirk Triplett, Nick Price, Jeff Sluman, Hal Sutton, Jim Furyk, Jeff Maggert, Duffy Waldorf, Steve Lowery, Ted Tryba, Steve Stricker, Bob Estes, John Morse, Bill Glasson, Jim McGovern, Mark McCumber, Mark Brooks, Curtis Strange, David Frost, Lennie Clements, Mike Heinen, Colin Montgomerie, Jay Don Blake, Scott Verplank, Brett Ogle, John Daly, Tom Watson, Bob Lohr, Gene Sauers, Mike Hulbert, Guy Boros, Fred Couples, John Huston, Craig Parry, Joe Ozaki, Larry Mize, Robin Freeman, Billy Andrade, Bruce Lietzke, Andrew Magee, Gil Morgan, John Adams, Brian Claar, Grant Waite, Blaine McCallister, Nolan Henke, Steve Jones, Jay Delsing, Doug Martin, Don Pooley, David Edwards, Jesper Parnevik, Michael Bradley, Brandel Chamblee, Dillard Pruitt, Robert Gamez, Joey Sindelar, Dan Forsman, Jonathan Kaye, Hale Irwin, Lee Rinker, John Cook, Scott Gump, Paul Azinger, Neal Lancaster, Jim Carter, Charlie Rymer, Tom Kite, Curt Byrum, Ken Green, Kelly Gibson, Fuzzy Zoeller, Chip Beck, Mark Wiebe, Mike Sullivan, Brian Henninger, Bobby Wadkins, Tommy Tolles, Dan Pohl, Brian Kamm, Patrick Burke, John Mahaffey, Phil Blackmar, Ed Dougherty, David Ogrin, Dave Stockton Jr., John Wilson, Rick Fehr, Joe Acosta Jr., Scott McCarron, Paul Goydos, Keith Fergus
All winners of PGA Tour events awarding official money and official victory status in the preceding 12 months, concluding with the Freeport-McDermott Classic and dating from the 1995 Players Championship.
Craig Stadler
Winners in the last 10 calendar years of The Players Championship, Masters Tournament, U.S. Open, PGA Championship, and NEC World Series of Golf.
Sandy Lyle, Jeff Sluman, Ian Woosnam, Larry Nelson, Mike Reid, Tom Purtzer, Fulton Allem
British Open winners since 1990.
Ian Baker-Finch
Six players, not otherwise eligible, designated by The Players Championship Committee as "special selections."
Costantino Rocca, Masashi Ozaki, Sam Torrance, Robert Allenby, Michael Campbell, Frank Nobilo
Any players, not otherwise eligible, who are among the top-10 money-winners from the 1996 Official Money List through the Freeport-McDermott Classic.
Tim Herron
To complete a field of 144 players, those players in order, not otherwise eligible, from the 1996 Official Money List through the Freeport-McDermott Classic.
Omar Uresti, Tom Scherrer, Jerry Kelly, Marco Dawson, Joel Edwards, Rocco Mediate, Brad Fabel, Glen Day, David Toms, Mike Brisky, Lanny Wadkins
Source:
Round summaries First round Thursday, March 28, 1996 Friday, March 29, 1996 PlacePlayerScoreTo parT1 Justin Leonard 65 −7 Kenny Perry T3 Fred Couples 66 −6 Craig Parry Fuzzy Zoeller T6 Mark Calcavecchia 67 −5 David Frost Hale Irwin Corey Pavin Kirk Triplett Source:
Second round Friday, March 29, 1996 PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Tommy Tolles 69-64=133 −11 T2 Mark Calcavecchia 67-68=135 −9 Justin Leonard 65-70=135T4 David Duval 70-66=136 −8 Jay Haas 68-68=136 Kenny Perry 65-71=136 Fuzzy Zoeller 66-70=136T8 Chip Beck 68-69=137 −7 David Frost 67-70=137 Larry Mize 70-67=137 Source:
Third round Saturday, March 30, 1996 PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Tommy Tolles 69-64-69=202 −14 2 David Duval 70-66-68=204 −12 T3 Jay Haas 68-68-69=205 −11 Michael Bradley 72-67-66=205T5 Fred Couples 66-72-68=206 −10 Ernie Els 71-70-65=206 Fred Funk 70-69-67=206 Scott Gump 70-68-68=206 Colin Montgomerie 71-69-66=206 Kenny Perry 65-71-70=206 Vijay Singh 70-68-68=206 Source:
Final round Sunday, March 31, 1996 Champion(c) = past champion PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)1 Fred Couples (c) 66-72-68-64=270 −18 630,000T2 Colin Montgomerie 71-69-66-68=274 −14 308,000 Tommy Tolles 69-64-69-72=274T4 David Duval 70-66-68-71=275 −13 137,812 Rocco Mediate 74-69-66-66=275 Kenny Perry 65-71-70-69=275 Fuzzy Zoeller 66-70-72-67=275T8 Ernie Els 71-70-65-70=276 −12 94,500 Jay Haas 68-68-69-71=276 Tom Lehman 70-72-67-67=276 Vijay Singh 70-68-68-70=276 Grant Waite 68-72-68-68=276 Leaderboard below the top 10PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)T13 Fred Funk 70-69-67-71=277 −11 65,625 Jim Furyk 70-70-67-70=277 Larry Mize 70-67-71-69=277 Gil Morgan 70-69-69-69=277T17 Patrick Burke 72-71-69-66=278 −10 54,250 David Frost 67-70-72-69=278T19 Michael Bradley 72-67-66-74=279 −9 35,735 John Daly 68-70-69-72=279 Joel Edwards 71-67-71-70=279 Steve Elkington (c) 68-73-68-70=279 Wayne Grady 72-69-68-70=279 Scott Gump 70-68-68-73=279 Nolan Henke 71-68-68-72=279 Tim Herron 69-73-68-69=279 Scott Hoch 71-70-70-68=279 Kirk Triplett 67-72-73-67=279T29 Mark Calcavecchia 67-68-75-70=280 −8 23,275 Robert Gamez 68-73-70-69=280 Mark O'Meara 73-69-69-69=280 Masashi Ozaki 71-69-69-71=280T33 John Adams 71-69-71-70=281 −7 17,718 Jay Don Blake 74-68-68-71=281 Jim Carter 70-72-66-73=281 Marco Dawson 72-71-69-69=281 Steve Jones 70-69-69-73=281 Phil Mickelson 71-72-64-74=281 Loren Roberts 73-70-70-68=281 Tom Watson 72-68-69-72=281T41 Blaine McCallister 72-70-66-74=282 −6 12,950 Jeff Sluman 68-72-72-70=282 Craig Stadler 73-70-71-68=282 Payne Stewart 73-70-68-71=282 Bobby Wadkins 71-70-68-73=282T46 Hale Irwin 67-73-69-74=283 −5 9,360 Lee Janzen (c) 70-71-70-72=283 Davis Love III (c) 69-70-72-72=283 Steve Lowery 73-70-68-72=283 Corey Pavin 67-71-76-69=283 Nick Price (c) 70-69-73-71=283 Dillard Pruitt 71-71-71-70=283T53 Guy Boros 69-72-70-73=284 −4 7,990 Neal Lancaster 73-70-69-72=284 Jeff Maggert 70-70-77-67=284 Jesper Parnevik 69-70-72-73=284 Craig Parry 66-74-72-72=284 Gene Sauers 69-72-72-71=284 Hal Sutton (c) 72-69-73-70=284T60 Chip Beck 68-69-76-72=285 −3 7,665 Frank Nobilo 68-72-72-73=285T62 Larry Nelson 71-69-73-73=286 −2 7,490 Dan Pohl 72-70-73-71=286 Tom Purtzer 74-69-72-71=286T65 Justin Leonard 65-70-80-72=287 −1 7,315 Mike Reid 70-73-72-72=287T67 Woody Austin 72-71-72-73=288 E 7,105 Brian Kamm 68-74-71-75=288 Doug Martin 69-71-76-72=288 Don Pooley 69-73-74-72=288T71 Michael Campbell 70-73-69-77=289 +1 6,895 Mike Hulbert 73-70-73-73=289T73 Ben Crenshaw 70-73-71-76=290 +2 6,685 Jim Gallagher Jr. 71-70-76-73=290 Ken Green 71-71-74-74=290 John Morse 68-74-74-74=29077 Mark McCumber (c) 69-74-71-79=293 +5 6,510CUT Fulton Allem 73-71=144 E Paul Azinger 73-71=144 Mark Brooks 69-75=144 Curt Byrum 72-72=144 Brian Claar 72-72=144 Lennie Clements 75-69=144 John Cook 73-71=144 Dan Forsman 72-72=144 Bill Glasson 72-72=144 Peter Jacobsen 73-71=144 Tom Kite (c) 71-73=144 David Ogrin 74-70=144 Costantino Rocca 73-71=144 Tom Scherrer 70-74=144 Duffy Waldorf 68-76=144 John Wilson 73-71=144 Ian Woosnam 72-72=144 David Edwards 70-75=145 +1 Bob Estes 71-74=145 Nick Faldo 70-75=145 Mike Heinen 74-71=145 Bruce Lietzke 71-74=145 Andrew Magee 76-69=145 Dave Stockton Jr. 69-76=145 David Toms 73-72=145 Robert Allenby 75-71=146 +2 Billy Andrade 74-72=146 Glen Day 74-72=146 Jay Delsing 71-75=146 John Huston 72-74=146 Sandy Lyle (c) 76-70=146 John Mahaffey (c) 71-75=146 Greg Norman (c) 73-73=146 Naomichi Ozaki 72-74=146 Scott Simpson 70-76=146 Joey Sindelar 76-70=146 Bob Tway 72-74=146 Lanny Wadkins (c) 71-75=146 Joe Acosta Jr. 73-74=147 +3 Brad Bryant 76-71=147 Robin Freeman 79-68=147 Bob Lohr 76-71=147 Charlie Rymer 75-72=147 Steve Stricker 75-72=147 Brandel Chamblee 73-75=148 +4 Keith Fergus 73-75=148 Jerry Kelly 74-74=148 Omar Uresti 70-78=148 Mike Standly 72-77=149 +5 Curtis Strange 75-74=149 Mike Sullivan 73-76=149 Ian Baker-Finch 73-77=150 +6 Brad Fabel 75-75=150 Kelly Gibson 80-70=150 Paul Goydos 75-75=150 Brett Ogle 76-74=150 Lee Rinker 74-76=150 Sam Torrance 74-76=150 Mike Brisky 72-79=151 +7 Scott McCarron 75-76=151 Billy Mayfair 76-76=152 +8 Mark Wiebe 76-76=152 Phil Blackmar 73-80=153 +9 Rick Fehr 73-80=153 Brian Henninger 79-74=153 Jim McGovern 76-77=153 Ted Tryba 80-73=153WD Scott Verplank 78 +6 Ed Dougherty 81 +9
References
External links The Players Championship website