Players Championship 2023 results: Winner, final standings, purse distribution and more
The Players Championship has finished. Golf's fifth and unofficial major concluded after a flurry of golf over the weekend. There were a few huge surprises, both good and bad.
Scottie Scheffler took home the victory with a -17 performance, claiming the win by five full strokes. It was a dominant performance for the World No. 2 golfer. Here's how the standings shook out and more.
Scottie Scheffler wins Players Championship
Here's the final standing for the Players Championship:
- -17 Scottie Scheffler
- -12 Tyrrell Hatton
- -10 Viktor Hovland, Tom Hoge
- -9 Hideki Matsuyama
- -8 M.W Lee, Cameron Davis, Justin Rose, Sungjae Im, Mas Homa, David Lingmerth, Justin Suh
And here's how certain players came away financially:
- 1. $4,500,000
- 2. $2,725,000
- 3. $1,725,000
- 4. $1,225,000
- 5. $1,025,000
- 6. $906,250
- 7. $843,750
- 8. $781,250
- 9. $731,250
- 10. $681,250
- 11. $631,250
- 12. $581,250
- 13. $531,250
- 14. $481,250
- 15. $456,250
Scottie Scheffler dominated all weekend long, despite not having an overpowering start. Collin Morikawa, who started very strong, faded over the weekend. So did Chad Ramey, one of the early bright spots. Still, both ended with decent showings.
Rory McIlroy, on the other hand, had a very poor showing. The former World No. 1 had a chance to get back to the top spot on the leaderboard, but couldn't turn in a worthwhile performance.
In fact, he missed the cut for the final day, something that would have sounded impossible a few days ago. He was +5 when he was eliminated from the competition.
He said via The New York Post:
“I’d love to get back to being a golfer, yeah. Look, it’s been a busy couple of weeks. Honestly, it’s been a busy sort of six or eight months. But as I said at the start of the week, everything has sort of been announced now [about the new schedule] and the wheels have been put in motion, so it should obviously quiet down from here.’’
He plans on slowing down before the Masters and it's clear he needs something after a shocking performance.
Jon Rahm, another challenger for what will almost certainly be Scheffler's OWGR No. 1 ranking after the Players Championship, had to withdraw due to illness.
Jon Rahm has withdrawn from @THEPLAYERSChamp due to illness. https://t.co/hgYdt5HK1Y
That won't hurt him like McIlroy was hurt, but it also opens the door for a drop in standings. Either way, this event truly couldn't have gone much better for Scheffler, who further asserts himself as the best golfer in the world right now.
Scheffler had the largest margin of victory since 2008 in the Players Championship. He said via Yahoo! Sports:
“I got hot in the middle of the round and tried to put things away as quickly as I can. Gosh, it's fun.”
Scheffler probably had an excellent time. He never struggled throughout the weekend and had such a lead by the time it came to crunch time that he was able to cruise to victory.
The Players Championship is not a major championship, but winning it is still one of the most impressive feats in golf.