A record number of European Tour Members will compete in the 2002 Players Championship at the TPC course at Sawgrass, Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, this week. Adam Scott, winner of the Qatar Masters in superb fashion at Doha Golf Club, took the total to 22 after moving up 12 places on the Official World Golf Ranking to Number 50 and so joins the world's elite in the strongest field of the season to date.
For the past two years, the Players Championship has not been completed until Monday morning. In 2000 Hal Sutton took the title after play had been suspended due to heavy rain and lightning.
Twelve months ago, history repeated itself as play was halted due to darkness following another Florida thunderstorm with 22 players still on the course. This time, Tiger Woods captured the title on Monday with a closing round of 67, edging out Fiji's Vijay Singh by a stroke.
For the second successive year, Woods comes into the event buoyed by victory in the Bay Hill Invitational - for the third year in a row - while several European Tour Members proved they are in outstanding form at Bay Hill.
No fewer than nine European Tour players finished in the top 20, led by New Zealand's Michael Campbell, who came runner-up, his highest finish in the United States, behind Woods. Others in the top 20 were José Maria Olazábal, Angel Cabrera, Ernie Els, Sergio Garcia, Peter Lonard, John Daly, Retief Goosen and Vijay Singh.
Sandy Lyle was the last European-born player to lift the prestigious title in 1987, when he beat Jeff Sluman at the third hole of a sudden-death play-off. Since then Nick Faldo, Bernhard Langer and Colin Montgomerie have all finished runners-up. Langer put in a top class performance last year, taking third place after a closing 67.
In 1996, Montgomerie came agonisingly close to victory when his nearest rival, Fred Couples, struck a sleeper guarding the 16th green and landed on the putting surface. From there, Couples holed his eagle putt and birdied the signature hole, the 17th, to deprive the Scot of his maiden victory on American soil. The 17th, at 137 yards, is one of the most famous and spectacular holes in world golf, with its island green which has become the nemesis of many a tournament leader down the years.
European Tour Members Competing In The 2002 Players Championship
Thomas Björn
Angel Cabrera
Michael Campbell
Darren Clarke
John Daly
Ernie Els
Nick Faldo
Niclas Fasth
Sergio Garcia
Retief Goosen
Padraig Harrington
Miguel Angel Jiménez
Per-Ulrik Johansson
Bernard Langer
Paul Lawrie
Paul McGinley
Colin Montgomerie
Greg Norman
José Maria Olazábal
Adam Scott
Vijay Singh
Lee Westwood
