1996 Players Championship

The 1996 Players Championship was a golf tournament in Florida on the PGA Tour, held March 28–31 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 6896 yd.

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:

First round
Thursday, March 28, 1996 Friday, March 29, 1996 Source:

Second round
Friday, March 29, 1996 Source:

Third round
Saturday, March 30, 1996 Source:

Final round
Sunday, March 31, 1996 Source: