1998 Players Championship

The 1998 Players Championship was a golf tournament in Florida on the PGA Tour, held March 26–29 at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, southeast of Jacksonville. It was the 25th Players Championship.

Tournament summary
Defending champion Steve Elkington withdrew on Monday night, citing complications after sinus surgery. He was the first defending champion that did not compete since Jerry Pate in 1983. In addition, Greg Norman, the 1994 champion, withdrew prior to the first round with a shoulder injury.

Lee Janzen, who won the tournament three years previous, held the lead after third round. However, he shot a final round 79 and fell to eighteenth. Journeyman Len Mattiace took advantage, surging into the lead. However, he scored a quintuple-bogey at the par-3 17th hole to end his chances. He birdied the final hole though to finish in the top five. Five strokes back, Justin Leonard shot a final round 67 to win at 278 (−10), two ahead of runners-up Glen Day and Tom Lehman.

Venue
This was the seventeenth Players Championship held at the TPC at Sawgrass Stadium Course; it was extended this year to 6950 yd, an increase of 54 yd.

Field
1. All winners of PGA Tour events awarding official money and official victory status in the preceding 12 months, concluding with the Bay Hill Invitational and dating from the 1997 Players Championship


 * Phil Blackmar
 * Michael Bradley
 * Mark Calcavecchia
 * Stewart Cink
 * Fred Couples
 * David Duval
 * Ernie Els
 * Brad Faxon
 * David Frost
 * Tim Herron
 * Gabriel Hjertstedt
 * Scott Hoch
 * John Huston
 * Steve Jones
 * Justin Leonard
 * Davis Love III
 * Billy Mayfair
 * Scott McCarron
 * Phil Mickelson
 * Frank Nobilo
 * Jesper Parnevik
 * Nick Price
 * Billy Ray Brown
 * Loren Roberts
 * Scott Simpson
 * Vijay Singh
 * David Toms
 * Tiger Woods

2. The top 125 PGA Tour players from the final 1997 Official Money List


 * John Adams
 * Fulton Allem
 * Billy Andrade
 * Stuart Appleby
 * Paul Azinger
 * Doug Barron
 * Ronnie Black
 * Guy Boros
 * Mike Brisky
 * Mark Brooks
 * Olin Browne
 * Tom Byrum
 * Jim Carter
 * Brandel Chamblee
 * Michael Christie
 * Darren Clarke
 * Lennie Clements
 * Russ Cochran
 * John Cook
 * Robert Damron
 * Glen Day
 * Jay Don Blake
 * Joe Durant
 * David Edwards
 * Bob Estes
 * Brad Fabel
 * Nick Faldo
 * Rick Fehr
 * Dan Forsman
 * Fred Funk
 * Jim Furyk
 * Robert Gamez
 * Brent Geiberger
 * Kelly Gibson
 * Paul Goydos
 * Scott Gump
 * Jay Haas
 * Donnie Hammond
 * Dudley Hart
 * Nolan Henke
 * Brian Henninger
 * P. H. Horgan III
 * Mike Hulbert
 * Lee Janzen
 * Pete Jordan
 * Jerry Kelly
 * Skip Kendall
 * Tom Kite
 * Neal Lancaster
 * Tom Lehman
 * Frank Lickliter
 * Steve Lowery
 * Andrew Magee
 * Jeff Maggert
 * Doug Martin
 * Len Mattiace
 * Rocco Mediate
 * Larry Mize
 * Colin Montgomerie
 * Larry Nelson
 * David Ogrin
 * Mark O'Meara
 * Joe Ozaki
 * Craig Parry
 * Steve Pate
 * Chris Perry
 * Kenny Perry
 * Don Pooley
 * Mike Reid
 * Lee Rinker
 * Larry Rinker
 * Clarence Rose
 * Joey Sindelar
 * Jeff Sluman
 * Mike Springer
 * Craig Stadler
 * Mike Standly
 * Paul Stankowski
 * Payne Stewart
 * David Sutherland
 * Kevin Sutherland
 * Hal Sutton
 * Phil Tataurangi
 * Tommy Tolles
 * Kirk Triplett
 * Ted Tryba
 * Bob Tway
 * Omar Uresti
 * Grant Waite
 * Duffy Waldorf
 * Tom Watson
 * Mark Wiebe
 * Willie Wood

3. Winners in the last 10 calendar years of The Players Championship, Masters Tournament, U.S. Open, PGA Championship, and NEC World Series of Golf


 * Ben Crenshaw
 * John Daly
 * Wayne Grady
 * Bernhard Langer
 * Sandy Lyle
 * José María Olazábal
 * Mark McCumber
 * Corey Pavin
 * Tom Purtzer
 * Curtis Strange
 * Ian Woosnam

4. British Open winners since 1990

5. Up to eight players, not otherwise eligible, designated by The Players Championship Committee as "special selections"


 * Retief Goosen
 * Per-Ulrik Johansson
 * Shigeki Maruyama
 * Masashi Ozaki
 * Costantino Rocca
 * Lee Westwood

6. Any players, not otherwise eligible, who are among the top 10 money winners from the 1998 Official Money List through the Bay Hill Invitational

7. To complete a field of 144 players, those players in order, not otherwise eligible, from the 1998 Official Money List through the Bay Hill Invitational


 * Stephen Ames
 * Tommy Armour III
 * Trevor Dodds
 * Bruce Lietzke
 * Steve Stricker
 * Scott Verplank

Source:

First round
Thursday, March 26, 1998 Source:

Second round
Friday, March 27, 1998 Source:

Third round
Saturday, March 28, 1998 Source:

Final round
Sunday, March 29, 1998 Source: