What is the largest winning score at The Players Championship?

During the early stages of every season, the golfing world converges at TPC Sawgrass for the unofficial fifth major: The Players Championship.

Across the past 49 tournaments, a slew of superstars have saluted on the final day after navigating island greens and the beating Florida sun.

However, only two of these champions finished on Sunday with scores over par.

Following an agreement with the PGA in 1976, the event moved up the coast from the Inverrary Country Club in Lauderhill, Florida to the Sawgrass Country Club in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida ahead of the 1977 tournament.

However, the shift in location failed to bring a positive uptick in performance, with Mark Hayes (1977 champion) and Jack 'The Golden Bear' Nicklaus (1977) both failing to finish under par, each saluting with a 1-over score of 289.

Yet, by the end of the decade and the start of the 1980s, the short trend would be reversed, with 1979 champion Lanny Wadkins (-5) and 1980 victor Lee Trevino (-10) each shooting sharply from Thursday through to Sunday.

Since Wadkins' victory in mid-March of 1979, every champion has finished under par, right through to Scottie Scheffler's -17 in 2023.