This is because of the characteristics it shares with the majors, such as the high class field, challenging course conditions, and its large purse.

The field consists of 144 players consisting of the following criteria: The Players Championship was conceived by the PGA Tour commissioner Deane Beman; the inaugural event in 1974 was played at Atlanta Country Club in Marietta, Georgia, concluding on Labor Day weekend in early September.

[12][2] In 1976 the PGA Tour agreed a multi-year deal to play the event up the coast at Sawgrass Country Club in Ponte Vedra Beach in mid-March, beginning in 1977.

For the first thirty years at Ponte Vedra Beach, the championship was played in mid- to late March, several weeks before The Masters.

This restructuring involved the introduction of the lucrative FedEx Cup, which concludes with The Tour Championship.

[18] With the rearrangement of 2007, the final round of The Players Championship was usually on the second Sunday of May, Mother's Day in the United States.

The format was changed to a three-hole aggregate in 2014, similar to the PGA Championship, played over the final three holes, in order.

Since moving to TPC Sawgrass in 1982, five players have won twice, but the shortest span between victories is six years (Steve Elkington: 1991, 1997).