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Country: gb Page generated at: Saturday, 25 April 2026 at 16:44:00 British Summer Time
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The Players
What makes the Players Championship so special?

published: Mar 14, 2019

|

updated: Mar 5, 2024

What makes the Players Championship so special?

Steve CarrollLink

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In a Players special edition episode of A Life in Golf, Steve Carroll went behind the scenes at TPC Sawgrass to find out why it’s considered the fifth major

players championship

The Players Championship has become such a big draw over the decades it’s inevitably drawn into comparisons about whether it should be admitted into the exclusive major club.

It’s also made a star of its course, the iconic TPC Sawgrass with its exciting finish always providing drama every year.

Now, as the PGA Tour‘s flagship tournament takes centre stage again, we gathered together some of the key figures at Ponte Vedra Beach to explain just what makes the tournament so magical.

  • Want more from Sawgrass? Visit our Players website here

How would you like to be at next year’s Players Championship?

The NCG Top 100s Tour is back and bigger than ever – and the grand prize is a VIP trip to TPC Sawgrass for the 2022 Players Championship.

  • Click here for details of how to enter

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About the author

Steve Carroll
Steve Carroll

A journalist for more than 25 years, Steve has been immersed in club golf for almost as long.

A former club captain, he has passed the Level 3 Rules of Golf exam with distinction having attended the R&A’s prestigious Tournament Administrators and Referees Seminar.

Steve has officiated at a host of high-profile tournaments, including Open Regional Qualifying, PGA Fourball Championship, English Men’s Senior Amateur, and the North of England Amateur Championship. In 2023, he made his international debut as part of the team that refereed England vs Switzerland U16 girls.

A part of NCG’s Top 100s panel, Steve has a particular love of links golf and is frantically trying to restore his single-figure handicap. He’d like to tell you he floats around 10. The reality is more like 13.

Steve plays at Sandburn Hall, in York, and is a country member at Close House in Newcastle. He has served on various club committees during his time in the game, and is the current Rules Secretary at Sandburn.

Having studied history at Newcastle University, he became a journalist having passed his NCTJ exams at Darlington College of Technology. He began his career working on weekly papers in Newcastle, before joining the York Press in 2001. After five years as a news reporter, he joined the sports desk – specialising in horse racing and snooker – and was Digital Sports Editor when he joined National Club Golfer in 2016.

What’s in Steve’s bag: TaylorMade Stealth 2 driver, 3-wood, and hybrids; Caley 01T irons 4-PW; TaylorMade Hi-Toe wedges, Odyssey 2Ball Microhinge putter.

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