2015 Players Championship Trivia Quiz

Answer: TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

The Players Championship was played on the Stadium Course, the more challenging of the two courses at the TPC Sawgrass. The Stadium Course was designed by Pete and Alice Dye in 1980 and in 1982 it hosted its first Players Championship. Before modifications were made the course was widely believed to be too difficult. About the course Ben Crenshaw famously said "It's Star Wars golf, designed by Darth Vader".

Answer: United States

The total field featured 88 players from North America, four from South America, 26 from Europe, 12 from Oceania, seven from Asia, and seven from Africa. There are various ways to be eligible to participate in the Players Championship including having won a PGA Tour event since the last Players Championship, being in the Top 125 on the previous season's points list, and having won a Major within the prior five years.

Answer: Tiger Woods

In 2001 Tiger Woods won the Players Championship with a final score of -14 and in 2013 he won with a final score of -13. In 1994 Greg Norman posted an incredible -24. In spite of the difficulty of the course, all winners of the Players Championship from 1982 to 2015 posted scores under par.

Answer: Hideki Matsuyama

Hideki Matsuyama burst onto the golf scene in 2011 playing in the Masters Tournament as a 19 year old amateur. He was the first Japanese amateur to participate in the Masters and was the lowest scoring amateur in the tournament. Matsuyama's first win on the PGA Tour came at the 2014 Memorial Tournament where he beat Kevin Na in a playoff.

In addition to Matsuyama, David Hearn, Charley Hoffman, and Kevin Na were tied after the first round of the 2015 Players Championship.

Answer: Jerry Kelly

In 1989 Jerry Kelly graduated from the University of Hartford and in 1996 he made it onto the PGA Tour. In 2002 he finished fourth on the money list and had victories at the Sony Open and Advil Western Open. Jerry Kelly shot par in the third round leaving him two strokes behind the leader after three rounds.
Jim Kelly played QB for the Buffalo Bills from 1986 to 1996.

Answer: Chris Kirk

Chris Kirk was born in 1985 in Knoxville, Tennessee, and he attended the University of Georgia. Kirk's first win on the PGA Tour came at the Viking Classic in 2011. Bill Haas, Kevin Kisner, and Ben Martin finished the third round of the 2015 Players Championship one stroke behind Chris Kirk.
James Tiberius "Jim" Kirk, a fictional character in "Star Trek", was born in Riverside, Iowa.

Answer: -5

Rickie Fowler became the first player in the history of the Player's Championship to shoot five strokes under par over the final four holes when he birdied the par four 15th, eagled the par five 16th, birdied the par three 17th, and birdied the par four 18th. Interestingly, before the tournament several PGA tour players had called Fowler an underachiever.

Answer: Sergio Garcia and Kevin Kisner

Sergio Garcia had previously won the Players Championship in 2008 and he was in the lead for much of the final round. After a poor first round of 73 (+1), Kevin Kisner had stellar rounds of 67 (-5), 67 (-5), and 69 (-3).

Answer: 17th

The par three 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass is possibly the most well-known hole on the course. On all three occasions that Fowler played the hole on Sunday he put his tee shot within six feet and then he converted the birdie put. Kevin Kisner birdied the 17th hole in regulation and in the three hole playoff but missed a birdie put on the sudden death that he needed to keep pace with Fowler.

Answer: Tiger Woods

While Tiger Woods did make the cut and played the whole tournament he shot in the 70's every round and was never really a threat to the leaders. Other former Players Championship winners in the field included Henrik Stenson who finished 17th, Adam Scott who finished 38th, K. J. Choi who finished 42nd, and Martin Kaymar who finished 56th.