Back in 1981, PLAYERS Championship media crammed into the cart barn. They shared a phone bank, dictated stories to editors, and guessed putt and approach distances. Today, we get interview transcripts and ShotLinks stats and pinpoint exactly where balls land, sharing them in seconds. A lot has changed over these decades. But one thing remains the same: The PLAYERS remains home to golf’s greatest stories, comebacks, and all. We’ve listed five right here, starting with…

• Raymond Floyd

At the time of the Players Championship 1981, Raymond Floyd was 38. He had just won the now-defunct Doral Open, but remained relatively unknown for the majority of the week. After round one, he sat four strokes back of the leader. On Friday, that gap ballooned to seven. By Sunday, or what was left of it, he trailed Barry Jaeckel by six, with Jaeckel holding the top spot all three prior rounds.

Then torrential rain scrubbed the entire day, pushing the final round to Monday.

On Monday, Jaeckel looked like the lock to hoist the trophy. Jaeckel started the final round three strokes ahead of the second-place trio, Dan Halldorson, John Mahaffey, and Jim Simons, with Curtis Strange trailing four strokes behind. To make things clearer, Floyd began the day in 12th place. However, upon completing the 72 regulation holes, Floyd achieved an impressive score of 68.

But the space between Floyd’s and Jaeckel’s tee times meant there was an awkward moment where Floyd had to wait. So, after his round, Floyd went to the TV tower behind the 18th green. He watched Jaeckel miss a seven-foot birdie putt that would have won the tournament. Jaeckel made 74, and Strange carded a 70, setting up a nail-biting three-man playoff.

The playoff started right away on the par-3 15th. All three hit 6-irons and missed the green. Floyd had the best lie. He chipped to one foot and made par. Strange chipped to eight feet and missed. Jaeckel chipped to five feet and missed. They both made bogeys. This victory was the first time Floyd had won two straight tournaments in his career.

Meanwhile, it was The PLAYERS Championship’s first playoff in its seven-year history and the largest come-from-behind win in this event’s history. It was also the last time the event was played at Sawgrass Country Club before moving to its current location at TPC Sawgrass in 1982.

• Justin Leonard

On Sunday at TPC Sawgrass in 1998, Lee Janzen appeared certain to win his second Players title, starting the final round with a three-stroke lead over Justin Leonard and Tom Lehman, with Len Mattiace trailing six strokes behind in fourth. For the record, Leonard actually started five strokes behind.

Mattiace briefly snatched the lead with a chip-in on 10 and a birdie on the short 12th. Leonard persevered, hitting 20-footers for birdies on the 10th, 13th, and 14th holes. There were no hospitality tents back then, so the 10,000 fans packed the 17th’s mounds. After Leonard safely stripped the infamous Island Green, Mattiace stepped up one back. Thirty-seven seconds ticked by. He hit a 9-iron, but it flew 15 yards long into the water. This tee shot wasn’t the end of Mattiace’s troubles on the 17th.

He took a one-stroke penalty and dropped. His wedge shot landed in the front right bunker. Disaster struck again. His bunker shot sailed over the green into the water. He took another drop and penalty stroke. Then he chipped onto the green and two-putted for an 8. He birdied the last hole.

But his misfortune meant the golf gods were in Leonard’s favor that day. The 25-year-old’s 8 gave him a four-shot lead, but Leonard knew he could lose it just as quickly. Perhaps that is why he broke character on the 17th, staring directly into the camera before exhaling. He was nervous and gunning for his fourth PGA Tour win.

Avoiding water on the 17th meant he could play it safely on the 18th, and so his tee shot found the green. His three-putt was just his second bogey of the day. But Leonard carded the day’s low round at 10-under 278, two clear of winless journeyman Glen Day and Lehman.

• Henrick Stenson

At The PLAYERS Championship 2009, Henrik Stenson started the final round five strokes behind overnight leader Alex Cejka. It was the biggest final-day deficit in tournament history. Cejka could have remained in contention, but he faltered with a front-nine score of six-over 42. He had already ruined his day at the halfway mark, carding a dismal seven-over 79 for the day. Tiger Woods had his own rough day. His three front-nine bogeys buried any serious comeback hopes.

So, the final round boiled down to a showdown between Stenson and Ian Poulter. Poulter emerged as his closest rival after the 7th, but he faltered with a two-under 70, finishing second, four strokes behind Stenson.

But Stenson was the outright winner that day, firing six birdies in the final 12 holes to match Justin Leonard’s five-shot victory margin. He carded a bogey-free six-under 66. His birdie on the par-3 13th, snared with a tricky 11-foot putt from the fringe, is remembered to this day.

He achieved his first PGA Tour stroke-play victory by a margin of four over Poulter.

• Scottie Scheffler

Certainly, Scottie Scheffler‘s early round(s) performances this season have worried most, but it has happened before. More precisely, at The PLAYERS Championship 2024. In the Saturday round, Scottie Scheffler experienced neck pain, which caused him to fall up to nine strokes behind the pace. He was out of contention, in fact. But he persevered, as he always does, and shot a final-round 8-under 64 to finish four shots clear of Brian Harman, Wyndham Clark, and Xander Schauffele.

Schauffele entered the final round with a one-stroke lead. He stayed in front with six holes left. Scheffler, however, erased that lead by the ninth hole, starting with a chip-in eagle on the par-4 4th. Scheffler followed with three birdies in five holes to join Schauffele at 17 under.

Moments later, Schauffele drained a birdie on the seventh to lead by one. That sparked a nerve-shredding back nine where Scheffler, Schauffele, and Clark traded or shared the lead. Scheffler birdied the 11th, 12th, and 16th. Meanwhile, Schauffele and Clark dropped shots. Clark, who led by four at the halfway point after shooting two 67s, bogeyed the 10th and 14th holes, falling to 17 under par. Schauffele bogeyed 14 and 15, slipping to 18 under.

Meanwhile, Brian Harman quietly climbed the leaderboard. He fired four birdies in five holes around the turn to hit 18 under. He added another on the 15th but couldn’t snag a shot on the tough final three holes. Schauffele and Clark each birdied the par-five 16th, reaching 19 and 18 under.

They then drilled tee shots to inside eight feet on the notorious par-three 17th Island Green. Schauffele missed his birdie putt; Clark holed. On the final hole, they both needed a birdie to match Scheffler. They both failed. Scheffler was at the driving range in case there was a playoff. But when he heard collective groans from the fans, he knew it was over.

He had just become the first pro to successfully defend his The Players title in the tournament’s history.

• Justin Thomas

Midway through his second round at the 2021 PLAYERS Championship, Justin Thomas teetered on the cut line at 2-over par. He sat far from contention. His grandfather’s recent death had hurt him deeply. You’d hardly bet on him. He’d missed two of his last four cuts and admitted he wasn’t himself. But he won anyway.

Thomas walked off the par-3 eighth green four shots behind after a three-putt bogey. Four holes later, he left the 12th green with a two-shot lead. On the par-5 ninth, he hit a 5-iron to 20 feet and two-putted for birdie. At No. 10, he attacked a tough pin for a 6-foot birdie. He drilled a 4-iron to 20 feet for eagle at No. 11, his first lead of the week. He capped the surge with a nifty pitch from behind the reachable par-4 12th for birdie.

Lee Westwood stayed tied for the lead until he couldn’t match Thomas, who played ahead, on the par-5 16th. Thomas teed it low and slung a powerful, low draw that ran out 40 yards. That set up a 5-wood to 50 feet, which he lagged close for a two-putt birdie. Westwood’s 3-iron clipped a tree and dropped it in the sand. His quirky 65-yard shot then plunked into another bunker, forcing a scramble for par.

Thomas faced one last test before victory was secure. On the 18th, he took the water, framing the left fairway. His ball hooked right-to-left and bounced right off the crown of the first cut, safely into the fairway. His approach hit the fringe, the first green he missed all day. That left a simple two-putt for par.

It was his 14th PGA Tour win.