THE PLAYERS prepares for another world-class field

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Getty Images/PGA TOUR staff

In the last five years, three international pros have won THE PLAYERS: Adam Scott, Stephen Ames and Sergio Garcia (l-r).

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- In 1974, when what is now known as THE PLAYERS Championship made its debut at the Atlanta Country Club, there were 131 Americans and just nine international players in the field.

Australia's Bruce Crampton finished third, four strokes behind the inaugural champion, Jack Nicklaus. There were three other Aussies, as well as one player each from New Zealand, South Africa, Mexico, Brazil and Puerto Rico.

International previews

A look at each international country participating in this year's PLAYERS Championship Argentina Australia Canada Colombia Denmark England Fiji Germany India Ireland Japan N.Zealand N.Ireland Scotland S.Africa S.Korea Spain Sweden Thailand Archive | Results

Spain's Sergio Garcia returns to defend his title this week at TPC Sawgrass, and he'll be joined by 51 other international players -- making up more than a third of the field of 145. A total of 19 different countries are represented, with Australia's 12 leading the way.

Garcia is the eighth different international champion in the 34-year history of THE PLAYERS -- Aussie Steve Elkington won the tournament twice. Garcia is the fourth in the last seven years, though, which mirrors the international growth on the PGA TOUR.

In 1998, there were just 29 exempt international players from 12 different countries on the PGA TOUR. Ten years later, that total had increased to 64 from 18 countries, although this year's contingent numbers eight fewer foreign players than the 2008 record (see chart below).

The important thing to understand is that THE PLAYERS, and the PGA TOUR itself, has changed to reflect the globalization of the game. The influx of international stars like Garcia has insured that the TOUR's marquee event has the strongest field in the game.

"It's a reflection of what's going on on the PGA TOUR," said Austrailan Geoff Ogilvy, a two-time champ in 2009 who leads the FedExCup standings.

"An international guy would say it's become more balanced. It does really represent the best 100 or so players in the world, which may not have been true 25 years ago, so it's to the tournament's advantage now."

Scotsman Sandy Lyle became the first international champion of THE PLAYERS when he beat Jeff Sluman in a playoff in 1987. Four years later Elkington won the first of his two PLAYERS while Zimbabwe's Nick Price triumphed in 1984 and Greg Norman set a scoring record that may never be broken in '85.

"I distinctly remember him shooting just a scary score and it was a big deal in Australia," said Ogilvy, the 2006 U.S. Open champion who is ranked No. 4 in the world. "And I remember Elk making birdie -- I think it was a 3-iron from a divot -- on the last. I mean it was ridiculous. ...

"So Australians had a sense of how big a tournament it was."

THE PLAYERS champion receives a five-year exemption -- just like the four majors -- as well as an identical 600 FedExCup points. There's a cache that goes along with those tangible elements, though, that probably can't be measured.

Ogilvy would like nothing better than to follow in the footsteps of Norman, Elkington and his good friend Adam Scott, who captured THE PLAYERS in 2004. The other international champs are New Zealand's Craig Perks (2002) and Stephen Ames, a Canadian by way of Trinidad and Tobago who won in 2006.

"Sometimes outside the U.S., people don't have an appreciation for how big some of the tournaments are, but I think they have a real appreciation for how big THE PLAYERS is," Ogilvy said. "Worldwide I think it's the biggest tournament that isn't a major."

In addition to the Aussies, there are seven Englishmen and six Swedes in this week's international contingent. The other countries represented are South Korea (3), New Zealand (2), Northern Ireland (2), Germany (2), Canada (2), Argentina (2) and Spain, Japan, Ireland, Scotland, India, Fiji, Denmark, Colombia and Thailand one each.

There are 18 players making their first PLAYERS start including England's Ross Fisher and Oliver Wilson, Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee, Martin Kaymer of Germany, Soren Kjeldsen of Denmark, Scotland's Martin Laird, India's Jeev Milka Singh, Y.E. Yang of South Korea and Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland.

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