How special is the birdie record at The Players?

The record of 26 birdies in a tournament in the history of the most prestigious PGA Tour tournament was broken in the final round of the 2024 term by 34-year-old golfer outside the world's top 100 Sam Ryder.

Sam Ryder competes at The Players 2024. Photo: AFP — Sam Ryder competes at The Players 2024. Photo: *AFP*

The PGA Tour recognized the record for birdies at The Players since the event took up residence at the par-72 Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass in Florida in 1982.

From then until last year, Fuzzy Zoeller had the most birdies: 26 on his way to a runner-up finish in 1994, while 25 belonged to Greg Norman (1994), Rickie Fowler (2012), McIlroy (2014) and Harold Varner III (2018).

But in 2024, Sam Ryder turned Zoeller into a former record holder. In the final round, Ryder caught up with Zoeller with a birdie on the 14th hole and then surpassed the American senior when he repeated this point for the 27th time on the 16th hole. At this time, Ryder became the new record holder for birdies in the history of The Players.

Rory McIlroy trailed Ryder by five holes, hitting 26 birdies at the 16th hole. The former world number one from Northern Ireland had a chance to catch Ryder four holes later, but failed. Rory then recorded a string of pars before bogeying at the 18th hole. A mistake on the final hole of the tournament saw him finish -9, finishing T19.

The Players 2024 finale comes to a close on March 17, with the trophy and $4.5 million going to reigning OWGR number one Scottie Scheffler with a -20 win mark.

Ryder, despite recording a record 27 birdies, only finished T16 with a score of -10 due to 10 bogeys, two double bogeys and a triple bogey. "That result shows my inconsistent form. But anyway, I feel great to own the record," Ryder said on pgatour.com.

Ryder's T16 position this week puts him in 101st place on the World Golf Rankings for Men (OWGR), 13 places higher than last week. Meanwhile, PGA Tour statistics from the start of the 2024 season to March 23 recorded Ryder's record 27 birdies at The Players for a total of 89 birdies, thus rising 45 places to T94 in scoring -1 holes.

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