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 tournament, 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's governing body 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.

Since then, Fuzzy Zoeller has made the most birdies: 26 on his way to a runner-up finish in 1994, while Greg Norman (1994), Rickie Fowler (2012), McIlroy (2014) and Harold Varner III (2018) all made 25.

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 hole 14 and then surpassed the American senior when he repeated this point for the 27th time on hole 16. At this time, Ryder became the new birdie record holder in the history of The Players.

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

The Players 2024 concludes 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 his 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.

The T16 position helps Ryder rank 101st in the world men's professional golf rankings (OWGR) this week, 13 places higher than last week. Meanwhile, PGA Tour professional statistics from the beginning of the 2024 season to March 23 recorded Ryder when he combined a record 27 birdies at The Players for a total of 89 birdies, thereby increasing 45 places to T94 in scoring -1 holes.

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