The Players: Recalling Sandy Lyle's sweet Sawgrass success - but there have been tartan tears as well

Caledonian connection recalled as PGA Tour’s flagship event celebrates its 50th anniversary

It delivered Scottish success but tartan tears as well. The Players Championship celebrates its 50th edition this week and, albeit for different reasons, the milestone will stir Sawgrass memories for both Sandy Lyle and Russell Knox in particular as far as its Caledonian connection is concerned.

While it is widely remembered that Lyle made history in The Masters by becoming the first British or Irish player to win at Augusta National in 1988, the fact he’d already secured a place in the record books a year earlier as the first non-American to land The Players Championship is often overlooked.

“I would put my win up there in my top three,” admits Lyle of landing the coveted prize with a play-off victory over Jeff Sluman, with the Scot’s success being put into context when you consider that Rory Mcllroy, who did the trick in 2019, is the only other player from Great Britain and Ireland to get their hands on the trophy.

Russell Knox hits his tee shot at the iconic 17th hole on the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass during the third round of the The Players Championship in 2016. Picture: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images.

After opening with rounds of 67-71-66, Lyle started the closing circuit two shots off the lead, shared by American duo Mark O’Meara and Scott Simpson, while other players in contention included Ben Crenshaw, Paul Azinger, Greg Norman and Nick Price.

Lyle chipped in at the 15th, admitting it had been a case of “turning a bogey into a birdie as it was a really smelly lie”. He then rolled in a monster putt for a closing birdie as he signed for a 70 to set the clubhouse target with a 14-under-par total over the TPC Stadium Course at the Ponte Vedra Beach venue. “At the time, I thought that meant it was going to be a good week for me, maybe top four or top three,” he recalls.

Helped by others faltering late on, it ended up even better. In just the second play-off in the event’s history, the 16th was halved in pars before it was advantage Sluman as the American hit a terrific tee shot at the iconic par-3 17th to around six feet. Not helped by having to back off his putt after a spectator jumped into the water, he missed it on the right side of the hole.

That was a left off for Lyle and he made Sluman pay for it, though playing the 18th in fast-fading light is something he’d rather not have faced with such a big title on the line. “The television doesn’t show how dark it was and it was the scariest shot I have ever hit,” he says of the 5-iron he was left with after finding the fairway with his trusty 1-iron from the tee. Holding his nerve to hole an eight-footer after a chip from side of the green had raced on a bit, a par proved good enough. “It was always on the radar for me,” he admits of landing a title that had already been claimed three times by Jack Nicklaus. “I felt that my future as far as recognition was concerned was going to come from playing my best in America and this was a big tournament to win.”

Sandy Lyle in action during The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra, Florida. Picture: Gary Newkirk /Allsport.

In other strong Scottish showings at Sawgrass, Martin Laird finished joint-second in 2012 while Knox tied for sixth a decade later. Somewhere in the middle of those efforts, Knox came a cropper at the 17th as he hit three balls into the water with attempts to find the infamous island green and ran up a sextuple-bogey 9. "I was playing great,” says the local man, having made Jacksonville his base after setting up home in the US, of being tied for fifth place on the tee before crashing out of contention in the space of a few minutes. “It's such an easy shot when you have no nerves or adrenaline. A pro would never miss that. But it's a different story once you've hit two in the water. The green felt like it was the size of a quarter."

Talking of money, Lyle picked up $180,000 from a prize pot of $1 million for his victory, but there’s no value that can ever be put on the pride of being a history-maker in one of the game’s biggest events. “I’m very privileged to have my own locker at Sawgrass,” he declares. “It’s The Players’ Championship and I will always cherish it.” Rightly so.

As for the Caledonian contingent in this week’s milestone edition, it’s actually better than most had probably expected as not only Laird but also Bob MacIntyre have secured spots in a field that will be playing for a whopping $25 million.

The welcome opportunity has come at a good time for both. In finishing joint-tenth in the Puerto Rico Open on Sunday, Laird made it back-to-back top-ten finishes on the US circuit and the 41-year-old will be starting to feel that he could still add to his four title triumphs, the last of which came in the Shriners Hospital for Children Open in 2020.

MacIntyre, meanwhile, will be teeing up for just the second time in The Players Championship on the back of making three cuts in a row, including his first top-ten finish as a PGA Tour card holder in the Mexico Open. Thinking he’d probably not be playing at Sawgrass, the Ryder Cup player was contemplating heading home to Oban for the first time since setting up a new base in Orlando, but, after finding out at the weekend he was actually in the field, that has been shelved.

With the clock ticking for the final cut-off for The Masters, MacIntyre sits 70th in the Official World Golf Ranking and a big performance this week could help him break into that top 50 in time to make the drive up Magnolia Lane in a month’s time for the season’s opening major.