The 1998 Players Championship was a golf tournament in Florida on the PGA Tour, held at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, southeast of Jacksonville. It was the 25th Players Championship.
Tournament summary
Defending champion Steve Elkington withdrew on Monday night, citing complications after sinus surgery. He was the first defending champion that did not compete since Jerry Pate in 1983. In addition, Greg Norman, the 1994 champion, withdrew prior to the first round with a shoulder injury.
Lee Janzen, who won the tournament three years previous, held the lead after third round. However, he shot a final round 79 and fell to eighteenth. Journeyman Len Mattiace took advantage, surging into the lead. However, he scored a quintuple-bogey at the par-3 17th hole to end his chances. He birdied the final hole though to finish in the top five. Five strokes back, Justin Leonard shot a final round 67 to win at 278 (−10), two ahead of runners-up Glen Day and Tom Lehman.
Venue
This was the seventeenth Players Championship held at the TPC at Sawgrass Stadium Course; it was extended this year to , an increase of .
Field
1. All winners of PGA Tour events awarding official money and official victory status in the preceding 12 months, concluding with the Bay Hill Invitational and dating from the 1997 Players Championship
Phil Blackmar
Michael Bradley
Mark Calcavecchia
Stewart Cink
Fred Couples
David Duval
Ernie Els
Brad Faxon
David Frost
Tim Herron
Gabriel Hjertstedt
Scott Hoch
John Huston
Steve Jones
Justin Leonard
Davis Love III
Billy Mayfair
Scott McCarron
Phil Mickelson
Frank Nobilo
Jesper Parnevik
Nick Price
Billy Ray Brown
Loren Roberts
Scott Simpson
Vijay Singh
David Toms
Tiger Woods
2. The top 125 PGA Tour players from the final 1997 Official Money List
John Adams
Fulton Allem
Billy Andrade
Stuart Appleby
Paul Azinger
Doug Barron
Ronnie Black
Guy Boros
Mike Brisky
Mark Brooks
Olin Browne
Tom Byrum
Jim Carter
Brandel Chamblee
Michael Christie
Darren Clarke
Lennie Clements
Russ Cochran
John Cook
Robert Damron
Glen Day
Jay Don Blake
Joe Durant
David Edwards
Bob Estes
Brad Fabel
Nick Faldo
Rick Fehr
Dan Forsman
Fred Funk
Jim Furyk
Robert Gamez
Brent Geiberger
Kelly Gibson
Paul Goydos
Scott Gump
Jay Haas
Donnie Hammond
Dudley Hart
Nolan Henke
Brian Henninger
P. H. Horgan III
Mike Hulbert
Lee Janzen
Pete Jordan
Jerry Kelly
Skip Kendall
Tom Kite
Neal Lancaster
Tom Lehman
Frank Lickliter
Steve Lowery
Andrew Magee
Jeff Maggert
Doug Martin
Len Mattiace
Rocco Mediate
Larry Mize
Colin Montgomerie
Larry Nelson
David Ogrin
Mark O'Meara
Joe Ozaki
Craig Parry
Steve Pate
Chris Perry
Kenny Perry
Don Pooley
Mike Reid
Lee Rinker
Larry Rinker
Clarence Rose
Joey Sindelar
Jeff Sluman
Mike Springer
Craig Stadler
Mike Standly
Paul Stankowski
Payne Stewart
David Sutherland
Kevin Sutherland
Hal Sutton
Phil Tataurangi
Tommy Tolles
Kirk Triplett
Ted Tryba
Bob Tway
Omar Uresti
Grant Waite
Duffy Waldorf
Tom Watson
Mark Wiebe
Willie Wood
3. Winners in the last 10 calendar years of The Players Championship, Masters Tournament, U.S. Open, PGA Championship, and NEC World Series of Golf
Ben Crenshaw
John Daly
Wayne Grady
Bernhard Langer
Sandy Lyle
José María Olazábal
Mark McCumber
Corey Pavin
Tom Purtzer
Curtis Strange
Ian Woosnam
4. British Open winners since 1990
5. Up to eight players, not otherwise eligible, designated by The Players Championship Committee as "special selections"