The golfing term drive for show, putt for dough, was never truer than on the 18th hole at The Players Champion on TPC Sawgrass on Sunday.
Jason Dufner was 17-feet for birdie and set to be all alone in second place behind Webb Simpson. The payout was a cool $1.18 million if he could hit the birdie putt. He missed the putt, but then stood over a 5-foot putt for par.
Webb Simpson Laps The Field At The Players Championship
The difference between tied for second and tied for fifth place was in the balance, and Dufner lipped out what should have been an easy conversion.
@JasonDufner with a little yippidy do da on 18….oh if he could putt he would be dangerous. pic.twitter.com/VICrtiPGu1
— Steve Scott (@sscottpga) May 13, 2018
The difference in payouts is striking. Dufner makes the 17-footer, and he takes home $1.18 million. He makes the 5-foot putt; he earns over $726,000. Instead, he walks out of there with $418,000 and a lot of pain, even in the wallet.
The Players Championship Payout
| 1 | Webb Simpson | $1.98M |
| T2 | Charl Schwartzel | $821,333 |
| T2 | Xander Schauffele | $821,333 |
| T2 | Jimmy Walker | $821,333 |
| T5 | Jason Day | $418,000 |
| T5 | Jason Dufner | $418,000 |
Dufner’s three-putt all had implications on rankings, FedEx Cup points and even Ryder Cup standings. For Ryder Cup, every $1,000 in prize money is worth a point. If Dufner made the putt, he would have earned 1,188 points and moved into the top 15 in the Ryder Cup standings.
