There have been some big names to win some of golf’s biggest and best tournaments but along the way, there have been many a forgotten man as well.
Certain players have managed to get their hands on a major championship and never achieve too much else in the game while the opposite is true for others.
Take Lee Westwood, for example, a player who has countless wins around the world but never got that major win many thought he should and could have.
Beyond the majors, of course, most players would admit to wanting to win The Players. Regarded as golf’s 5th major by many, The Players has all the prestige and glamour of the four major tournaments.
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The last few years have seen some of the very biggest names in golf win at TPC Sawgrass as the likes of Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler and Justin Thomas have all triumphed.
However, go back to 2002, and you’d be hard-pressed to find an average golf fan who can name the winner.
Step forward, Craig Perks.
How Craig Perks shocked everyone to win The Players Championship
The story of Craig Perks winning The Players is brilliant in that it wasn’t only him being a relative unknown and coming out on top, but also how he got over the line.
Going into the tournament, Perks had never even won a PGA Tour event and the Australian was hardly fancied at all to win the thing.
However, win it he did. And in the most dramatic of fashion.
In fairness to Perks, he was nowhere to be seen after round one but over rounds two and three, he was firmly in the mix and got himself within a shot of the leader, Carl Paulson, going into Sunday’s finale.
However, as Paulson fell away, it looked like Stephen Ames was going to take the glory or at least force a playoff before Perks came home in dramatic style.
Needing birdies to get ahead of Ames, Perks saved his best to last.
He chipped in for a stunning eagle on the 16th before making a putt of nearly 30 feet on 17 to pick up another shot.
There was, though, another twist, as Perks was left off the green for his par on the 18th and looked in danger of slipping back.
Nevertheless, he approached his shot fearlessly and remarkably, chipped in to win his first and last PGA Tour event.
Craig Perks’ PGA Tour career in numbers
It is truly mind-blowing that Perks won just the one event and it happened to be The Players Championship.
But even more baffling is that his career on the PGA Tour had very little else of note to celebrate.
He made the cut just twice in eight attempts at the majors, with his best finish being a T29 at the 2002 PGA Championship.
Beyond that, in 202 events played, Perks only managed a single other runner-up finish, and only picked up seven top tens in those starts.
With his official prize money listed at $3,362,251 – of which he won more than $1m of at The Players – Perks may well look back and think ‘what if’ with his golf career.
Still, he has that big win on his CV and nobody can ever take it away.
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