American Matt Kuchar won golf's richest event at Sawgrass on Sunday night - and denied Scotland's Martin Laird for the second time in his career.
Laird came close to pulling off a stunning victory at the Players Championship after starting the final day six behind.
But a bogey on the last by the 29-year-old Glaswegian for a round of 67 left Kuchar two in front with four holes to play and the world number 16 did not let things slip.
The gap became three when he got up and down from off the green at the long 16th and, after three-putting the short 17th for bogey, he safely parred the dangerous last.
A two-under-par round of 70 gave Kuchar the first prize of £1,063,000 by two on 13 under par.
In the end Laird had to settle for a four-way tie for second, being joined by Americans Zach Johnson, Ben Curtis and last week's winner in Charlotte, Rickie Fowler, who after birdies at the 16th and 17th missed a seven-foot chance on the last that would have placed huge pressure on the eventual champion.
It was Kuchar's first title since The Barclays in 2010 - when he beat Laird in a play-off.
Kuchar said: "It's such an amazing feeling. It really is magical - I have so many people to thank.
"But I wish I had made the putt on 17 to make 18 easier to face."
Fowler said of his missed putt on the last: "I had a good read on it, but just shoved it a little bit. But I feel really confident with my game and it's been a lot of fun."
For a while it looked as if England's Luke Donald had a sniff of a chance when he set the early clubhouse target of nine under with a 66 - only 30 of them in a tournament record-equalling back nine which contained six birdies.
As he signed his scorecard Donald was in a tie for third place and only two off the pace, but in the end had to settle for sixth.
That also meant he narrowly failed to reclaim the world number one spot from Rory McIlroy. Donald required solo fourth for that.
Even with his slip at the last - he only just avoided the lake with his pulled approach and failed to get up and down - Laird was still delighted with how he stood up to the pressure.
"I wasn't nervous and felt great out there," he said. "It was a little disappointing to bogey the last, but it's been a good week."
Donald, who started the day 27th, said just after finishing more than two hours before Kuchar: "Suddenly the putts clicked and I got on a nice little run.
"The wind direction was favourable and the greens are holding.
"I thought I was too far back, but I might have to stick around just in case.
"I don't think it's going to be quite enough, but I was going to fly back to Chicago and I'll put that on hold for a bit."
Lee Westwood had also had an opportunity to finish the week as number one following Rory McIlroy's missed cut on Friday, but the win he needed never looked likely for long before he closed with a 77.
It left Westwood four over and down in 61st place, while another disappointing tournament for Tiger Woods ended with him scoring 73 for one under.
He was 40th just like he was at the Masters and in between came a missed cut at Quail Hollow. Worrying times for the 14-major winner.
Donald started his burst with a hat-trick of birdies from the 10th, then made putts of seven feet at the 15th and eight feet on the long 16th.
The infamous short 17th held no fears for him on this day. He hit his tee shot to five feet and his renowned bunker prowess rescued a par at the last after he had gone from the rough into sand over the green.
Londoner Brian Davis was alongside Laird in sixth place at the start of the day, but a double bogey on the sixth was the beginning of the end for him.
Collated final round scores & totals in the USPGA Tour THE PLAYERS Championship, The TPC at Sawgrass, Ponte Vedra, Florida, United States of America
(USA unless stated, par 72):
275 Matt Kuchar 68 68 69 70
277 Zach Johnson 70 66 73 68, Martin Laird (Sco) 65 73 72 67, Ben Curtis 68 71 70 68, Rickie Fowler 72 69 66 70
279 Luke Donald (Eng) 72 69 72 66
280 Kevin Na 67 69 68 76, Bo Van Pelt 71 70 70 69, Jhonattan Vegas (Ven) 68 74 68 70
281 David Toms 69 74 73 65, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 71 72 69 69
282 Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 70 73 70 69, Jonathan Byrd 68 70 72 72, Blake Adams 66 73 72 71
283 Brendon De Jonge 69 71 72 71, Spencer Levin 74 68 72 69, Peter Hanson (Swe) 73 71 71 68, Bob Estes 73 69 76 65, Adam Scott (Aus) 68 70 74 71, David Mathis 72 71 69 71, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 73 69 70 71, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 71 71 71 70
284 John Huh (Kor) 75 66 72 71, Chris Couch 72 71 71 70
285 Brian Davis (Eng) 68 70 72 75, Pat Perez 69 75 70 71, Phil Mickelson 71 71 70 73, Charlie Wi (Kor) 71 67 73 74, John Rollins 72 72 69 72, Kevin Stadler 68 71 73 73, Jim Furyk 72 70 72 71, Bill Haas 68 71 74 72, Ian Poulter (Eng) 65 76 71 73, Tim Clark (Rsa) 71 70 71 73
286 Keegan Bradley 72 70 74 70, Jeff Maggert 70 71 71 74, Jimmy Walker 71 70 71 74, Tom Gillis 70 71 73 72, Johnson Wagner 69 73 69 75
287 Bryce Molder 72 72 70 73, Tiger Woods 74 68 72 73, Kris Blanks 69 74 72 72, J J Henry 71 73 74 69, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 72 72 72 71
288 Marc Leishman (Aus) 73 70 73 72
289 Ricky Barnes 74 69 72 74, Brian Gay 71 72 71 75, Harrison Frazar 68 76 69 76, Ryan Moore 69 72 75 73, Josh Teater 71 71 76 71
290 Chris Kirk 71 73 72 74, Michael Thompson 68 71 75 76, Justin Rose (Eng) 76 68 75 71, Brian Harman 73 68 76 73, Kevin Streelman 72 68 72 78
291 Nick Watney 71 70 76 74, Robert Karlsson (Swe) 70 74 76 71, Rodney Pampling (Aus) 71 72 78 70, Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 72 72 72 75, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 73 71 68 79
292 Robert Allenby (Aus) 72 72 75 73, Sung Kang (Kor) 75 68 72 77, Lee Westwood (Eng) 71 70 74 77
293 George McNeill 70 73 82 68, Stewart Cink 71 72 78 72, Heath Slocum 73 70 78 72, Harris English 70 67 79 77
295 Jason Dufner 73 71 76 75, David Hearn (Can) 69 75 77 74
296 Justin Leonard 75 68 74 79, Graham Delaet (Can) 71 73 76 76
297 Cameron Tringale 73 71 77 76
