Sergio Garcia became just the second European to win the Players Championship when he beat American Paul Goydos at the first extra hole.

Twenty-one years after Scot Sandy Lyle won in the event's only other play-off, Garcia claimed victory at the very same hole, the famous par-three 17th, with its island green, at the Sawgrass TPC.

Goydos found the water with his tee shot to leave the door open for Garcia. The Spaniard was not about to let it shut, punching a wedge to the middle of the green, and watching in delight as his ball fed down to the hole, nestling only four feet away.

After Goydos, from the drop zone, missed his unlikely par attempt, Garcia could celebrate the end of a drought of nearly three years, tapping in for a par.

He collects more than £500,000 for his seventh victory on the United States PGA Tour.

"A lot of hard work is starting to pay off," Garcia said, before joking: "I want to thank Tiger (Woods) for not being here. That always makes it a little bit easier."

Goydos said: "Sergio played better than everybody. Look at the stats."

Earlier, Garcia made a clutch par at the final regulation hole to stay alive. The par-four 18th was the toughest hole on the course on an extremely windy day, and Garcia found a poor lie when his tee shot drifted into the right rough.

He advanced his second shot to within 50 yards of the pin, and then pitched to seven feet.

It was a critically important putt and, given his problems on the greens over the past few years, there were few who would have put any money on his making it.

But make it he did, his stroke holding up under pressure.

Then it was up to Goydos, playing in the group behind. He also found the right rough and struck his ball down to within 50 yards of the hole.

But with the tournament on the line, he hit a poor pitch, catching it a little fat and coming up 14 feet short.

With Garcia watching from the scoring room, Goydos missed his chance to win it in regulation, his putt drifting to the right.

Garcia shot a closing 71, Goydos 74, and they finished at five-under 283, one stroke ahead of American Jeff Quinney (70), who bogeyed the last to miss the play-off after his approach shot found the back bunker.

Garcia was rock solid down the stretch, apart from a birdie putt that he missed at the 16th hole.

His putter, a problem for so long, co-operated when it really mattered, the hard work he has put in with short game coach Stan Utley paying off.

With Bernhard Langer faded away to finish equal 15th, the best European apart from Garcia was Swede Henrik Stenson, who carded a superb 71 to tie for 10th on two-over. And it could have been even better, because he struggled down the stretch.

"I had it going real good, three-under after 12 (holes) and then I three-putted 13 and then doubled 14," he said.

"But I hung in well today. I'll definitely take one-under in these conditions. Today was the toughest wind of the week."

Collated fourth round scores & totals in the USPGA Tour THE PLAYERS Championship, The TPC at Sawgrass, Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, United States of America

(USA unless stated, par 72):

283 Sergio Garcia (Spa) 66 73 73 71 (Sergio won at the first play-off hole), Paul Goydos 68 71 70 74

284 Jeff Quinney 71 73 70 70

287 Briny Baird 71 71 73 72

288 Stephen Ames (Can) 74 68 74 72

289 Ben Crane 70 72 75 72, Brett Quigley 70 76 72 71, Ernie Els (Rsa) 72 71 74 72, Tom Lehman 73 73 69 74

290 Dean Wilson 74 72 75 69, J.B. Holmes 72 72 71 75, Chad Campbell 73 72 77 68, Greg Kraft 75 72 68 75, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 73 71 75 71

291 Kenny Perry 68 70 72 81, Bernhard Langer (Ger) 72 67 75 77, Kevin Stadler 70 72 78 71, Tim Petrovic 73 73 69 76, Stuart Appleby (Aus) 72 72 71 76, Fred Couples 70 72 77 72

292 Phil Mickelson 70 73 71 78, Boo Weekley 70 71 74 77, Ian Poulter (Eng) 69 74 73 76, Woody Austin 71 76 73 72, Stewart Cink 71 75 73 73, Nicholas Thompson 70 77 71 74

293 Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 73 71 75 74, Jim Furyk 74 72 71 76, John Merrick 70 72 77 74, Luke Donald (Eng) 75 72 74 72, Ryan Moore 72 74 73 74

294 Jerry Kelly 74 72 70 78, Brian Gay 72 74 75 73, David Toms 77 70 76 71, Nick O'Hern (Aus) 73 74 75 72, Steve Elkington (Aus) 69 76 77 72, Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 71 74 77 72, Fredrik Jacobson (Swe) 76 70 70 78, Mike Weir (Can) 71 76 75 72, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 70 74 76 74, Jonathan Byrd 76 71 72 75

295 J J Henry 71 73 73 78, Daniel Chopra (Swe) 72 72 73 78, Pat Perez 72 74 72 77, Anthony Kim 70 70 79 76, Robert Allenby (Aus) 74 71 77 73, Bart Bryant 73 71 79 72, Soren Hansen (Den) 71 73 73 78, Ben Curtis 74 72 71 78, Mark Wilson 76 71 72 76

296 Retief Goosen (Rsa) 73 71 77 75, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 74 71 75 76, D.J. Trahan 70 77 75 74

297 Adam Scott (Aus) 75 71 71 80, Davis Love III 73 74 70 80, Chris DiMarco 71 73 78 75, Todd Hamilton 69 77 75 76, Jose-Maria Olazabal (Spa) 70 75 80 72, Kevin Na (Kor) 72 75 76 74, Ken Duke 72 75 76 74, Johnson Wagner 72 74 77 74, Rocco Mediate 74 72 72 79

298 Charlie Wi (Kor) 74 73 69 82, Nick Watney 76 71 74 77

299 Cliff Kresge 74 71 77 77

300 Jose Coceres (Arg) 72 75 71 82, Camilo Villegas (Col) 74 73 77 76, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 77 70 76 77

301 Heath Slocum 69 76 78 78, Jesper Parnevik (Swe) 72 74 70 85

302 Jason Bohn 74 73 79 76

303 Billy Mayfair 72 73 77 81

307 Troy Matteson 70 76 80 81, Tommy Armour III 71 76 80 80