Tournament information | |
---|---|
Dates | March 17–20, 1977 |
Location | Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida 30°11′20″N 81°22′12″W / 30.189°N 81.370°W |
Course(s) | Sawgrass Country Club, East-West course |
Tour(s) | PGA Tour |
Statistics | |
Par | 72 |
Length | 7,174 yards (6,560 m)[1] |
Field | 140 players, 79 after cut |
Cut | 155 (+11) |
Prize fund | $300,000 |
Winner's share | $60,000 |
Champion | |
Mark Hayes | |
289 (+1) | |
Location map | |
Location in the United States Location in Florida | |
The 1977 Tournament Players Championship was a golf tournament in Florida on the PGA Tour, held March 17–20 at Sawgrass Country Club in Ponte Vedra Beach, southeast of Jacksonville. The fourth Tournament Players Championship, it was the first of five consecutive at Sawgrass, which had agreed a multi-year with the PGA Tour in 1976.[2]
Mark Hayes was the champion in windy conditions at 289 (+1), two strokes ahead of runner-up Mike McCullough.[1][3][4] McCullough and Tom Watson were the co-leaders after the third round, with Hayes a stroke back.[5] Defending champion Jack Nicklaus finished four strokes back, in a tie for fifth place.[1][3]
Bob Menne set the tour's 72-hole record for fewest putts with 99,[6] but tied for 47th at 303 (+15).[1] The record had been 102 putts, by Bert Yancey in 1966 at his victory in the final Portland Open Invitational.[6][7]
This was the first of five Tournament Players Championships held at Sawgrass Country Club; it moved to the nearby TPC at Sawgrass Stadium Course in 1982. The venues for the first three editions in Georgia, Texas, and south Florida were familiar to most of the participants as those courses had recently hosted multiple PGA Tour events; this was the first tour event at Sawgrass.[4]
Thursday, March 17, 1977
Place | Player | Score | To par |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Mike McCullough | 66 | −6 |
T3 | Don Bies | 68 | −4 |
Raymond Floyd | |||
Tom Watson | |||
T6 | Bruce Devlin | 69 | −3 |
Billy Kratzert | |||
Ed Sabo | |||
J. C. Snead | |||
T10 | Hubert Green | 71 | −1 |
Peter Oosterhuis | |||
John Schroeder |
Friday, March 18, 1977
Place | Player | Score | To par |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Mike McCullough | 66-74=140 | −4 |
2 | Tom Watson | 68-74=142 | −2 |
T3 | Raymond Floyd | 68-76=144 | E |
Bob E. Smith | 73-71=144 | ||
5 | J. C. Snead | 69-76=145 | +1 |
6 | Mark Hayes | 72-74=146 | +2 |
T7 | Jack Nicklaus | 73-74=147 | +3 |
Bill Rogers | 75-72=147 | ||
Tom Weiskopf | 75-72=147 | ||
Larry Ziegler | 74-73=147 |
Saturday, March 19, 1977
Place | Player | Score | To par |
---|---|---|---|
T1 | Mike McCullough | 66-74-76=216 | E |
Tom Watson | 68-74-74=216 | ||
3 | Mark Hayes | 72-74-71=217 | +1 |
T4 | Raymond Floyd | 68-76-74=218 | +2 |
Hale Irwin | 72-77-69=218 | ||
6 | Jack Nicklaus | 73-74-72=219 | +3 |
T7 | Bruce Devlin | 69-79-72=220 | +4 |
J. C. Snead | 69-76-75=220 | ||
T9 | Danny Edwards | 75-76-70=221 | +5 |
Tom Jenkins | 75-75-71=221 | ||
Larry Nelson | 74-74-73=221 |
Source:[5]
Sunday, March 20, 1977
Place | Player | Score | To par | Money ($) |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Mark Hayes | 72-74-71-72=289 | +1 | 60,000 |
2 | Mike McCullough | 66-74-76-75=291 | +3 | 34,200 |
T3 | Bruce Devlin | 69-79-72-72=292 | +4 | 17,700 |
Hale Irwin | 72-77-69-74=292 | |||
T5 | Graham Marsh | 73-77-72-71=293 | +5 | 10,900 |
Jack Nicklaus | 73-74-72-74=293 | |||
Tom Watson | 68-74-74-77=293 | |||
T8 | Steve Melnyk | 73-76-73-72=294 | +6 | 8,150 |
Larry Nelson | 74-74-73-73=294 | |||
Bill Rogers | 75-72-76-71=294 |