1977 Tournament Players Championship

Golf tournament

1977 Tournament Players ChampionshipTournament 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 / 30.189; -81.370
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

Sawgrass CC

Location in the United States

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Sawgrass CC

Location in Florida

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<- 1976

1978 ->

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]

## Venue

[edit]

Main article: Sawgrass Country Club

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]

## Round summaries

[edit]

### First round

[edit]

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

Source:[8][9]

### Second round

[edit]

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

Source:[10][11]

### Third round

[edit]

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]

### Final round

[edit]

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

Source:[1][3]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e "While leaders stumble, Mark Hayes eases home". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. March 21, 1977. p. 17.
2. ^ "TPC tounrey in Florida". Rome News-Tribune. (Georgia). May 19, 1976. p. 7A.
3. ^ a b c "Youth movement goes on as Hayes wins in the wind". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. March 21, 1977. p. 5C.
4. ^ a b Jenkins, Dan (March 28, 1977). "In a class all by itself - for now". Sports Illustrated. p. 64.
5. ^ a b "Erratic Tom Watson knots slumping Mike McCullough". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. March 20, 1977. p. D10.
6. ^ a b Missildine, Harry (May 22, 1977). "Putting game? you want to bet?". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. D1.
7. ^ Wetzel, Frank (September 19, 1966). "Putts propel Bert Yancey to Open title". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. p. 3B.
8. ^ "Another unknown scrambles into lead". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. March 18, 1977. p. 6B.
9. ^ "McCullough fires 66 to lead TPC by two". Chicago Tribune. Associated Press. March 18, 1977. p. 5, sec. 4.
10. ^ "Wind turns TPGC into joke". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. March 19, 1977. p. 2B.
11. ^ "Golfers agree - Sawgrass a laugh". Chicago Tribune. March 19, 1977. p. 3, sec. 2.

## External links

[edit]

* The Players Championship website

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