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