1977 Tournament Players Championship

1977 Tournament Players Championship

Tournament information
Dates	March 17–20, 1977
Location	Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida 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 Show map of the United States Sawgrass CC Location in Florida Show map of 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]

Venue

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

First round

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

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

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

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

1. "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. "Youth movement goes on as Hayes wins in the wind". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. March 21, 1977. p. 5C.
4. Jenkins, Dan (March 28, 1977). "In a class all by itself - for now". Sports Illustrated. p. 64.
5. "Erratic Tom Watson knots slumping Mike McCullough". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. March 20, 1977. p. D10.
6. 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

• The Players Championship website