The 1977 Tournament Players Championship was a golf tournament in Florida on the PGA Tour, held at Sawgrass Country Club in Ponte Vedra Beach, southeast of Jacksonville. The fourth Tournament Players Championship,it was the first standalone version of the tournament after the first three editions were attached to previously established tournaments. It was the first of five consecutive at Sawgrass, which had agreed a multi-year with the PGA Tour in 1976.
Mark Hayes was the champion in windy conditions at 289 (+1), two strokes ahead of runner-up McCullough and Tom Watson were the co-leaders after the third round, with Hayes Defending champion Jack Nicklaus finished four strokes back, in a tie for fifth place.
Bob Menne set the tour's 72-hole record for fewest putts with 99, but tied for 47th at 303 (+15). The record had been 102 putts, by Bert Yancey in 1966 at his victory in the final Portland Open Invitational.
Venue
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.
Round summaries First round Thursday, March 17, 1977 PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 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:
Second round Friday, March 18, 1977 PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 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 +16 Mark Hayes 72-74=146 +2T7 Jack Nicklaus 73-74=147 +3 Bill Rogers 75-72=147 Tom Weiskopf 75-72=147 Larry Ziegler 74-73=147 Source:
Third round Saturday, March 19, 1977 PlacePlayerScoreTo parT1 Mike McCullough 66-74-76=216 E Tom Watson 68-74-74=216 3 Mark Hayes 72-74-71=217 +1T4 Raymond Floyd 68-76-74=218 +2 Hale Irwin 72-77-69=218 6 Jack Nicklaus 73-74-72=219 +3T7 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:
Final round Sunday, March 20, 1977 PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)1 Mark Hayes 72-74-71-72=289 +1 60,0002 Mike McCullough 66-74-76-75=291 +3 34,200T3 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:
References
External links The Players Championship website