1979 Tournament Players Championship

The 1979 Tournament Players Championship was a golf tournament in Florida on the PGA Tour, held March 22–25 at Sawgrass Country Club in Ponte Vedra Beach, southeast of Jacksonville. The sixth Tournament Players Championship, it was the third at Sawgrass and Lanny Wadkins won in the wind at 283 (−5), five strokes ahead of runner-up Tom Watson.^[1][2][3][4]

The first two years at Sawgrass had resulted with both winners at 289 (+1), but Wadkins jumped out to a 36-hole score of 135 (−9).^[5] Gusty winds and dry greens on the weekend caused high scores, but he held on with an even-par 72 in the final round for a comfortable win.^[1][2][4]

Defending champion Jack Nicklaus finished seventeen strokes back, in a tie for 33rd place.

Venue

This was the third of five Tournament Players Championships held at Sawgrass Country Club; it moved to the nearby TPC at Sawgrass Stadium Course in 1982. The course length this year was reduced by 91 yards (83 m) to 7,083 yards (6,477 m).^[1]

Eligibility requirements

1. All designated players

Miller Barber, Andy Bean (2), Ben Crenshaw (2), Lee Elder (2), Raymond Floyd, Rod Funseth (2), Al Geiberger, Lou Graham, Hubert Green (2), Mark Hayes, Jerry Heard (2), Dave Hill, Lon Hinkle (2), Hale Irwin, Don January, Tom Kite (2), Billy Kratzert, Bruce Lietzke, John Mahaffey (2), Jerry McGee, Mac McLendon (2), Johnny Miller, Gil Morgan (2), Jack Nicklaus (3), Andy North (2), Jerry Pate (2), Gary Player (2), Bill Rogers, Jim Simons (2), Ed Sneed, Dave Stockton, Lee Trevino (2), Lanny Wadkins, Tom Watson (2), Tom Weiskopf, Fuzzy Zoeller (2)

2. Winners of major PGA Tour co-sponsored or approved events beginning with the 1978 Tournament Players Championship and concluding with the tournament immediately preceding the 1979 TPC

Seve Ballesteros, Craig Stadler, Barry Jaeckel, Jeff Hewes, Jack Newton, Victor Regalado, Ron Streck

3. The current British Open champion

4. Leaders In PGA Tour Official Standings as necessary to complete the field, beginning with the 1978 Tournament Players Championship and concluding with the tournament scheduled to end on the Sunday immediately preceding the 1979 TPC, the Doral-Eastern Open

Source:^[6]

Field

Tommy Aaron, Wally Armstrong, Seve Ballesteros, Miller Barber, Dave Barr, Andy Bean, Frank Beard, Don Bies, Homero Blancas, Brad Bryant, George Burns, Bob Byman, George Cadle, Rex Caldwell, Bill Calfee, Billy Casper, Jim Colbert, Bobby Cole, Frank Conner, Charles Coody, Ben Crenshaw, Rod Curl, Jim Dent, Terry Diehl, Dale Douglass, Bob Eastwood, Danny Edwards, David Edwards, Dave Eichelberger, Lee Elder, Randy Erskine, Keith Fergus, Ed Fiori, Marty Fleckman, Bruce Fleisher, Raymond Floyd, Rod Funseth, Buddy Gardner, Al Geiberger, Gibby Gilbert, Bob Gilder, David Graham, Lou Graham, Hubert Green, Jay Haas, Joe Hager, Dan Halldorson, Phil Hancock, Morris Hatalsky, Mark Hayes, Jerry Heard, Jeff Hewes, Dave Hill, Mike Hill, Lon Hinkle, Joe Inman, Hale Irwin, Don Iverson, Peter Jacobsen, Barry Jaeckel, Don January, Tom Kite, Gary Koch, Billy Kratzert, Wayne Levi, Bruce Lietzke, John Lister, Bob Lunn, Mark Lye, Bob Mann, Graham Marsh, Fred Marti, Rik Massengale, Gary McCord, Mike McCullough, Mark McCumber, Pat McGowan, Mac McLendon, Artie McNickle, Steve Melnyk, Lee Mikles, Allen Miller, Johnny Miller, Lindy Miller, Jeff Mitchell, Florentino Molina, Orville Moody, Gil Morgan, Mike Morley, Bob Murphy, Jim Nelford, Larry Nelson, Jack Newton, Jack Nicklaus, Andy North, Peter Oosterhuis, Arnold Palmer, Alan Pate, Jerry Pate, Eddie Pearce, Calvin Peete, Mark Pfeil, Gary Player, Don Pooley, Greg Powers, Tom Purtzer, Victor Regalado, Mike Reid, Jack Renner, Chi Chi Rodriguez, Bill Rogers, Ed Sabo, Cesar Sanudo, John Schroeder, Bob Shearer, Jim Simons, Scott Simpson, Tim Simpson, J. C. Snead, Ed Sneed, Craig Stadler, Dave Stockton, Curtis Strange, Ron Streck, Mike Sullivan, Alan Tapie, Barney Thompson, Leonard Thompson, Jim Thorpe, Lee Trevino, Howard Twitty, Bobby Wadkins, Lanny Wadkins, Bobby Walzel, Tom Watson, D. A. Weibring, Tom Weiskopf, Carlton White, Bob Wynn, Kermit Zarley, Bob Zender, Larry Ziegler, Fuzzy Zoeller

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, March 22, 1979

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Kermit Zarley	66	−6
T2	Jack Nicklaus	67	−5
	Andy North
	Lanny Wadkins
T5	Don January	68	−4
	Gil Morgan
	Jim Nelford
	Ron Streck
T9	Brad Bryant	69	−3
	Danny Edwards
	Ed Fiori
	Dan Halldorson
	Phil Hancock
	Billy Kratzert
	Wayne Levi
	Lindy Miller
	Jack Newton
	Jerry Pate
	Tim Simpson
	Dave Stockton

Source:^[7]

Second round

Friday, March 23, 1979

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Lanny Wadkins	67-68=135	−9
2	George Burns	72-66=138	−6
T3	Dan Halldorson	69-70=139	−5
	Billy Kratzert	69-70=139
	Lee Trevino	70-69=139
T6	Ed Fiori	69-71=140	−4
	Mark McCumber	70-70=140
	Jack Nicklaus	67-73=140
T9	Wayne Levi	69-72=141	−3
	Andy North	67-74=141
	Dave Stockton	69-72=141

Source:^[5]

Third round

Saturday, March 24, 1979

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Lanny Wadkins	67-68-76=211	−5
T2	George Burns	72-66-76=214	−2
	Billy Kratzert	69-70-75=214
	Jack Renner	73-70-71=214
	Lee Trevino	70-69-75=214
6	Gary Koch	70-72-74=216	E
T5	Phil Hancock	69-73-75=217	+1
	Andy North	67-74-76=217
	Victor Regalado	70-74-73=217
	Tom Watson	70-72-75=217

Source:^[8]

Final round

Sunday, March 25, 1979

Champion

(c) = past champion

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
1	Lanny Wadkins	67-68-76-72=283	−5	72,000
2	Tom Watson	70-72-75-71=288	E	43,200
3	Jack Renner	73-70-71-75=289	+1	27,200
4	Phil Hancock	69-73-75-74=291	+3	19,200
T5	Billy Kratzert	69-70-75-79=293	+5	14,600
	Wayne Levi	69-72-77-75=293
	Lee Trevino	70-69-75-79=293
8	Andy Bean	72-73-74-75=294	+6	12,400
T9	Jay Haas	71-74-74-76=295	+7	10,800
	Tom Kite	72-73-75-75=295
	Jack Newton	69-74-77-75=295

Leaderboard below the top 10
Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
T12	Mike McCullough	71-73-79-73=296	+8	8,800
	Gil Morgan	68-77-76-75=296
T14	George Burns	72-66-76-83=297	+9	6,600
	Ed Fiori	69-71-79-78=297
	Raymond Floyd	71-72-80-74=297
	Peter Jacobsen	74-72-76-75=297
	Graham Marsh	72-75-75-75=297
	Victor Regalado	70-74-73-80=297
T20	Rex Caldwell	70-76-78-74=298	+10	4,035
	Hubert Green	73-72-78-75=298
	Gary Koch	70-72-74-82=298
	Larry Nelson	72-75-74-77=298
	Andy North	67-74-76-81=298
	Jerry Pate	69-73-77-79=298
	Tim Simpson	69-73-80-76=298
	Howard Twitty	75-67-76-80=298
T28	Jim Colbert	73-72-76-78=299	+11	2,720
	Lindy Miller	69-76-77-77=299
	John Schroeder	71-76-76-76=299
	Alan Tapie	71-72-75-81=299
	Jim Thorpe	72-73-77-77=299
T33	Gibby Gilbert	71-75-78-76=300	+12	2,310
	Jack Nicklaus (c)	67-73-82-78=300
T35	Bob Byman	70-74-75-82=301	+13	1,847
	Charles Coody	71-76-77-77=301
	Marty Fleckman	72-74-79-76=301
	Bruce Fleisher	73-72-78-78=301
	Mark McCumber	70-70-80-81=301
	Jim Nelford	68-76-78-79=301
	Mike Reid	71-73-78-79=301
	Dave Stockton	69-72-79-81=301
T43	Miller Barber	70-75-77-80=302	+14	1,248
	Bobby Cole	71-75-77-79=302
	Lee Elder	70-76-78-78=302
	Bob Gilder	72-74-81-75=302
	Lou Graham	70-76-76-80=302
	Orville Moody	73-73-77-79=302
	Ron Streck	68-77-78-79=302
T50	Randy Erskine	76-68-82-77=303	+15	950
	David Graham	73-70-80-80=303
	Morris Hatalsky	71-73-78-81=303
	Mark Lye	71-76-79-77=303
	Arnold Palmer	72-75-79-77=303
	Cesar Sanudo	72-75-78-78=303
	Jim Simons	71-73-76-83=303
57	Don January	68-79-79-78=304	+16	904
T58	Allen Miller	72-75-80-78=305	+17	892
	Kermit Zarley	66-79-78-82=305
T60	Bob Eastwood	72-74-76-84=306	+18	864
	Mark Hayes (c)	72-75-79-80=306
	Gary McCord	72-74-81-79=306
	Pat McGowan	73-74-79-80=306
	Artie McNickle	73-73-85-75=306
T65	Buddy Gardner	71-75-78-83=307	+19	836
	Barney Thompson	74-72-80-81=307
T67	Al Geiberger (c)	71-75-80-82=308	+20	820
	Craig Stadler	72-73-81-82=308
T69	Dan Halldorson	69-70-81-89=309	+21	804
	Rik Massengale	71-76-78-84=309
71	Bob Murphy	75-71-74-92=312	+24	792
CUT	Don Bies	70-78=148	+4
	Danny Edwards	69-79=148
	David Edwards	74-74=148
	Dave Eichelberger	71-77=148
	Hale Irwin	71-77=148
	Bruce Lietzke	73-75=148
	Jeff Mitchell	73-75=148
	Florentino Molina	71-77=148
	Peter Oosterhuis	74-74=148
	Chi Chi Rodriguez	71-77=148
	Curtis Strange	73-75=148
	Leonard Thompson	72-76=148
	Bobby Wadkins	74-74=148
	Larry Ziegler	72-76=148
	Wally Armstrong	72-77=149	+5
	Dave Barr	73-76=149
	Billy Casper	78-71=149
	Ben Crenshaw	74-75=149
	Rod Curl	75-74=149
	Jim Dent	75-74=149
	Keith Fergus	73-76=149
	Rod Funseth	77-72=149
	Mike Hill	75-74=149
	Don Iverson	72-77=149
	Bob Lunn	73-76=149
	Mike Morley	75-74=149
	Eddie Pearce	73-76=149
	Scott Simpson	74-75=149
	J. C. Snead	71-78=149
	Brad Bryant	69-81=150	+6
	Fred Marti	71-79=150
	Johnny Miller	74-76=150
	Mark Pfeil	75-75=150
	Greg Powers	70-80=150
	Carlton White	72-78=150
	Fuzzy Zoeller	73-77=150
	Bill Calfee	73-78=151	+7
	Frank Conner	73-78=151
	Joe Inman	73-78=151
	John Lister	73-78=151
	Tom Purtzer	75-76=151
	Bill Rogers	73-78=151
	Terry Diehl	76-76=152	+8
	Mac McLendon	75-77=152
	Steve Melnyk	77-75=152
	Lee Mikles	78-74=152
	Calvin Peete	74-78=152
	Gary Player	73-79=152
	Don Pooley	77-75=152
	Ed Sneed	76-76=152
	D. A. Weibring	73-79=152
	Bob Mann	76-77=153	+9
	Bobby Walzel	72-81=153
	Tommy Aaron	76-78=154	+10
	Homero Blancas	75-79=154
	George Cadle	77-77=154
	Barry Jaeckel	75-79=154
	Mike Sullivan	76-78=154
	Lon Hinkle	75-80=155	+11
	Tom Weiskopf	73-82=155
	Joe Hager	75-81=156	+12
	Jerry Heard	79-77=156
	Ed Sabo	75-81=156
	Seve Ballesteros	76-81=157	+13
Dale Douglass	79-78=157
Bob Shearer	75-82=157
Bob Zender	78-80=158	+14
Frank Beard	82-77=159	+15
Jeff Hewes	78-81=159
Dave Hill	79-80=159
Alan Pate	84-80=164	+20
Bob Wynn	84-80=164

Source:^[9]

References

External links

• The Players Championship website