1981 Tournament Players Championship

Golf tournament

Sawgrass CC

Location in the United States

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Sawgrass CC

Location in Florida

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The 1981 Tournament Players Championship was a golf tournament in Florida on the PGA Tour, held March 19–23 at Sawgrass Country Club in Ponte Vedra Beach, southeast of Jacksonville. The eighth Tournament Players Championship, it was the fifth consecutive at Sawgrass and the champion was Raymond Floyd.

The final round on Sunday was washed-out by thunderstorms and played on Monday.^[2] After 72 holes, three players were tied at 285 (−3): Floyd, Barry Jaeckel, and Curtis Strange. The playoff began at the par-3 15th hole, where Floyd made par and the other two had bogeys.^[3]^[4]

In addition to the winner's share of $72,000, Floyd won a $250,000 bonus for consecutive victories during the tour's Florida swing; he won at Doral near Miami the previous week.^[3]^[4]

Defending champion Lee Trevino finished four strokes back, in a tie for twelfth place.

Venue

This was the fifth and last Tournament Players Championship held at Sawgrass Country Club; it moved to the nearby TPC at Sawgrass Stadium Course in 1982. The new course was scheduled to make its debut in 1981,^[5]^[6] but heavy rains during construction pushed it back a year.^[7]

Eligibility requirements

1. All designated players

2. Winners of major PGA Tour co-sponsored or approved events beginning with the 1980 Tournament Players Championship and concluding with the tournament immediately preceding the 1981 TPC

Lee Trevino, Doug Tewell, Craig Stadler, Seve Ballesteros, Roger Maltbie, Tom Watson (3), Mark Pfeil, Curtis Strange, Bruce Lietzke, David Graham, John Mahaffey, Larry Nelson, Jack Nicklaus, Bob Gilder, Scott Simpson, Billy Kratzert, Scott Hoch, Howard Twitty, Peter Jacobsen, Don Pooley, Wayne Levi, Phil Hancock, Ben Crenshaw, Mike Sullivan, Dan Halldorson, Danny Edwards, David Edwards, Johnny Miller, John Cook, Hale Irwin, Andy Bean, Tom Kite, Raymond Floyd

3. The current British Open champion

4. Leaders in the PGA Tour Official Standings as necessary to complete the field, beginning with the 1980 TPC and concluding with the Jackie Gleason-Inverrary Classic, which concludes March 8, 1981

Source:^[8]

Field

John Adams, Buddy Allin, Wally Armstrong, Butch Baird, Seve Ballesteros, Miller Barber, Andy Bean, Chip Beck, Mike Brannan, Brad Bryant, George Burns, George Cadle, Rex Caldwell, Bill Calfee, Roger Calvin, Antonio Cerda Jr., Jon Chaffee, Bobby Clampett, Jim Colbert, Bobby Cole, Frank Conner, Charles Coody, John Cook, Ben Crenshaw, Rod Curl, Jim Dent, Bruce Devlin, Terry Diehl, Mike Donald, Bruce Douglass, Skip Dunaway, Bob Eastwood, Danny Edwards, David Edwards, Dave Eichelberger, Lee Elder, Keith Fergus, Ed Fiori, Raymond Floyd, John Fought, Buddy Gardner, Gibby Gilbert, Bob Gilder, Jaime Gonzalez, Mike Gove, David Graham, Lou Graham, Hubert Green, Jay Haas, Joe Hager, Gary Hallberg, Dan Halldorson, Phil Hancock, Morris Hatalsky, Mark Hayes, Vance Heafner, Dave Hill, Lon Hinkle, Scott Hoch, Joe Inman, Hale Irwin, Peter Jacobsen, Barry Jaeckel, Tom Jenkins, Grier Jones, Gary Koch, Billy Kratzert, Wayne Levi, Bruce Lietzke, Gene Littler, Lyn Lott, Mark Lye, John Mahaffey, Roger Maltbie, Rik Massengale, Terry Mauney, Mike McCullough, Mark McCumber, Jerry McGee, Pat McGowan, Artie McNickle, Steve Melnyk, Johnny Miller, Jeff Mitchell, Gil Morgan, Mike Morley, Bob Murphy, Jim Nelford, Larry Nelson, Jack Newton, Bobby Nichols, Jack Nicklaus, Mike Nicolette, Lonnie Nielsen, Andy North, Mark O'Meara, Peter Oosterhuis, Arnold Palmer, Jerry Pate, Calvin Peete, Mark Pfeil, Gary Player, Dan Pohl, Don Pooley, Greg Powers, Tom Purtzer, Dana Quigley, Sammy Rachels, Victor Regalado, Mike Reid, Jack Renner, Chi-Chi Rodríguez, Bill Rogers, Mark Rohde, John Schroeder, Bob Shearer, Jim Simons, Scott Simpson, Tim Simpson, J. C. Snead, Ed Sneed, Mick Soli, Craig Stadler, Dave Stockton, Curtis Strange, Ron Streck, Mike Sullivan, Alan Tapie, Doug Tewell, Barney Thompson, Leonard Thompson, Jim Thorpe, Lee Trevino, Howard Twitty, Tommy Valentine, Bobby Wadkins, Lanny Wadkins, Bobby Walzel, Tom Watson, D. A. Weibring, Tom Weiskopf, Larry Ziegler, Fuzzy Zoeller

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, March 20, 1981

Place	Player	Score	To par
T1	Dave Eichelberger	68	−4
T1	Mike Morley	68	−4
T3	Jim Dent	69	−3
T3	Barry Jaeckel	69	−3
T5	Dan Halldorson	70	−2
T5	Mike Sullivan	70	−2
T7	Gary Hallberg	71	−1
	Roger Maltbie
	Johnny Miller
	Gil Morgan
	Mark O'Meara
	Tom Purtzer
	Leonard Thompson

Source:^[9]

Second round

Friday, March 20, 1981

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Barry Jaeckel	69-70=139	−5
T2	Danny Edwards	72-68=140	−4
T2	Dan Halldorson	70-70=140	−4
4	Jim Simons	73-68=141	−3
5	Jim Dent	69-73=142	−2
T6	John Mahaffey	73-70=143	−1
T6	Jack Nicklaus	75-68=143	−1
T8	Dave Eichelberger	68-76=144	E
	Gary Hallberg	71-73=144
	Mark O'Meara	71-73=144
	Dan Pohl	72-72=144
	Tom Purtzer	71-73=144
	Curtis Strange	72-72=144

Source:^[10]

Third round

Saturday, March 21, 1981

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Barry Jaeckel	69-70-72=211	−5
T2	Dan Halldorson	70-70-74=214	−2
	John Mahaffey	73-70-71=214
	Jim Simons	73-68-73=214
5	Curtis Strange	72-72-71=215	−1
T6	Jim Colbert	78-69-69=216	E
	Frank Conner	74-72-70=216
	Gary Hallberg	71-73-72=216
	Bruce Lietzke	73-75-68=216
	Mark O'Meara	71-73-72=216
	Lee Trevino	73-73-70=216

Source:^[11]

Final round

Monday, March 23, 1981

Champion

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
T1	Raymond Floyd	72-74-71-68=285	−3	Playoff
	Barry Jaeckel	69-70-72-74=285
	Curtis Strange	72-72-71-70=285
T4	Miller Barber	72-78-69-68=287	−1	15,750
	Jim Colbert	78-69-69-71=287
	Bruce Lietzke	73-75-68-71=287
	Jim Simons	73-68-73-73=287
T8	Frank Conner	74-72-70-72=288	E	11,200
	Gary Hallberg	71-73-72-72=288
	Dan Halldorson	70-70-74-74=288
	Leonard Thompson	71-76-72-69=288

Leaderboard below the top 10
Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
T12	Bobby Clampett	75-73-71-70=289	+1	7,371
	Grier Jones	73-73-73-70=289
	Gil Morgan	71-78-73-67=289
	Mike Morley	68-77-72-72=289
	Jack Renner	73-73-72-71=289
	Ron Streck	72-74-72-71=289
	Lee Trevino (c)	73-73-70-73=289
T19	John Mahaffey	73-70-71-76=290	+2	4,680
	Tom Purtzer	71-73-74-72=290
	Dave Stockton	74-73-70-73=290
	Barney Thompson	73-73-71-73=290
	Bobby Walzel	73-72-73-72=290
	Tom Weiskopf	76-74-69-71=290
25	Danny Edwards	72-68-78-73=291	+3	3,520
T26	Dave Eichelberger	68-76-74-74=292	+4	3,080
	Wayne Levi	74-76-72-70=292
	Mark O'Meara	71-73-72-76=292
T29	Seve Ballesteros	77-69-72-75=293	+5	2,600
	Charles Coody	74-74-75-70=293
	Jay Haas	72-73-75-73=293
	Jack Nicklaus (c)	75-68-74-76=293
	Calvin Peete	74-76-71-72=293
T34	Jim Dent	69-74-77-74=294	+6	2,160
	Mark Hayes (c)	74-72-75-73=294
	Jerry McGee	72-75-74-73=294
T37	Buddy Allin	75-72-73-75=295	+7	1,680
	Hubert Green	72-75-72-76=295
	Scott Hoch	75-76-73-71=295
	Joe Inman	76-72-69-78=295
	Billy Kratzert	76-73-71-75=295
	Johnny Miller	71-74-76-74=295
	Howard Twitty	77-74-71-73=295
	Bobby Wadkins	77-71-73-74=295
T45	Roger Maltbie	71-77-71-77=296	+8	1,144
	Mark McCumber	74-75-75-72=296
	Pat McGowan	73-75-72-76=296
	Arnold Palmer	75-74-74-73=296
	Jerry Pate	75-76-73-72=296
	Dan Pohl	72-72-76-76=296
T51	Lee Elder	75-75-76-71=297	+9	947
	Ed Fiori	75-76-71-75=297
	Hale Irwin	72-75-78-72=297
	Bill Rogers	73-74-71-79=297
	D. A. Weibring	72-73-78-74=297
T56	Rex Caldwell	72-75-73-78=298	+10	900
	Skip Dunaway	78-72-74-74=298
	Keith Fergus	75-74-74-75=298
	Tom Jenkins	74-77-72-75=298
T60	Peter Oosterhuis	75-76-72-76=299	+11	872
	Mark Pfeil	80-70-72-77=299
	Mick Soli	73-78-74-74=299
T63	Ben Crenshaw	74-73-77-76=300	+12	848
	Bob Gilder	73-74-78-75=300
	Mike Sullivan	70-78-75-77=300
T66	Lonnie Nielsen	76-75-73-77=301	+13	824
	Don Pooley	78-71-78-74=301
	John Schroeder	76-75-75-75=301
T69	Mike Gove	79-72-73-79=303	+15	804
T69	Andy North	73-76-74-80=303	+15	804
71	Bruce Douglass	73-76-79-76=304	+16	792
72	Lou Graham	77-74-77-78=306	+18	784
73	Rik Massengale	77-74-81-75=307	+19	776
74	Jim Thorpe	73-77-81-78=309	+21	768
CUT	John Adams	75-77=152	+8
	John Cook	76-76=152
	Terry Diehl	74-78=152
	David Edwards	77-75=152
	Gibby Gilbert	78-74=152
	Vance Heafner	78-74=152
	Gene Littler	77-75=152
	Artie McNickle	79-73=152
	Larry Nelson	74-78=152
	Dana Quigley	74-78=152
	Scott Simpson	78-74=152
	Tim Simpson	75-77=152
	Craig Stadler	75-77=152
	Tom Watson	72-80=152
	Larry Ziegler	74-78=152
	Mike Brannan	73-80=153	+9
	Jon Chaffee	78-75=153
	Morris Hatalsky	76-77=153
	Lyn Lott	78-75=153
	Mark Lye	79-74=153
	Steve Melnyk	77-76=153
	Ed Sneed	76-77=153
	Lanny Wadkins (c)	79-74=153
	John Fought	77-77=154	+10
	Jaime Gonzalez	77-77=154
	Phil Hancock	77-77=154
	Gary Player	79-75=154
	Bob Shearer	79-75=154
	Bob Eastwood	77-78=155	+11
	Terry Mauney	78-77=155
	Jeff Mitchell	80-75=155
	Bob Murphy	78-77=155
	Jack Newton	74-81=155
	Victor Regalado	76-79=155
	Fuzzy Zoeller	79-76=155
	Roger Calvin	76-80=156	+12
	Bobby Nichols	77-79=156
	Alan Tapie	74-82=156
	Tommy Valentine	83-73=156
	George Cadle	78-79=157	+13
	Buddy Gardner	79-78=157
	Mike Nicolette	75-82=157
	Chi-Chi Rodríguez	77-80=157
	Doug Tewell	77-80=157
	Mike McCullough	80-78=158	+14
	Greg Powers	81-77=158	+14
	Bill Calfee	80-79=159	+15
	Bruce Devlin	81-78=159
	Joe Hager	75-84=159
	Dave Hill	80-79=159
	Gary Koch	81-78=159
	Jim Nelford	81-78=159
	Mike Reid	81-78=159
	Wally Armstrong	82-78=160	+16
	Peter Jacobsen	77-83=160
	Sammy Rachels	81-79=160
	Brad Bryant	86-75=161	+17
	Mark Rohde	76-85=161	+17
	Rod Curl	82-80=162	+18
	David Graham	82-80=162	+18
	Butch Baird	81-82=163	+19
	Chip Beck	76-87=163
	Antonio Cerda Jr.	78-85=163
	Mike Donald	83-83=166	+22
Lon Hinkle	86-81=167	+23
WD	Bobby Cole	75	+3
	George Burns	76	+4
	Andy Bean	78	+6
	J. C. Snead	80	+8

Source:^[12]

Playoff

The sudden-death playoff began and ended at the par-3 15th hole.

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
1	Raymond Floyd	3	E	72,000
T2	Barry Jaeckel	4	+1	35,200
T2	Curtis Strange	4	+1	35,200

References

^ "TPC results". Tuscaloosa News. (Alabama). Associated Press. March 24, 1981. p. 10.
^ "Thunderstorms postpone TPC". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. (Florida). Associated Press. March 23, 1981. p. 3-D.
^ ^a ^b "Floyd wins playoff for record payoff - $322,000". Chicago Tribune. wire services. March 24, 1981. p. 3, sec. 6.
^ ^a ^b "Floyd recoups his losses, takes golf's biggest check". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. March 24, 1981. p. 4C.
^ "Trevino says TPC no major, but he beat the best to win". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). UPI. March 24, 1980. p. 5C.
^ Jenkins, Dan (March 31, 1980). "Seems like old times". Sports Illustrated. p. 18.
^ McDermott, Barry (March 15, 1982). "Target golf is the aim". Sports Illustrated. p. 38.
^ "1981 PGA Tour Media Guide" (PDF). PGA Tour. p. 223. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 24, 2020.
^ "Eichelberger likes calm, but thrives in wind". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. March 20, 1981. p. 5B.
^ "Even TPC leader miffed by winds". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. March 21, 1981. p. 2B.
^ "Jaeckel anxious to take gut check". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. March 22, 1981. p. 9B.
^ "Past Results 1974 – present". PGA Tour. Archived from the original on September 1, 2020. Retrieved March 1, 2020.