1983 Tournament Players Championship

The 1983 Tournament Players Championship was a golf tournament in Florida on the PGA Tour, held March 24–28 at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, southeast of Jacksonville. It was the tenth Tournament Players Championship.

Heavy rains on Thursday delayed the start until Friday, with the final two rounds planned for Sunday.^[2] Thunderstorms on Sunday morning allowed only the third round to be completed,^[3] and the final round was held on Monday.^[4]

Hal Sutton, age 24, came from four strokes back with a final round 69 to win his second tour event, one stroke ahead of runner-up Bob Eastwood.^[4][5] Later in the year, Sutton won his only major title, the PGA Championship in August at Riviera.

Defending champion Jerry Pate withdrew before the start, due to a lingering neck injury.^[6][7]

Sutton became the youngest champion of the TPC, formerly Mark Hayes, 27 in 1977. It was only for a year, as Fred Couples was five months younger at his win in 1984.

Venue

This was the second Tournament Players Championship held at the TPC at Sawgrass Stadium Course and it remained at 6,857 yards (6,270 m). Despite refinements in the past year, the Pete Dye-designed course continued to be scrutinized by many.^{[8][9][10][11]}

Eligibility requirements

1. Top 125 players on Final 1982 Official Money List
2. Players who appear in Top 25 on 1983 Official Money List as of March 14, 1981
3. Leading 1982 Official Money Winner on the Senior PGA Tour
4. All designated players
5. Any foreign player who meets the requirements of a designated Player, whether or not he is a PGA Tour member
6. Past winners of the Tournament Players Championship, World Series of Golf, PGA Championship, Masters Tournament and U.S. Open since 1973
7. Three "special selections," as determined by TPC Committee

Source:^[12]

Field

John Adams, Isao Aoki, George Archer, Seve Ballesteros, Miller Barber, Andy Bean, Chip Beck, Woody Blackburn, Jim Booros, Bill Britton, Brad Bryant, George Burns, Bob Byman, Rex Caldwell, Antonio Cerda Jr., Bobby Clampett, Lennie Clements, Jim Colbert, Bobby Cole, Frank Conner, Charles Coody, John Cook, Fred Couples, Ben Crenshaw, Jim Dent, Bruce Devlin, Terry Diehl, Mike Donald, Bob Eastwood, Danny Edwards, David Edwards, Dave Eichelberger, Lee Elder, Nick Faldo, Keith Fergus, Forrest Fezler, Ed Fiori, Bruce Fleisher, Raymond Floyd, John Fought, Al Geiberger, Gibby Gilbert, Bob Gilder, David Graham, Lou Graham, Thomas Gray, Hubert Green, Jay Haas, Gary Hallberg, Dan Halldorson, Phil Hancock, Morris Hatalsky, Vance Heafner, Lon Hinkle, Scott Hoch, Mike Holland, Joe Inman, Hale Irwin, Peter Jacobsen, Barry Jaeckel, Tom Jenkins, Tom Kite, Gary Koch, Wayne Levi, Bruce Lietzke, Pat Lindsey, Mark Lye, John Mahaffey, Roger Maltbie, Mike McCullough, Mark McCumber, Pat McGowan, Mark McNulty, Steve Melnyk, Allen Miller, Johnny Miller, Jeff Mitchell, Larry Mize, Gil Morgan, Jodie Mudd, Bob Murphy, Tsuneyuki Nakajima, Jim Nelford, Larry Nelson, Jack Nicklaus, Mike Nicolette, Greg Norman, Tim Norris, Andy North, Mark O'Meara, Peter Oosterhuis, Arnold Palmer, Calvin Peete, Mark Pfeil, Dan Pohl, Don Pooley, Greg Powers, Tom Purtzer, Victor Regalado, Mike Reid, Jack Renner, Bill Rogers, Clarence Rose, Bob Shearer, Jim Simons, Scott Simpson, Tim Simpson, J. C. Snead, Ed Sneed, Craig Stadler, Payne Stewart, Curtis Strange, Ron Streck, Mike Sullivan, Hal Sutton, Doug Tewell, Leonard Thompson, Jim Thorpe, Lee Trevino, Howard Twitty, Tommy Valentine, Bobby Wadkins, Lanny Wadkins, Denis Watson, Tom Watson, D. A. Weibring, Tom Weiskopf, Larry Ziegler, Fuzzy Zoeller

• Defending champion Jerry Pate withdrew due to a lingering neck injury.^[6][7]

Round summaries

First round

Friday, March 25, 1983

Rain washed out play on Thursday, and the final two rounds were rescheduled for Sunday.

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Bruce Lietzke	68	−4
T2	Bobby Clampett	69	−3
	John Cook
	Bob Eastwood
	Mark McCumber
	Leonard Thompson
T7	Ben Crenshaw	70	−2
	Danny Edwards
	Raymond Floyd
	Peter Oosterhuis
	Tom Weiskopf

Source:^[13]

Second round

Saturday, March 26, 1983

With two rounds planned for Sunday, the cut was set at 149 (+5), reducing the field to 67. The eight players on 150, who would normally have made the cut, received prize money.

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	John Cook	69-70=139	−5
T2	Bobby Clampett	69-72=141	−3
	Peter Jacobsen	73-68=141
	Don Pooley	71-70=141
	J. C. Snead	71-70=141
6	Bob Murphy	72-70=142	−2
T7	Lennie Clements	73-70=143	−1
	Vance Heafner	72-71=143
	Bruce Lietzke	68-75=143
	Tsuneyuki Nakajima	71-72=143

Source:^[14]

Third round

Sunday, March 27, 1983

Officials had hoped to complete the event with 36 holes on Sunday.^[2] Thunderstorms in the morning delayed play for three hours, and the final round was moved to Monday.^[3]

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	John Cook	69-70-71=210	−6
2	Bobby Clampett	69-72-70=211	−5
3	Vance Heafner	72-71-69=212	−4
T4	Ben Crenshaw	70-74-69=213	−3
	Peter Jacobsen	73-68-72=213
	Don Pooley	71-70-72=213
T7	Bruce Lietzke	68-75-71=214	−2
	Hal Sutton	73-71-70=214
9	Bob Eastwood	69-75-71=215	−1
T10	Keith Fergus	74-71-71=216	E
	Ed Fiori	72-73-71=216
	Gil Morgan	74-72-70=216
	Tsuneyuki Nakajima	71-72-73=216
	J. C. Snead	71-70-75=216

Source:^[15]

Final round

Monday, March 28, 1983

Champion

(c) = past champion

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
1	Hal Sutton	73-71-70-69=283	−5	126,000
2	Bob Eastwood	69-75-71-69=284	−4	75,600
T3	John Cook	69-70-71-75=285	−3	36,400
	Bruce Lietzke	68-75-71-71=285
	John Mahaffey	72-74-72-67=285
T6	Vance Heafner	72-71-69-74=286	−2	24,325
	Doug Tewell	72-74-70-70=286
T8	Ed Fiori	72-73-71-71=287	−1	21,000
	Curtis Strange	72-75-70-70=287
T10	Bobby Clampett	69-72-70-77=288	E	17,500
	Ben Crenshaw	70-74-69-75=288
	Don Pooley	71-70-72-75=288

Leaderboard below the top 10
Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
T13	Keith Fergus	74-71-71-73=289	+1	13,533
	Wayne Levi	72-74-71-72=289
	Larry Mize	72-76-72-69=289
T16	Peter Jacobsen	73-68-72-77=290	+2	11,200
	Johnny Miller	73-73-73-71=290
	Tsuneyuki Nakajima	71-72-73-74=290
T19	Lennie Clements	73-70-74-74=291	+3	8,785
	Jack Nicklaus (c)	73-76-68-74=291
	Tom Purtzer	71-73-76-71=291
	Tom Watson	75-74-70-72=291
T23	Terry Diehl	73-71-75-73=292	+4	6,440
	Raymond Floyd (c)	70-76-72-74=292
	Barry Jaeckel	73-71-74-74=292
	Gil Morgan	74-72-70-76=292
T27	Danny Edwards	70-77-73-73=293	+5	4,970
	Bruce Fleisher	73-75-75-70=293
	Tom Kite	72-75-73-73=293
	Mike McCullough	74-74-73-72=293
	Leonard Thompson	69-76-74-74=293
T32	Joe Inman	72-72-74-76=294	+6	4,142
	Bob Murphy	72-70-77-75=294
	J. C. Snead	71-70-75-78=294
T35	John Adams	74-74-76-71=295	+7	3,304
	Seve Ballesteros	72-75-70-78=295
	David Edwards	72-75-73-75=295
	Nick Faldo	74-74-72-75=295
	Bob Gilder	72-73-74-76=295
	David Graham	73-72-74-76=295
	Calvin Peete	73-73-77-72=295
42	Allen Miller	75-74-72-75=296	+8	2,730
T43	Isao Aoki	75-74-75-73=297	+9	2,244
	Frank Conner	73-75-75-74=297
	Dave Eichelberger	76-73-73-75=297
	Gary Koch	77-71-79-70=297
	Tim Norris	74-74-76-73=297
	Peter Oosterhuis	70-78-73-76=297
T49	Charles Coody	76-72-79-71=298	+10	1,727
	Hale Irwin	75-72-72-79=298
	Mark McCumber	69-77-75-77=298
	Mark O'Meara	71-77-74-76=298
	Bobby Wadkins	72-75-74-77=298
T54	Arnold Palmer	77-72-76-74=299	+11	1,617
	Jim Thorpe	73-75-77-74=299
T56	Al Geiberger (c)	72-74-74-80=300	+12	1,568
	Gibby Gilbert	72-74-75-79=300
	Lon Hinkle	74-73-73-80=300
	Ron Streck	71-77-76-76=300
	Tom Weiskopf	70-77-81-72=300
T61	Jim Nelford	72-77-72-80=301	+13	1,519
	Scott Simpson	75-74-76-76=301
T63	Greg Norman	71-77-76-78=302	+14	1,498
	Craig Stadler	74-74-70-84=302
65	Mark Pfeil	71-75-81-77=304	+16	1,470
66	Jim Colbert	72-77-83-73=305	+17	1,456
WD	Mike Nicolette	73-71-79=223	+7	1,442
T68	Jim Dent	75-75=150	+6	1,379
	Tom Jenkins	79-71=150
	Roger Maltbie	71-79=150
	Bill Rogers	74-76=150
	Bob Shearer	78-72=150
	Jim Simons	73-77=150
	Lee Trevino (c)	77-73=150
	Howard Twitty	78-72=150
CUT	Chip Beck	75-76=151	+7
	Thomas Gray	76-75=151
	Hubert Green	74-77=151
	Scott Hoch	77-74=151
	Pat Lindsey	78-73=151
	Mark McNulty	73-78=151
	Dan Pohl	76-75=151
	Clarence Rose	76-75=151
	Ed Sneed	75-76=151
	Brad Bryant	75-77=152	+8
	George Burns	78-74=152
	Rex Caldwell	71-81=152
	Lee Elder	77-75=152
	Forrest Fezler	78-74=152
	John Fought	76-76=152
	Dan Halldorson	78-74=152
	Phil Hancock	77-75=152
	Steve Melnyk	79-73=152
	Tim Simpson	75-77=152
	George Archer	75-78=153	+9
	Antonio Cerda Jr.	74-79=153
	Jack Renner	78-75=153
	Miller Barber	77-77=154	+10
	Woody Blackburn	75-79=154
	Bruce Devlin	76-78=154
	Mike Donald	78-76=154
	Gary Hallberg	76-78=154
	Morris Hatalsky	76-78=154
	Pat McGowan	80-74=154
	D. A. Weibring	80-74=154
	Andy North	77-78=155	+11
	Tommy Valentine	73-82=155
	Andy Bean	73-83=156	+12
	Bill Britton	79-77=156
	Mark Lye	74-82=156
	Payne Stewart	78-78=156
	Lanny Wadkins (c)	76-80=156
	Denis Watson	79-78=157	+13
	Mike Reid	82-76=158	+14
	Jeff Mitchell	81-78=159	+15
	Larry Ziegler	75-84=159
	Jodie Mudd	78-82=160	+16
	Jim Booros	82-79=161	+17
	Bob Byman	80-81=161
	Mike Holland	75-86=161
	Larry Nelson	83-78=161
	Greg Powers	84-78=162	+18
	Fuzzy Zoeller	82-80=162
	Victor Regalado	83-80=163	+19
	Bobby Cole	86-79=165	+21
	Fred Couples	81-84=165
WD	Lou Graham	77	+5
	Jay Haas	80	+8
DQ	Mike Sullivan	76	+4

Source:^[16]

References

External links

• The Players Championship website