1981 Tournament Players Championship
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.
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | March 19–23, 1981 |
| Location | Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida 30.189°N 81.370°W |
| Course(s) | Sawgrass Country Club, East-West course |
| Tour(s) | PGA Tour |
| Statistics | |
| Par | 72 |
| Length | 7,000 yards (6,400 m)[1] |
| Field | 143 players, 74 after cut |
| Cut | 151 (+7) |
| Prize fund | $440,000 |
| Winner's share | $72,000 |
| Champion | |
 | |
| 285 (−3), playoff | |
| Location Map | |
  Sawgrass CC Location in the United States  Sawgrass CC Location in Florida | |
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]
Field
John Adams, Bud 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 Rodriguez, 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
Source:[8]
Second round
Friday, March 20, 1981
| Place | Player | Country | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barry Jaeckel | | 69-70=139 | −5 |
| T2 | Danny Edwards | | 72-68=140 | −4 |
| Dan Halldorson | .svg.png){kind=small} | 70-70=140 | ||
| 4 | Jim Simons | | 73-68=141 | −3 |
| 5 | Jim Dent | | 69-73=142 | −2 |
| T6 | John Mahaffey | | 73-70=143 | −1 |
| Jack Nicklaus | | 75-68=143 | ||
| 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:[9]
Third round
Saturday, March 21, 1981
| Place | Player | Country | 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:[10]
Final round
Monday, March 23, 1981
| Champion |
| (c) = past champion |
| Place | Player | Country | 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 |
.svg.png){kind=small}
.svg.png){kind=small}
Source:[11]
Playoff
The sudden-death playoff began and ended at the par-3 15th hole.
| Place | Player | Country | Score | To par | Money ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Raymond Floyd | | 3 | E | 72,000 |
| T2 | Barry Jaeckel | | 4 | +1 | 35,200 |
| Curtis Strange | | 4 | +1 |
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.
- "Floyd wins playoff for record payoff - $322,000". Chicago Tribune. wire services. March 24, 1981. p. 3, sec. 6.
- "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.
- "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. Retrieved March 1, 2020.