Jump to content

1987 Tournament Players Championship

Coordinates: 30°11′53″N 81°23′38″W / 30.198°N 81.394°W / 30.198; -81.394
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1987 Tournament Players Championship
Tournament information
DatesMarch 26–29, 1987
LocationPonte Vedra Beach, Florida
30°11′53″N 81°23′38″W / 30.198°N 81.394°W / 30.198; -81.394
Course(s)TPC Sawgrass,
Stadium Course
Tour(s)PGA Tour
Statistics
Par72
Length6,857 yards (6,270 m)[1]
Field144 players, 72 after cut
Cut143 (−1)
Prize fund$1.0 million
Winner's share$180,000
Champion
Scotland Sandy Lyle
274 (−14), playoff
Location map
TPC Sawgrass is located in the United States
TPC Sawgrass
TPC Sawgrass
Location in the United States
TPC Sawgrass is located in Florida
TPC Sawgrass
TPC Sawgrass
Location in Florida
← 1986
1988 →

The 1987 Tournament Players Championship was a golf tournament in Florida on the PGA Tour, held March 26–29 at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, southeast of Jacksonville. It was the fourteenth Tournament Players Championship.

Sandy Lyle of Scotland defeated Jeff Sluman on the third hole of a sudden-death playoff to become the first international player to win the title.[2][3][4] Rains had softened the course and led to favorable scoring;[5] the 36-hole cut of 143 (−1) was the lowest until 1993.

At the second playoff hole, the par-3 17th "Island Green," an unruly spectator jumped into the water as Sluman was addressing his six-foot (1.8 m) birdie putt for the win. After order was restored, he missed and they went to third extra hole at 18. Both found the fairway with their tee shots but both approaches went deep. Sluman couldn't save par from twelve feet (3.7 m) while Lyle made his from seven feet (2.1 m) to end it.[2][3][5]

This was the second playoff at the Tournament Players Championship, but the first at the Stadium Course. This year also marked the championship's first seven-figure purse and its last with "Tournament" in the title.

Defending champion John Mahaffey finished ten strokes back, in a tie for 32nd place.

Venue

[edit]

This was the sixth Tournament Players Championship held at the TPC at Sawgrass Stadium Course and it remained at 6,857 yards (6,270 m).[1]

Eligibility requirements

[edit]

1. Top 126 players, if PGA Tour members, from Final 1986 Official Money List:

Greg Norman, Bob Tway, Payne Stewart, Andy Bean, Dan Pohl, Hal Sutton, Tom Kite, Ben Crenshaw, Raymond Floyd, Bernhard Langer, John Mahaffey, Calvin Peete, Fuzzy Zoeller, Joey Sindelar, Jim Thorpe, Ken Green, Larry Mize, Doug Tewell, Corey Pavin, Tom Watson, Mike Hulbert, Don Pooley, Lanny Wadkins, Kenny Knox, Mark Wiebe, John Cook, Donnie Hammond, Paul Azinger, Mark O'Meara, Tim Simpson, Curtis Strange, Bobby Wadkins, Jack Nicklaus, Nick Price, Scott Hoch, Tom Purtzer, Chip Beck, Roger Maltbie, Scott Simpson, Gene Sauers, Phil Blackmar, Clarence Rose, Jay Haas, David Frost, Bruce Lietzke, Jodie Mudd, Bob Murphy, Gary Koch, Steve Pate, Willie Wood, Craig Stadler, Dan Forsman, D. A. Weibring, Ronnie Black, Howard Twitty, Mark Calcavecchia, Wayne Levi, Jeff Sluman, Rick Fehr, J. C. Snead, Sandy Lyle, Pat McGowan, Mike Reid, Danny Edwards, Ernie Gonzalez, Larry Nelson, Dave Barr, David Edwards, Bill Glasson, Hubert Green, Mark Hayes, Brian Claar, Fred Couples, Davis Love III, Peter Jacobsen, Lennie Clements, Mark McCumber, Jim Colbert, Mike Donald, Morris Hatalsky, Bob Gilder, Lon Hinkle, Bobby Clampett, David Graham, Brett Upper, Brad Faxon, Buddy Gardner, Russ Cochran, Tom Byrum, Blaine McCallister, Bobby Cole, Charlie Bolling, TC Chen, Lee Trevino, Bob Lohr, Jack Renner, Dan Halldorson, Leonard Thompson, Dave Rummells, George Archer, Barry Jaeckel, Larry Rinker, Jim Gallagher Jr., Curt Byrum, Dick Mast, Ken Brown, Mark Lye, George Burns, David Ogrin, Chris Perry, Fred Wadsworth, Andy Dillard, Bob Eastwood, Johnny Miller, Ed Fiori, Andrew Magee, Gary Hallberg, Mark Pfeil, Jay Delsing, John Adams, Tom Sieckmann, Antonio Cerda, Jr.

Source:[6]

2. Designated players

Andy North

3. Any foreign player meeting the requirements of a designated player, whether or not he is a PGA Tour member

Seve Ballesteros

4. Winners in the last 10 calendar years of the Tournament Players Championship, PGA Championship, U.S. Open, Masters Tournament and World Series of Golf

Hale Irwin, Bill Rogers

5. The leader in Senior PGA Tour official earnings of 1986

Source:[7]

6. The three players, not otherwise eligible, designated by the TPC Committee as "special selections"

Rodger Davis, Dave Stockton

7. To complete a field of 144 players, those players in order, not otherwise eligible, from the 1987 Official Money List, as of the completion of the USF&G Classic, March 22, 1987

Isao Aoki, Keith Clearwater, Steve Elkington, Sam Randolph, Brad Fabel, Bill Sander, Tsuneyuki Nakajima, Steve Jones, Rick Dalpos, Rocco Mediate, Jay Don Blake, John Inman, Mark Brooks, Denis Watson, Richard Zokol, Mike Nicolette

Source:[8]

General source:[9]

Round summaries

[edit]

First round

[edit]

Thursday, March 26, 1987
Friday, March 27, 1987

Place Player Score To par
1 United States Steve Jones 66 −6
T2 United States Bob Eastwood 67 −5
United States Brad Fabel
Scotland Sandy Lyle
Australia Greg Norman
T6 Japan Isao Aoki 68 −4
United States Paul Azinger
United States Mark Brooks
United States Hale Irwin
United States Wayne Levi
United States Blaine McCallister
United States Mark O'Meara
United States Chris Perry
United States Dan Pohl
United States Dave Rummells
United States Gene Sauers
United States Hal Sutton

Source:[10][11]

Second round

[edit]

Friday, March 27, 1987
Saturday, March 28, 1987

Place Player Score To par
T1 United States Steve Jones 66-67=133 −11
United States Mark O'Meara 68-65=133
T3 United States Dan Pohl 68-66=134 −10
United States Scott Simpson 69-65=134
T5 United States Brad Fabel 67-68=135 −9
Australia Greg Norman 67-68=135
T7 United States Hale Irwin 68-68=136 −8
United States Tom Purtzer 69-67=136
United States Jeff Sluman 70-66=136
10 United States Curt Byrum 69-68=137 −7

Source:[10][12]

Third round

[edit]

Saturday, March 28, 1987

Place Player Score To par
T1 United States Mark O'Meara 68-65-69=202 −14
United States Scott Simpson 69-65-68=202
T3 United States Ben Crenshaw 70-68-66=204 −12
Scotland Sandy Lyle 67-71-66=204
5 United States Jeff Sluman 70-66-69=205 −11
6 United States Paul Azinger 68-70-68=206 −10
United States Bill Glasson 69-69-68=206
Australia Greg Norman 67-68-71=206
9 Zimbabwe Nick Price 71-68-68=207 −9
10 United States Tom Purtzer 69-67-72=208 −8

Source:[12]

Final round

[edit]

Sunday, March 29, 1987

On the 72nd hole, Lyle and Sluman both made birdie putts to finish at 274 (−14) and advanced to the playoff.[2][3][5]

Champion
(c) = past champion
Place Player Score To par Money ($)
T1 Scotland Sandy Lyle 67-71-66-70=274 −14 Playoff
United States Jeff Sluman 70-66-69-69=274
3 United States Mark O'Meara 68-65-69-73=275 −13 68,000
T4 Australia Greg Norman 67-68-71-70=276 −12 44,000
United States Scott Simpson 69-65-68-74=276
6 United States Paul Azinger 68-70-68-71=277 −11 36,000
T7 United States Bill Glasson 69-69-68-72=278 −10 32,250
United States Dan Pohl 68-66-75-69=278
T9 United States Ben Crenshaw 70-68-66-75=279 −9 27,000
United States Tom Kite 72-70-67-70=279
United States Tom Purtzer 69-67-72-71=279

Source:[13]

Playoff

[edit]
Place Player Score To par Money ($)
1 Scotland Sandy Lyle 5-3-4=12 E 180,000
2 United States Jeff Sluman 5-3-5=13 +1 108,000
  • The sudden-death playoff began on hole 16, went to 17, and ended at 18.
Scorecard
[edit]
Hole  16   17   18 
Par 5 3 4
Scotland Lyle E E E
United States Sluman E E +1

Source:[2]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Tournament Players Championship". Toledo Blade. (Ohio). Associated Press. March 30, 1987. p. 22.
  2. ^ a b c d "Lyle takes TPC with playoff win". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. March 30, 1987. p. 2C.
  3. ^ a b c Loomis, Tom (March 30, 1987). "Lyle ducks rain, competition for extra-hole victory in TPC". Toledo Blade. (Ohio). p. 20.
  4. ^ Hanley, Reid (March 30, 1987). "Lyle bags the TPC in playoff". Chicago Tribune. p. 8, sec. 3.
  5. ^ a b c Ballard, Sarah (April 6, 1987). "Taming a toothless tiger". Sports Illustrated. p. 128.
  6. ^ "Official Money – 1986". PGA Tour. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
  7. ^ "Charles Schwab Cup Money List". PGA Tour. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
  8. ^ "Official Money | PGA TOUR Stats". PGATour. Retrieved September 1, 2021.
  9. ^ "1987 PGA Tour Media Guide" (PDF). PGA Tour. p. 305. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 24, 2020.
  10. ^ a b "Weather still leads TPC". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. March 28, 1987. p. 7C.
  11. ^ "Norman storms into TPC's lead". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. March 27, 1987. p. 2B.
  12. ^ a b "O'Meara tramps 27 holes for lead". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. March 29, 1987. p. 8D.
  13. ^ "Past Results 1974 – present". PGA Tour. Archived from the original on September 1, 2020. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
[edit]