1978 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 1978 Tournament Players Championship was a golf tournament in Florida on the PGA Tour, held March 16–19 at Sawgrass Country Club in Ponte Vedra Beach, southeast of Jacksonville. The fifth Tournament Players Championship, it was the second at Sawgrass and Jack Nicklaus won his third TPC title at 289 (+1), one stroke ahead of runner-up Lou Graham.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4] Both shot 75 (+3) in the windy final round and Nicklaus went without a birdie.^[1]^[3]

This was the fourth consecutive start for Nicklaus in 1978 that ended with a top-two finish: two wins and two second places.^[1]^[4] Four months later in July, he won his third Open Championship to become the first to win the TPC and a major title in the same calendar year, later joined by Hal Sutton (1983, PGA), Tiger Woods (2001, Masters), and Martin Kaymer (2014, U.S. Open).

Defending champion Mark Hayes finished eleven strokes back, in a tie for 28th place.

Venue

This was the second of five Tournament Players Championships held at Sawgrass Country Club; it moved to the nearby TPC at Sawgrass Stadium Course in 1982.

Eligibility requirements

All designated players
Winners of major PGA Tour co-sponsored or approved events beginning with the 1977 Tournament Players Championship and concluding with the tournament immediately preceding the 1978 TPC
The current British Open champion
Leaders In PGA Tour Official Standings as necessary to complete the field, beginning with the 1977 Tournament Players Championship and concluding with the tournament scheduled to end on the Sunday immediately preceding the 1978 TPC, the Florida Citrus Open

Source:^[5]

Field

Tommy Aaron, Sam Adams, Wally Armstrong, Butch Baird, Miller Barber, Andy Bean, Frank Beard, Don Bies, Homero Blancas, George Burns, George Cadle, Rex Caldwell, Bill Calfee, Billy Casper, Antonio Cerda Jr., Jim Colbert, Bobby Cole, Frank Conner, Charles Coody, Ben Crenshaw, Rod Curl, Jim Dent, Bruce Devlin, Terry Diehl, Ed Dougherty, Bob Eastwood, Danny Edwards, Dave Eichelberger, Lee Elder, Randy Erskine, Keith Fergus, Forrest Fezler, Raymond Floyd, Rod Funseth, Gibby Gilbert, Bob Gilder, David Graham, Lou Graham, Hubert Green, Gary Groh, Jay Haas, Phil Hancock, Morris Hatalsky, Dale Hayes, Mark Hayes, Jerry Heard, Mike Hill, Lon Hinkle, Joe Inman, Hale Irwin, Don Iverson, Peter Jacobsen, Barry Jaeckel, Don January, Tom Jenkins, Grier Jones, Tom Kite, George Knudson, Gary Koch, Billy Kratzert, Stan Lee, Wayne Levi, Bruce Lietzke, John Lister, Gene Littler, Lyn Lott, Mark Lye, John Mahaffey, Bill Mallon, Roger Maltbie, Graham Marsh, Fred Marti, Rik Massengale, Gary McCord, Mike McCullough, Jerry McGee, Mac McLendon, Artie McNickle, Steve Melnyk, Allen Miller, Johnny Miller, Jeff Mitchell, Florentino Molina, Orville Moody, Gil Morgan, Mike Morley, Bob Murphy, Larry Nelson, Dwight Nevil, Bobby Nichols, Jack Nicklaus, Andy North, Peter Oosterhuis, Arnold Palmer, Jerry Pate, Bob Payne, Eddie Pearce, Calvin Peete, Mark Pfeil, Gary Player, Don Pooley, Joe Porter, Tom Purtzer, Sammy Rachels, Victor Regalado, Mike Reid, Jack Renner, Chi Chi Rodriguez, Bill Rogers, John Schlee, John Schroeder, Tom Shaw, Bob Shearer, Dan Sikes, Jim Simons, Tim Simpson, Bob E. Smith, J. C. Snead, Ed Sneed, Craig Stadler, Ken Still, Dave Stockton, Curtis Strange, Ron Streck, Alan Tapie, Steve Taylor, Doug Tewell, Barney Thompson, Leonard Thompson, Lee Trevino, Howard Twitty, Bobby Wadkins, Lanny Wadkins, Art Wall Jr., Bobby Walzel, Tom Watson, Tom Weiskopf, Bob Wynn, Kermit Zarley, Bob Zender, Larry Ziegler, Fuzzy Zoeller

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, March 16, 1978

Place	Player	Score	To par
T1	Ben Crenshaw	70	−2
	Gibby Gilbert
	Gary Groh
	Jack Nicklaus
	Victor Regalado
	John Schroeder
	Bobby Wadkins
T8	Lou Graham	71	−1
	Joe Inman
	Artie McNickle
	Larry Nelson

Source:^[6]

Second round

Friday, March 17, 1978

Place	Player	Score	To par
T1	Ben Crenshaw	70-71=141	−3
	Lou Graham	71-70=141
	Jack Nicklaus	70-71=141
4	Larry Nelson	71-72=143	−1
5	John Mahaffey	72-72=144	E
T6	Mike Morley	72-73=145	+1
	Andy North	74-71=145
	John Schroeder	70-75=145
T9	Sam Adams	74-72=146	+2
	David Graham	72-74=146
	Joe Inman	71-75=146
	Artie McNickle	71-75=146
	Mac McLendon	72-74=146
	Florentino Molina	72-74=146
	Peter Oosterhuis	73-73=146

Source:^[7]

Third round

Saturday, March 18, 1978

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Jack Nicklaus	70-71-73=214	−2
2	Lou Graham	71-70-74=215	−1
T3	Ben Crenshaw	70-71-77=218	+2
T3	Larry Nelson	71-72-75=218	+2
T5	John Mahaffey	72-72-75=219	+3
T5	Andy North	74-71-74=219	+3
T7	Lon Hinkle	75-72-74=221	+5
	Mike McCullough	77-75-69=221
	Peter Oosterhuis	73-73-75=221
	John Schroeder	70-75-76=221
	Bob Shearer	74-75-72=221
	Bob Zender	75-73-73=221

Source:^[8]

Final round

Sunday, March 19, 1978

Champion

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
1	Jack Nicklaus (c)	70-71-73-75=289	+1	60,000
2	Lou Graham	71-70-74-75=290	+2	34,200
3	Lon Hinkle	75-72-74-70=291	+3	21,300
T4	Ben Crenshaw	70-71-77-74=292	+4	11,700
	Larry Nelson	71-72-75-74=292
	Andy North	74-71-74-73=292
	John Schroeder	70-75-76-71=292
8	Jim Colbert	74-74-74-72=294	+6	8,850
T9	Hubert Green	76-77-71-71=295	+7	7,500
	Peter Oosterhuis	73-73-75-74=295
	Victor Regalado	70-79-76-70=295

Leaderboard below the top 10
Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
T12	Jerry Heard	73-78-71-74=296	+8	5,460
	John Mahaffey	72-72-75-77=296
	Mike McCullough	77-75-69-75=296
	Florentino Molina	72-74-76-74=296
	Bobby Wadkins	70-79-73-74=296
T17	Lee Elder	75-76-75-71=297	+9	4,200
	Phil Hancock	73-74-75-75=297
	Jerry Pate	76-76-75-70=297
T20	Danny Edwards	75-73-75-75=298	+10	2,892
	David Graham	72-74-78-74=298
	Graham Marsh	73-76-73-76=298
	Mac McLendon	72-74-76-76=298
	Gil Morgan	73-77-76-72=298
	John Schlee	77-73-75-73=298
	Bob Shearer	74-75-72-77=298
27	Rod Funseth	74-73-78-74=299	+11	2,310
T28	Andy Bean	73-78-76-73=300	+12	1,791
	Keith Fergus	73-75-82-70=300
	Gibby Gilbert	70-77-79-74=300
	Mark Hayes (c)	73-77-77-73=300
	Joe Inman	71-75-79-75=300
	Tom Kite	74-77-78-71=300
	Lyn Lott	75-76-78-71=300
	Gary Player	74-73-77-76=300
	Alan Tapie	73-75-82-70=300
	Kermit Zarley	75-77-73-75=300
	Bob Zender	75-73-73-79=300
T39	Sam Adams	74-72-77-78=301	+13	1,290
	Fred Marti	72-79-77-73=301
	Leonard Thompson	74-76-79-72=301
T42	Frank Conner	75-74-75-78=302	+14	1,082
	Morris Hatalsky	74-79-74-75=302
	Hale Irwin	75-75-75-77=302
	Billy Kratzert	75-76-75-76=302
T46	Miller Barber	78-74-76-75=303	+15	975
	Bobby Cole	72-79-81-71=303
	Charles Coody	73-76-74-80=303
	Don January	73-74-79-77=303
T50	Mike Morley	72-73-79-80=304	+16	945
T50	Mark Pfeil	74-75-78-77=304	+16	945
T52	Bob Eastwood	79-72-82-72=305	+17	910
	Peter Jacobsen	74-76-80-75=305
	Artie McNickle	71-75-82-77=305
	Bill Rogers	73-75-79-78=305
	Jim Simons	73-80-79-73=305
T57	Jay Haas	76-76-76-78=306	+18	860
	Steve Melnyk	76-75-79-76=306
	Mike Reid	76-77-75-78=306
	Ron Streck	75-78-77-76=306
	Tom Weiskopf	73-80-74-79=306
62	Chi Chi Rodriguez	73-77-80-77=307	+19	830
T63	Wayne Levi	74-75-82-77=308	+20	810
	Allen Miller	74-73-79-82=308
	Art Wall Jr.	73-79-77-79=308
T66	Don Bies	76-77-81-75=309	+21	770
	Rex Caldwell	75-76-80-78=309
	Gary Groh	70-77-79-83=309
	Gary McCord	77-75-77-80=309
	Jerry McGee	76-76-75-82=309
T71	Tom Shaw	76-75-83-76=310	+22	750
T71	J. C. Snead	74-77-82-77=310	+22	750
T73	Rod Curl	75-78-82-76=311	+23	750
T73	John Lister	76-76-81-78=311	+23	750
T75	Homero Blancas	74-77-84-77=312	+24	750
T75	Howard Twitty	78-75-81-78=312	+24	750
T77	Forrest Fezler	76-75-82-80=313	+25	750
T77	Arnold Palmer	74-78-76-85=313	+25	750
CUT	George Burns	79-75=154	+10
	Dave Eichelberger	78-76=154
	Raymond Floyd	77-77=154
	Mike Hill	76-78=154
	Rik Massengale	73-81=154
	Dwight Nevil	78-76=154
	Sammy Rachels	77-77=154
	Steve Taylor	76-78=154
	Tom Watson	76-78=154
	Bill Calfee	79-76=155	+11
	Billy Casper	77-78=155
	Jim Dent	74-81=155
	Terry Diehl	78-77=155
	Tom Jenkins	77-78=155
	Bruce Lietzke	77-78=155
	Jeff Mitchell	74-81=155
	Joe Porter	76-79=155
	Tom Purtzer	75-80=155
	Jack Renner	75-80=155
	Dan Sikes	74-81=155
	Ed Sneed	76-79=155
	Wally Armstrong	77-79=156	+12
	Butch Baird	78-78=156
	Don Iverson	81-75=156
	Grier Jones	79-77=156
	Orville Moody	74-82=156
	Bob Payne	75-81=156
	Dave Stockton	79-77=156
	Curtis Strange	83-73=156
	Doug Tewell	79-77=156
	Bobby Walzel	78-78=156
	Bruce Devlin	76-81=157	+13
	Barry Jaeckel	76-81=157
	Gary Koch	77-80=157
	Stan Lee	80-77=157
	Mark Lye	78-79=157
	Roger Maltbie	79-78=157
	Eddie Pearce	80-77=157
	Don Pooley	74-83=157
	Bob E. Smith	74-83=157
	Bobby Nichols	77-81=158	+14
	Barney Thompson	76-82=158
	Larry Ziegler	79-79=158
	Tommy Aaron	83-76=159	+15
	Bob Gilder	74-85=159
	George Knudson	80-79=159
	Johnny Miller	77-82=159
	Frank Beard	80-80=160	+16
	Antonio Cerda Jr.	82-78=160
	Randy Erskine	75-85=160
	Dale Hayes	77-83=160
	Bob Murphy	78-82=160
	Ken Still	80-80=160
	Fuzzy Zoeller	77-83=160
	Lanny Wadkins	79-82=161	+17
	Calvin Peete	81-81=162	+18
	Tim Simpson	81-81=162
	Bob Wynn	76-86=162
	Ed Dougherty	78-85=163	+19
	Craig Stadler	79-85=164	+20
	Bill Mallon	84-85=169	+25
	George Cadle	81-89=170	+26
WD	Lee Trevino	75-78=153	+9
WD	Gene Littler

Source:^[9]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "TPC scores high and so is Nicklaus". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. March 20, 1978. p. 1D.
^ ^a ^b "Nicklaus tops TPC with 75". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. March 20, 1978. p. 16.
^ ^a ^b "Nicklaus holds on for 2d win of year". Chicago Tribune. wire services. March 20, 1978. p. 6, sec. 6.
^ ^a ^b Jenkins, Dan (March 27, 1978). "Off in a world of his own". Sports Illustrated. p. 20.
^ "1978 PGA Tour Media Guide" (PDF). PGA Tour. p. 207. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 27, 2020.
^ "Nicklaus making his big bid". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). UPI. March 17, 1978. p. 7C.
^ "Birdies bring back Nicklaus into a TPC tie". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). wire services. March 18, 1978. p. 6B.
^ "Nicklaus slips then fights back". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). UPI. March 19, 1978. p. 6B.
^ "Past Results 1974 – present". PGA Tour. Archived from the original on September 1, 2020. Retrieved March 1, 2020.