1989 Players Championship

Golf tournament

TPC Sawgrass

Location in the United States

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TPC Sawgrass

Location in Florida

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The 1989 Players Championship was a golf tournament in Florida on the PGA Tour, held March 16–19 at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, southeast of Jacksonville. It was the sixteenth Players Championship.

In gusty conditions, Tom Kite won the title at 279 (−9), one stroke ahead of runner-up Chip Beck.^[2]^[3]^[4]

Defending champion Mark McCumber finished four strokes back, in a tie for sixth place.

Venue

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

Field

Fulton Allem, Isao Aoki, George Archer, Tommy Armour III, Paul Azinger, Ian Baker-Finch, Dave Barr, Andy Bean, Chip Beck, Jim Benepe, Ronnie Black, Phil Blackmar, Jay Don Blake, Bill Britton, Mark Brooks, Billy Ray Brown, Brad Bryant, Curt Byrum, Tom Byrum, Mark Calcavecchia, Rex Caldwell, David Canipe, Jim Carter, Chen Tze-chung, Bobby Clampett, Keith Clearwater, Lennie Clements, Russ Cochran, John Cook, Fred Couples, Ben Crenshaw, Mike Donald, Bob Eastwood, David Edwards, Dave Eichelberger, Steve Elkington, Brad Fabel, Brad Faxon, Ed Fiori, Raymond Floyd, Dan Forsman, David Frost, Jim Gallagher Jr., Buddy Gardner, Bob Gilder, Bill Glasson, Wayne Grady, David Graham, Hubert Green, Ken Green, Jay Haas, Gary Hallberg, Dan Halldorson, Jim Hallet, Donnie Hammond, Morris Hatalsky, Mark Hayes, Lon Hinkle, Scott Hoch, Mike Hulbert, John Huston, Hale Irwin, Peter Jacobsen, Steve Jones, Tom Kite, Kenny Knox, Gary Koch, Bernhard Langer, Wayne Levi, Bruce Lietzke, Bob Lohr, Davis Love III, Mark Lye, Sandy Lyle, Andrew Magee, John Mahaffey, Roger Maltbie, Dick Mast, Billy Mayfair, Blaine McCallister, John McComish, Mark McCumber, Rocco Mediate, Johnny Miller, Larry Mize, Gil Morgan, Jodie Mudd, Tsuneyuki Nakajima, Larry Nelson, Jack Nicklaus, Greg Norman, Tim Norris, Andy North, Mark O'Meara, David Ogrin, Masashi Ozaki, Jerry Pate, Steve Pate, Corey Pavin, Calvin Peete, Chris Perry, Kenny Perry, Dan Pohl, Don Pooley, Nick Price, Tom Purtzer, Sam Randolph, Don Reese, Mike Reid, Larry Rinker, Loren Roberts, Bill Rogers, Clarence Rose, Dave Rummells, Bill Sander, Gene Sauers, Ted Schulz, Tom Sieckmann, Scott Simpson, Tim Simpson, Joey Sindelar, Jeff Sluman, J. C. Snead, Craig Stadler, Payne Stewart, Curtis Strange, Mike Sullivan, Hal Sutton, Brian Tennyson, Doug Tewell, Leonard Thompson, Bob Tway, Greg Twiggs, Howard Twitty, Scott Verplank, Bobby Wadkins, Lanny Wadkins, Denis Watson, Tom Watson, D. A. Weibring, Mark Wiebe, Robert Wrenn, Fuzzy Zoeller, Richard Zokol

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, March 16, 1989

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Keith Clearwater	65	−7
T2	David Frost	66	−6
	Bruce Lietzke
	Steve Pate
5	Ben Crenshaw	67	−5
T6	Paul Azinger	68	−4
	Andy Bean
	Fred Couples
	David Graham
	Mike Hulbert
	Steve Jones
	Mike Donald
	Kenny Perry
	Curtis Strange

Source:^[5]

Second round

Friday, March 17, 1989

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Bruce Lietzke	66-69=135	−9
2	David Frost	66-71=137	−7
3	Fred Couples	68-70=138	−6
T4	Fulton Allem	70-69=139	−5
	Paul Azinger	68-71=139
	Chip Beck	71-68=139
	Ben Crenshaw	67-72=139
	Tom Kite	69-70=139
	Gary Koch	70-69=139
	Mark McCumber	69-70=139
	Dan Pohl	69-70=139

Source:^[6]

Third round

Saturday, March 18, 1989

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Chip Beck	71-68-68=207	−9
2	Tom Kite	69-70-69=208	−8
T3	Fred Couples	68-70-71=209	−7
	Ben Crenshaw	67-72-70=209
	Gary Koch	70-69-70=209
	Bruce Lietzke	66-69-74=209
	Mark McCumber	69-70-70=209
T8	Gil Morgan	71-69-70=210	−6
T8	Greg Norman	74-67-69=210	−6
T10	Jack Nicklaus	71-72-68=211	−5
T10	Craig Stadler	70-72-69=211	−5

Source:^[7]

Final round

Sunday, March 19, 1989

Champion

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
1	Tom Kite	69-70-69-71=279	−9	243,000
2	Chip Beck	71-68-68-73=280	−8	145,800
3	Bruce Lietzke	66-69-74-72=281	−7	91,800
T4	Fred Couples (c)	68-70-71-73=282	−6	59,400
T4	Greg Norman	74-67-69-72=282	−6	59,400
T6	Mark McCumber (c)	69-70-70-74=283	−5	46,912
T6	Gil Morgan	71-69-70-73=283	−5	46,912
T8	Andy Bean	68-76-69-71=284	−4	39,150
	David Frost	66-71-75-72=284
	Gary Koch	70-69-70-75=284

Leaderboard below the top 10
Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
T11	Ben Crenshaw	67-72-70-76=285	−3	31,050
	Rocco Mediate	73-71-69-72=285
	Tom Watson	71-73-71-70=285
T14	Fulton Allem	70-69-75-72=286	−2	24,300
	Paul Azinger	68-71-74-73=286
	Loren Roberts	72-73-69-72=286
T17	Brad Faxon	72-71-69-75=287	−1	19,575
	Tim Simpson	70-71-71-75=287
	Mike Sullivan	72-71-70-74=287
	Mark Wiebe	74-71-71-71=287
T21	Mike Donald	68-72-73-75=288	E	12,673
	David Edwards	71-73-69-75=288
	Ken Green	70-71-73-74=288
	Chris Perry	70-75-70-73=288
	Kenny Perry	68-77-72-71=288
	Larry Rinker	71-72-72-73=288
	Craig Stadler	70-72-69-77=288
	D. A. Weibring	70-74-72-72=288
T29	Jack Nicklaus (c)	71-72-68-78=289	+1	8,775
	Mike Reid	73-71-71-74=289
	Ted Schulz	73-72-73-71=289
	Hal Sutton (c)	71-71-78-69=289
	Bob Tway	69-73-72-75=289
T34	Jim Gallagher Jr.	70-72-74-74=290	+2	6,672
	Bob Gilder	73-71-73-73=290
	Steve Pate	66-78-71-75=290
	Corey Pavin	70-70-77-73=290
	Joey Sindelar	72-73-68-77=290
	Curtis Strange	68-76-72-74=290
	Doug Tewell	70-75-72-73=290
T41	Keith Clearwater	65-76-74-76=291	+3	5,130
	Steve Jones	68-75-73-75=291
	Roger Maltbie	75-71-71-74=291
	Lanny Wadkins (c)	73-73-71-74=291
T45	Jim Carter	74-70-73-75=292	+4	3,952
	John Mahaffey (c)	73-73-73-73=292
	David Ogrin	72-74-74-72=292
	Masashi Ozaki	75-68-70-79=292
	Fuzzy Zoeller	74-72-71-75=292
T50	Gary Hallberg	74-72-71-76=293	+5	3,256
	Wayne Levi	75-71-68-79=293
	Dan Pohl	69-70-75-79=293
	Clarence Rose	72-71-75-75=293
	Richard Zokol	71-74-72-76=293
T55	Mark Hayes (c)	70-76-74-74=294	+6	3,064
	Kenny Knox	72-74-71-77=294
	Tom Purtzer	71-74-76-73=294
	Gene Sauers	74-72-72-76=294
T59	Billy Ray Brown	72-72-74-77=295	+7	2,902
	Brad Bryant	74-71-76-74=295
	Ed Fiori	74-70-81-70=295
	Dan Halldorson	73-72-75-75=295
	Mike Hulbert	68-74-79-74=295
	Bob Lohr	71-73-75-76=295
	Larry Nelson	70-75-72-78=295
	Greg Twiggs	74-71-77-73=295
T67	Tom Byrum	72-72-74-78=296	+8	2,754
	Bernhard Langer	72-74-76-74=296
	John McComish	75-70-74-77=296
T70	Peter Jacobsen	70-75-74-78=297	+9	2,686
T70	Larry Mize	72-71-76-78=297	+9	2,686
72	David Graham	68-77-78-75=298	+10	2,646
73	Dave Barr	72-69-79-79=299	+11	2,619
74	Bill Britton	71-74-76-80=301	+13	2,592
CUT	Jay Don Blake	71-76=147	+3
	Curt Byrum	72-75=147
	Mark Calcavecchia	74-73=147
	Lennie Clements	74-73=147
	Wayne Grady	72-75=147
	Hale Irwin	74-73=147
	Andrew Magee	73-74=147
	Billy Mayfair	72-75=147
	Blaine McCallister	76-71=147
	Nick Price	73-74=147
	Don Reese	70-77=147
	Robert Wrenn	72-75=147
	Isao Aoki	73-75=148	+4
	Ronnie Black	74-74=148
	David Canipe	72-76=148
	Chen Tze-chung	74-74=148
	Buddy Gardner	73-75=148
	Jay Haas	76-72=148
	Donnie Hammond	78-70=148
	Scott Hoch	74-74=148
	John Huston	70-78=148
	Mark Lye	71-77=148
	Sandy Lyle (c)	75-73=148
	Tom Sieckmann	73-75=148
	Scott Simpson	75-73=148
	J. C. Snead	73-75=148
	Payne Stewart	70-78=148
	Leonard Thompson	71-77=148
	Ian Baker-Finch	74-75=149	+5
	Bobby Clampett	73-76=149
	John Cook	72-77=149
	Bob Eastwood	76-73=149
	Lon Hinkle	74-75=149
	Davis Love III	74-75=149
	Don Pooley	70-79=149
	Mark Brooks	75-75=150	+6
	Johnny Miller	76-74=150
	Mark O'Meara	72-78=150
	Dave Rummells	74-76=150
	Tommy Armour III	79-72=151	+7
	Rex Caldwell	78-73=151
	Steve Elkington	77-74=151
	Dan Forsman	73-78=151
	Hubert Green	77-74=151
	Jim Hallet	78-73=151
	Morris Hatalsky	77-74=151
	Andy North	73-78=151
	Sam Randolph	74-77=151
	Jim Benepe	78-74=152	+8
	Russ Cochran	78-74=152
	Brad Fabel	81-71=152
	Raymond Floyd (c)	72-80=152
	Jerry Pate (c)	77-75=152
	Calvin Peete (c)	81-72=153	+9
	Bill Sander	78-75=153
	Jeff Sluman	73-80=153
	Brian Tennyson	75-78=153
	Bobby Wadkins	75-78=153
	Phil Blackmar	73-81=154	+10
	Dave Eichelberger	80-74=154
	Jodie Mudd	73-81=154
	Tsuneyuki Nakajima	79-75=154
	Tim Norris	80-75=155	+11
	Howard Twitty	76-80=156	+12
Scott Verplank	73-83=156
Denis Watson	80-76=156
Dick Mast	79-78=157	+13
George Archer	81-78=159	+15
WD	Bill Glasson	76	+4
DQ	Bill Rogers

Source:^[8]

References

^ ^a ^b "Players Championship". Toledo Blade. (Ohio). Associated Press. March 20, 1989. p. 21.
^ "Kite's triumph more enjoyable". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. March 20, 1989. p. 2B.
^ Verdi, Bob (March 20, 1989). "Kite upstages the TPC all-stars". Chicago Tribune. p. 1, sec. 3.
^ Seift, E.M. (March 27, 1989). "Kite finally takes flight". Sports Illustrated. p. 26.
^ "Bogeys don't stop him". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. March 17, 1989. p. 4B.
^ Florence, Mal (March 18, 1989). "Lietzke takes a lead after saving a par". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). (Los Angeles Times). p. 2D.
^ "When the others slip, Beck slips past them". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. March 19, 1989. p. 11E.
^ "Past Results 1974 – present". PGA Tour. Archived from the original on September 1, 2020. Retrieved March 1, 2020.