The 1982 Tournament Players Championship was a golf tournament on the PGA Tour, held March 18–21 at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, southeast of Jacksonville. It was the ninth Tournament Players Championship and the first at the new course.

Playing an orange ball, Jerry Pate shot a final round 67 (−5) to win by two strokes over runners-up Scott Simpson and Brad Bryant. Pate started the final round three strokes behind the leaders, in a tie for sixth place. Following his win, Pate pushed tour commissioner Deane Beman and course designer Pete Dye into the lake along the 18th green, and then joined them.

Notables to miss the cut included hall of famers Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, and Lee Trevino. Defending champion Raymond Floyd finished 11 strokes back, in a tie for 22nd place.

Venue

This was the first Tournament Players Championship held at the TPC at Sawgrass Stadium Course; its 1982 setup measured . The debut was delayed a year due to heavy rains during construction.

Eligibility requirements All designated players Winners of major TPA Tour co-sponsored or approved events beginning with the 1981 Tournament Players Championship and concluding with the tournament immediately preceding the 1982 TPC The current British Open champion Leaders in the TPA Tour Official Standings as necessary to complete the field, beginning with the 1981 TPC and concluding with the Bay Hill Classic, which concludes March 7, 1982

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Field John Adams, Buddy Allin, Isao Aoki, George Archer, Seve Ballesteros, Jim Barber, Miller Barber, Dave Barr, Beau Baugh, Andy Bean, Chip Beck, Woody Blackburn, Jim Booros, Bill Britton, Brad Bryant, George Burns, Bob Byman, George Cadle, Rex Caldwell, Bill Calfee, Bobby Clampett, Lennie Clements, Jim Colbert, Bobby Cole, Frank Conner, Charles Coody, John Cook, Fred Couples, Ben Crenshaw, Rod Curl, Jim Dent, Bruce Devlin, Terry Diehl, Mike Donald, Ed Dougherty, Bruce Douglass, Bob Eastwood, Danny Edwards, David Edwards, Dave Eichelberger, Lee Elder, Nick Faldo, Keith Fergus, Forrest Fezler, Ed Fiori, Bruce Fleisher, Raymond Floyd, Gibby Gilbert, Bob Gilder, David Graham, Lou Graham, Thomas Gray, Hubert Green, Jay Haas, Joe Hager, Gary Hallberg, Dan Halldorson, Phil Hancock, Morris Hatalsky, Mark Hayes, Vance Heafner, Jerry Heard, Skeeter Heath, Scott Hoch, Mike Holland, Joe Inman, Hale Irwin, Peter Jacobsen, Barry Jaeckel, Don January, Tom Jenkins, Grier Jones, Tom Kite, Billy Kratzert, Wayne Levi, Don Levin, Bruce Lietzke, Pat Lindsey, Lyn Lott, Mark Lye, John Mahaffey, Roger Maltbie, Rik Massengale, Terry Mauney, John Mazza, Gary McCord, Mike McCullough, Mark McCumber, Pat McGowan, Allen Miller, Johnny Miller, Jeff Mitchell, Gil Morgan, Mike Morley, Bob Murphy, Jim Nelford, Larry Nelson, 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, Sammy Rachels, Victor Regalado, Mike Reid, Jack Renner, Chi-Chi Rodríguez, Bill Rogers, John Schroeder, Bob Shearer, Jim Simons, Scott Simpson, Tim Simpson, J. C. Snead, Sam Snead, Ed Sneed, Craig Stadler, Dave Stockton, Curtis Strange, Ron Streck, Mike Sullivan, Doug Tewell, Barney Thompson, Leonard Thompson, David Thore, Jim Thorpe, Lee Trevino, Gary Trivisonno, Howard Twitty, Tommy Valentine, Bobby Wadkins, Lanny Wadkins, Denis Watson, Tom Watson, D. A. Weibring, Tom Weiskopf, Fuzzy Zoeller

Round summaries First round Thursday, March 18, 1982 PlacePlayerScoreTo parT1 George Burns 67 −5 Lyn Lott Larry Nelson T4 Vance Heafner 68 −4 Skeeter Heath Pat Lindsey Scott Simpson Ed SneedT9 George Archer 69 −3 Bob Eastwood Bruce Fleisher Gibby Gilbert Don January Bruce Lietzke Roger Maltbie Jim Simons Jim Thorpe Source:

Second round Friday, March 19, 1982 Saturday, March 20, 1982 PlacePlayerScoreTo parT1 Vance Heafner 68-70=138 −6 Hale Irwin 70-68=138 Lyn Lott 67-71=138 Scott Simpson 68-70=138 Tim Simpson 72-66=138T6 Brad Bryant 70-69=139 −5 Larry Nelson 67-72=139 Ed Sneed 68-71=139 Craig Stadler 71-68=139T10 George Burns 67-73=140 −4 Gibby Gilbert 69-71=140 Source:

Third round Saturday, March 20, 1982 PlacePlayerScoreTo parT1 Brad Bryant 70-69-71=210 −6 Bruce Lietzke 69-72-69=210 T3 Vance Heafner 68-70-73=210 −5 Scott Simpson 68-70-73=2115 George Archer 69-73-70=212 −4 T6 Hale Irwin 70-68-75=213 −3 Jerry Pate 70-73-70=213 Tim Simpson 72-66-75=213 Ed Sneed 68-71-74=213T10 Seve Ballesteros 73-72-69=214 −2 Gibby Gilbert 69-71-74=214 Scott Hoch 72-70-72=214 Don January 69-73-72=214 Roger Maltbie 69-72-73=214 Craig Stadler 71-68-75=214 Tom Watson 70-76-68=214 Source:

Final round Sunday, March 21, 1982 Champion(c) = past champion PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)1 Jerry Pate 70-73-70-67=280 −8 90,000T2 Brad Bryant 70-69-71-72=282 −6 44,000 Scott Simpson 68-70-73-71=2824 Bruce Lietzke 69-72-69-73=283 −5 24,0005 Roger Maltbie 69-72-73-70=284 −4 20,000T6 Seve Ballesteros 73-72-69-72=286 −2 16,187 Hubert Green 73-75-70-68=286 Craig Stadler 71-68-75-72=286 Tom Watson 70-76-68-72=286T10 Jim Booros 73-72-71-71=287 −1 12,500 Larry Nelson 67-72-77-71=287 Ed Sneed 68-71-74-74=287 Leaderboard below the top 10PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)T13 George Burns 67-73-75-73=288 E 9,100 Vance Heafner 68-70-73-77=288 Scott Hoch 72-70-72-74=288 Tim Simpson 72-66-75-75=288 J. C. Snead 72-76-70-70=28818 Bill Rogers 73-70-75-71=289 +1 7,500T19 Bob Eastwood 69-72-74-75=290 +2 6,500 Hale Irwin 70-68-75-77=290 Don January 69-73-72-76=290T22 George Archer 69-73-70-79=291 +3 4,800 Bob Byman 71-75-73-72=291 Raymond Floyd (c) 78-70-71-72=291 Gibby Gilbert 69-71-74-77=291 Tom Weiskopf 73-68-74-76=291T27 Jay Haas 72-66-77-77=292 +4 3,550 Peter Jacobsen 72-72-77-71=292 Tom Kite 71-71-75-75=292 Mike Reid 71-74-77-70=292 D. A. Weibring 74-73-70-75=292T32 Bill Britton 71-76-70-76=293 +5 2,958 Andy North 76-70-76-71=293 Jim Thorpe 69-76-71-77=293T35 Andy Bean 77-69-73-75=294 +6 2,412 Bobby Cole 72-75-72-75=294 Nick Faldo 75-70-75-74=294 Bruce Fleisher 69-73-77-75=294 John Mahaffey 73-72-74-75=294 Jim Simons 69-77-72-76=294T41 John Cook 72-75-73-75=295 +7 1,800 Jim Dent 73-73-78-71=295 Bruce Douglass 77-69-73-76=295 Lee Elder 71-76-74-74=295 Calvin Peete 73-73-79-70=295 Denis Watson 72-74-73-76=295T47 George Cadle 74-74-74-74=296 +8 1,345 Mike McCullough 76-71-74-75=296 Allen Miller 73-75-74-74=296 Gil Morgan 70-76-78-72=296T51 Ed Fiori 70-74-80-73=297 +9 1,184 Phil Hancock 74-70-79-74=297 Lyn Lott 67-71-80-79=297 Jeff Mitchell 75-71-76-75=297 Curtis Strange 73-74-74-76=297T56 Jim Barber 72-75-74-77=298 +10 1,115 Bobby Clampett 73-72-78-75=298 Don Pooley 75-71-77-75=298 Doug Tewell 70-75-77-76=298 Bobby Wadkins 72-72-79-75=298 Fuzzy Zoeller 73-73-75-77=298T62 Skeeter Heath 68-79-76-76=299 +11 1,070 Barry Jaeckel 72-75-76-76=299 Tommy Valentine 73-72-72-82=299T65 Dave Barr 75-73-79-73=300 +12 1,030 Woody Blackburn 72-76-78-74=300 Ed Dougherty 77-71-79-73=300 Bob Gilder 72-74-78-76=300 Pat Lindsey 68-78-78-76=300T70 Lou Graham 73-74-77-77=301 +13 1,000 Dan Halldorson 74-74-78-75=301T72 Gary Hallberg 70-78-77-77=302 +14 1,000 John Mazza 75-70-76-81=302 Bob Shearer 77-69-76-80=302T75 Dave Eichelberger 78-69-75-81=303 +15 1,000 Keith Fergus 73-73-81-76=303T77 Mark O'Meara 72-76-78-79=305 +17 1,000 Dave Stockton 73-75-78-79=30579 Victor Regalado 74-72-80-81=307 +19 1,00080 Mark Hayes (c) 71-76-81-80=308 +20 1,00081 Billy Kratzert 74-74-81-82=311 +23 1,000CUT Beau Baugh 72-77=149 +5 Chip Beck 74-75=149 Ben Crenshaw 75-74=149 Joe Inman 72-77=149 Gary McCord 80-69=149 Pat McGowan 74-75=149 Johnny Miller 74-75=149 Arnold Palmer 72-77=149 Greg Powers 74-75=149 Howard Twitty 72-77=149 Bruce Devlin 72-78=150 +6 Mike Donald 70-80=150 Tom Jenkins 74-76=150 Terry Mauney 73-77=150 Peter Oosterhuis 73-77=150 Lanny Wadkins (c) 74-76=150 Joe Hager 77-74=151 +7 Jim Nelford 72-79=151 Jack Nicklaus (c) 73-78=151 Gary Player 73-78=151 Jack Renner 82-69=151 Isao Aoki 73-79=152 +8 Jim Colbert 74-78=152 Danny Edwards 76-76=152 Forrest Fezler 76-76=152 Lonnie Nielsen 81-71=152 Tom Purtzer 73-79=152 Barney Thompson 71-81=152 Miller Barber 79-74=153 +9 Bill Calfee 75-78=153 David Graham 77-76=153 Chi-Chi Rodríguez 74-79=153 Jerry Heard 76-78=154 +10 Mark Lye 78-76=154 Rik Massengale 79-75=154 Mark Pfeil 74-80=154 John Schroeder 73-81=154 Gary Trivisonno 76-78=154 Rex Caldwell 77-78=155 +11 Lennie Clements 76-79=155 Frank Conner 73-82=155 Charles Coody 81-74=155 Terry Diehl 73-82=155 David Edwards 74-81=155 Don Levin 78-77=155 John Adams 74-82=156 +12 Buddy Allin 75-81=156 David Thore 77-79=156 Thomas Gray 75-82=157 +13 Mike Nicolette 77-80=157 Bob Murphy 79-79=158 +14 Sam Snead 77-81=158 Fred Couples 79-80=159 +15 Mark McCumber 81-78=159 Mike Morley 82-78=160 +16 Ron Streck 79-84=163 +19WD Rod Curl 72 E Mike Holland 75 +3 Wayne Levi 75 Sammy Rachels 75 Grier Jones 76 +4 Dan Pohl 77 +5 Mike Sullivan 77 Leonard Thompson 78 +6DQ Morris Hatalsky 70-77-79=226 +10 Lee Trevino (c) 82

Video You Tube – Memorable Moments: The Players – PGA Tour

References

External links The Players Championship website Full Leaderboard PGA Tour – Pate looks back on 30th anniversary of breakthrough at TPC Sawgrass