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.

The final round on Sunday was washed-out by thunderstorms and played on Monday. 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.

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.

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, but heavy rains during construction pushed it back a year.

Eligibility requirements 1. All designated players

2. Winners of major PGA Tour co-sponsored or approved events beginning with the 1980 Tournament Players Championship and concluding with the tournament immediately preceding the 1981 TPC

Lee Trevino, Doug Tewell, Craig Stadler, Seve Ballesteros, Roger Maltbie, Tom Watson (3), Mark Pfeil, Curtis Strange, Bruce Lietzke, David Graham, John Mahaffey, Larry Nelson, Jack Nicklaus, Bob Gilder, Scott Simpson, Billy Kratzert, Scott Hoch, Howard Twitty, Peter Jacobsen, Don Pooley, Wayne Levi, Phil Hancock, Ben Crenshaw, Mike Sullivan, Dan Halldorson, Danny Edwards, David Edwards, Johnny Miller, John Cook, Hale Irwin, Andy Bean, Tom Kite, Raymond Floyd

3. The current British Open champion

4. Leaders in the PGA Tour Official Standings as necessary to complete the field, beginning with the 1980 TPC and concluding with the Jackie Gleason-Inverrary Classic, which concludes March 8, 1981

Source:

Field John Adams, Buddy 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 Rodríguez, 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 PlacePlayerScoreTo parT1 Dave Eichelberger 68 −4 Mike Morley T3 Jim Dent 69 −3 Barry Jaeckel T5 Dan Halldorson 70 −2 Mike SullivanT7 Gary Hallberg 71 −1 Roger Maltbie Johnny Miller Gil Morgan Mark O'Meara Tom Purtzer Leonard Thompson Source:

Second round Friday, March 20, 1981 PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Barry Jaeckel 69-70=139 −5 T2 Danny Edwards 72-68=140 −4 Dan Halldorson 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=143T8 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:

Third round Saturday, March 21, 1981 PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 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=2145 Curtis Strange 72-72-71=215 −1T6 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:

Final round Monday, March 23, 1981 Champion(c) = past champion PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)T1 Raymond Floyd 72-74-71-68=285 −3 Playoff Barry Jaeckel 69-70-72-74=285 Curtis Strange 72-72-71-70=285T4 Miller Barber 72-78-69-68=287 −1 15,750 Jim Colbert 78-69-69-71=287 Bruce Lietzke 73-75-68-71=287 Jim Simons 73-68-73-73=287T8 Frank Conner 74-72-70-72=288 E 11,200 Gary Hallberg 71-73-72-72=288 Dan Halldorson 70-70-74-74=288 Leonard Thompson 71-76-72-69=288 Leaderboard below the top 10PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)T12 Bobby Clampett 75-73-71-70=289 +1 7,371 Grier Jones 73-73-73-70=289 Gil Morgan 71-78-73-67=289 Mike Morley 68-77-72-72=289 Jack Renner 73-73-72-71=289 Ron Streck 72-74-72-71=289 Lee Trevino (c) 73-73-70-73=289T19 John Mahaffey 73-70-71-76=290 +2 4,680 Tom Purtzer 71-73-74-72=290 Dave Stockton 74-73-70-73=290 Barney Thompson 73-73-71-73=290 Bobby Walzel 73-72-73-72=290 Tom Weiskopf 76-74-69-71=29025 Danny Edwards 72-68-78-73=291 +3 3,520T26 Dave Eichelberger 68-76-74-74=292 +4 3,080 Wayne Levi 74-76-72-70=292 Mark O'Meara 71-73-72-76=292T29 Seve Ballesteros 77-69-72-75=293 +5 2,600 Charles Coody 74-74-75-70=293 Jay Haas 72-73-75-73=293 Jack Nicklaus (c) 75-68-74-76=293 Calvin Peete 74-76-71-72=293T34 Jim Dent 69-74-77-74=294 +6 2,160 Mark Hayes (c) 74-72-75-73=294 Jerry McGee 72-75-74-73=294T37 Buddy Allin 75-72-73-75=295 +7 1,680 Hubert Green 72-75-72-76=295 Scott Hoch 75-76-73-71=295 Joe Inman 76-72-69-78=295 Billy Kratzert 76-73-71-75=295 Johnny Miller 71-74-76-74=295 Howard Twitty 77-74-71-73=295 Bobby Wadkins 77-71-73-74=295T45 Roger Maltbie 71-77-71-77=296 +8 1,144 Mark McCumber 74-75-75-72=296 Pat McGowan 73-75-72-76=296 Arnold Palmer 75-74-74-73=296 Jerry Pate 75-76-73-72=296 Dan Pohl 72-72-76-76=296T51 Lee Elder 75-75-76-71=297 +9 947 Ed Fiori 75-76-71-75=297 Hale Irwin 72-75-78-72=297 Bill Rogers 73-74-71-79=297 D. A. Weibring 72-73-78-74=297T56 Rex Caldwell 72-75-73-78=298 +10 900 Skip Dunaway 78-72-74-74=298 Keith Fergus 75-74-74-75=298 Tom Jenkins 74-77-72-75=298T60 Peter Oosterhuis 75-76-72-76=299 +11 872 Mark Pfeil 80-70-72-77=299 Mick Soli 73-78-74-74=299T63 Ben Crenshaw 74-73-77-76=300 +12 848 Bob Gilder 73-74-78-75=300 Mike Sullivan 70-78-75-77=300T66 Lonnie Nielsen 76-75-73-77=301 +13 824 Don Pooley 78-71-78-74=301 John Schroeder 76-75-75-75=301T69 Mike Gove 79-72-73-79=303 +15 804 Andy North 73-76-74-80=30371 Bruce Douglass 73-76-79-76=304 +16 79272 Lou Graham 77-74-77-78=306 +18 78473 Rik Massengale 77-74-81-75=307 +19 77674 Jim Thorpe 73-77-81-78=309 +21 768CUT John Adams 75-77=152 +8 John Cook 76-76=152 Terry Diehl 74-78=152 David Edwards 77-75=152 Gibby Gilbert 78-74=152 Vance Heafner 78-74=152 Gene Littler 77-75=152 Artie McNickle 79-73=152 Larry Nelson 74-78=152 Dana Quigley 74-78=152 Scott Simpson 78-74=152 Tim Simpson 75-77=152 Craig Stadler 75-77=152 Tom Watson 72-80=152 Larry Ziegler 74-78=152 Mike Brannan 73-80=153 +9 Jon Chaffee 78-75=153 Morris Hatalsky 76-77=153 Lyn Lott 78-75=153 Mark Lye 79-74=153 Steve Melnyk 77-76=153 Ed Sneed 76-77=153 Lanny Wadkins (c) 79-74=153 John Fought 77-77=154 +10 Jaime Gonzalez 77-77=154 Phil Hancock 77-77=154 Gary Player 79-75=154 Bob Shearer 79-75=154 Bob Eastwood 77-78=155 +11 Terry Mauney 78-77=155 Jeff Mitchell 80-75=155 Bob Murphy 78-77=155 Jack Newton 74-81=155 Victor Regalado 76-79=155 Fuzzy Zoeller 79-76=155 Roger Calvin 76-80=156 +12 Bobby Nichols 77-79=156 Alan Tapie 74-82=156 Tommy Valentine 83-73=156 George Cadle 78-79=157 +13 Buddy Gardner 79-78=157 Mike Nicolette 75-82=157 Chi-Chi Rodríguez 77-80=157 Doug Tewell 77-80=157 Mike McCullough 80-78=158 +14 Greg Powers 81-77=158 Bill Calfee 80-79=159 +15 Bruce Devlin 81-78=159 Joe Hager 75-84=159 Dave Hill 80-79=159 Gary Koch 81-78=159 Jim Nelford 81-78=159 Mike Reid 81-78=159 Wally Armstrong 82-78=160 +16 Peter Jacobsen 77-83=160 Sammy Rachels 81-79=160 Brad Bryant 86-75=161 +17 Mark Rohde 76-85=161 Rod Curl 82-80=162 +18 David Graham 82-80=162 Butch Baird 81-82=163 +19 Chip Beck 76-87=163 Antonio Cerda Jr. 78-85=163 Mike Donald 83-83=166 +22 Lon Hinkle 86-81=167 +23WD Bobby Cole 75 +3 George Burns 76 +4 Andy Bean 78 +6 J. C. Snead 80 +8

Playoff The sudden-death playoff began and ended at the par-3 15th hole. PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)1 Raymond Floyd 3 E 72,000T2 Barry Jaeckel 4 +1 35,200 Curtis Strange 4 +1

References

External links The Players Championship website