The 1979 Tournament Players Championship was a golf tournament in Florida on the PGA Tour, held March 22–25 at Sawgrass Country Club in Ponte Vedra Beach, southeast of Jacksonville. The sixth Tournament Players Championship, it was the third at Sawgrass and Lanny Wadkins won in the wind at 283 (−5), five strokes ahead of runner-up Tom Watson.

The first two years at Sawgrass had resulted with both winners at 289 (+1), but Wadkins jumped out to a 36-hole score of Gusty winds and dry greens on the weekend caused high scores, but he held on with an even-par 72 in the final round for a comfortable win.

Defending champion Jack Nicklaus finished seventeen strokes back, in a tie for 33rd place.

Venue

This was the third of five Tournament Players Championships held at Sawgrass Country Club; it moved to the nearby TPC at Sawgrass Stadium Course in 1982. The course length this year was reduced by to .

Eligibility requirements 1. All designated players

Miller Barber, Andy Bean (2), Ben Crenshaw (2), Lee Elder (2), Raymond Floyd, Rod Funseth (2), Al Geiberger, Lou Graham, Hubert Green (2), Mark Hayes, Jerry Heard (2), Dave Hill, Lon Hinkle (2), Hale Irwin, Don January, Tom Kite (2), Billy Kratzert, Bruce Lietzke, John Mahaffey (2), Jerry McGee, Mac McLendon (2), Johnny Miller, Gil Morgan (2), Jack Nicklaus (3), Andy North (2), Jerry Pate (2), Gary Player (2), Bill Rogers, Jim Simons (2), Ed Sneed, Dave Stockton, Lee Trevino (2), Lanny Wadkins, Tom Watson (2), Tom Weiskopf, Fuzzy Zoeller (2)

2. Winners of major PGA Tour co-sponsored or approved events beginning with the 1978 Tournament Players Championship and concluding with the tournament immediately preceding the 1979 TPC

Seve Ballesteros, Craig Stadler, Barry Jaeckel, Jeff Hewes, Jack Newton, Victor Regalado, Ron Streck

3. The current British Open champion

4. Leaders In PGA Tour Official Standings as necessary to complete the field, beginning with the 1978 Tournament Players Championship and concluding with the tournament scheduled to end on the Sunday immediately preceding the 1979 TPC, the Doral-Eastern Open

Source:

Field Tommy Aaron, Wally Armstrong, Seve Ballesteros, Miller Barber, Dave Barr, Andy Bean, Frank Beard, Don Bies, Homero Blancas, Brad Bryant, George Burns, Bob Byman, George Cadle, Rex Caldwell, Bill Calfee, Billy Casper, Jim Colbert, Bobby Cole, Frank Conner, Charles Coody, Ben Crenshaw, Rod Curl, Jim Dent, Terry Diehl, Dale Douglass, Bob Eastwood, Danny Edwards, David Edwards, Dave Eichelberger, Lee Elder, Randy Erskine, Keith Fergus, Ed Fiori, Marty Fleckman, Bruce Fleisher, Raymond Floyd, Rod Funseth, Buddy Gardner, Al Geiberger, Gibby Gilbert, Bob Gilder, David Graham, Lou Graham, Hubert Green, Jay Haas, Joe Hager, Dan Halldorson, Phil Hancock, Morris Hatalsky, Mark Hayes, Jerry Heard, Jeff Hewes, Dave Hill, Mike Hill, Lon Hinkle, Joe Inman, Hale Irwin, Don Iverson, Peter Jacobsen, Barry Jaeckel, Don January, Tom Kite, Gary Koch, Billy Kratzert, Wayne Levi, Bruce Lietzke, John Lister, Bob Lunn, Mark Lye, Bob Mann, Graham Marsh, Fred Marti, Rik Massengale, Gary McCord, Mike McCullough, Mark McCumber, Pat McGowan, Mac McLendon, Artie McNickle, Steve Melnyk, Lee Mikles, Allen Miller, Johnny Miller, Lindy Miller, Jeff Mitchell, Florentino Molina, Orville Moody, Gil Morgan, Mike Morley, Bob Murphy, Jim Nelford, Larry Nelson, Jack Newton, Jack Nicklaus, Andy North, Peter Oosterhuis, Arnold Palmer, Alan Pate, Jerry Pate, Eddie Pearce, Calvin Peete, Mark Pfeil, Gary Player, Don Pooley, Greg Powers, Tom Purtzer, Victor Regalado, Mike Reid, Jack Renner, Chi Chi Rodriguez, Bill Rogers, Ed Sabo, Cesar Sanudo, John Schroeder, Bob Shearer, Jim Simons, Scott Simpson, Tim Simpson, J. C. Snead, Ed Sneed, Craig Stadler, Dave Stockton, Curtis Strange, Ron Streck, Mike Sullivan, Alan Tapie, Barney Thompson, Leonard Thompson, Jim Thorpe, Lee Trevino, Howard Twitty, Bobby Wadkins, Lanny Wadkins, Bobby Walzel, Tom Watson, D. A. Weibring, Tom Weiskopf, Carlton White, Bob Wynn, Kermit Zarley, Bob Zender, Larry Ziegler, Fuzzy Zoeller

Round summaries First round Thursday, March 22, 1979 PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Kermit Zarley 66 −6T2 Jack Nicklaus 67 −5 Andy North Lanny Wadkins T5 Don January 68 −4 Gil Morgan Jim Nelford Ron Streck T9 Brad Bryant 69 −3 Danny Edwards Ed Fiori Dan Halldorson Phil Hancock Billy Kratzert Wayne Levi Lindy Miller Jack Newton Jerry Pate Tim Simpson Dave Stockton Source:

Second round Friday, March 23, 1979 PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Lanny Wadkins 67-68=135 −9 2 George Burns 72-66=138 −6 T3 Dan Halldorson 69-70=139 −5 Billy Kratzert 69-70=139 Lee Trevino 70-69=139 T6 Ed Fiori 69-71=140 −4 Mark McCumber 70-70=140 Jack Nicklaus 67-73=140 T9 Wayne Levi 69-72=141 −3 Andy North 67-74=141 Dave Stockton 69-72=141 Source:

Third round Saturday, March 24, 1979 PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Lanny Wadkins 67-68-76=211 −5 T2 George Burns 72-66-76=214 −2 Billy Kratzert 69-70-75=214 Jack Renner 73-70-71=214 Lee Trevino 70-69-75=214 6 Gary Koch 70-72-74=216 E T5 Phil Hancock 69-73-75=217 +1 Andy North 67-74-76=217 Victor Regalado 70-74-73=217 Tom Watson 70-72-75=217 Source:

Final round Sunday, March 25, 1979 Champion(c) = past champion PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)1 Lanny Wadkins 67-68-76-72=283 −5 72,0002 Tom Watson 70-72-75-71=288 E 43,2003 Jack Renner 73-70-71-75=289 +1 27,2004 Phil Hancock 69-73-75-74=291 +3 19,200T5 Billy Kratzert 69-70-75-79=293 +5 14,600 Wayne Levi 69-72-77-75=293 Lee Trevino 70-69-75-79=2938 Andy Bean 72-73-74-75=294 +6 12,400T9 Jay Haas 71-74-74-76=295 +7 10,800 Tom Kite 72-73-75-75=295 Jack Newton 69-74-77-75=295 Leaderboard below the top 10PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)T12 Mike McCullough 71-73-79-73=296 +8 8,800 Gil Morgan 68-77-76-75=296T14 George Burns 72-66-76-83=297 +9 6,600 Ed Fiori 69-71-79-78=297 Raymond Floyd 71-72-80-74=297 Peter Jacobsen 74-72-76-75=297 Graham Marsh 72-75-75-75=297 Victor Regalado 70-74-73-80=297T20 Rex Caldwell 70-76-78-74=298 +10 4,035 Hubert Green 73-72-78-75=298 Gary Koch 70-72-74-82=298 Larry Nelson 72-75-74-77=298 Andy North 67-74-76-81=298 Jerry Pate 69-73-77-79=298 Tim Simpson 69-73-80-76=298 Howard Twitty 75-67-76-80=298T28 Jim Colbert 73-72-76-78=299 +11 2,720 Lindy Miller 69-76-77-77=299 John Schroeder 71-76-76-76=299 Alan Tapie 71-72-75-81=299 Jim Thorpe 72-73-77-77=299T33 Gibby Gilbert 71-75-78-76=300 +12 2,310 Jack Nicklaus (c) 67-73-82-78=300T35 Bob Byman 70-74-75-82=301 +13 1,847 Charles Coody 71-76-77-77=301 Marty Fleckman 72-74-79-76=301 Bruce Fleisher 73-72-78-78=301 Mark McCumber 70-70-80-81=301 Jim Nelford 68-76-78-79=301 Mike Reid 71-73-78-79=301 Dave Stockton 69-72-79-81=301T43 Miller Barber 70-75-77-80=302 +14 1,248 Bobby Cole 71-75-77-79=302 Lee Elder 70-76-78-78=302 Bob Gilder 72-74-81-75=302 Lou Graham 70-76-76-80=302 Orville Moody 73-73-77-79=302 Ron Streck 68-77-78-79=302T50 Randy Erskine 76-68-82-77=303 +15 950 David Graham 73-70-80-80=303 Morris Hatalsky 71-73-78-81=303 Mark Lye 71-76-79-77=303 Arnold Palmer 72-75-79-77=303 Cesar Sanudo 72-75-78-78=303 Jim Simons 71-73-76-83=30357 Don January 68-79-79-78=304 +16 904T58 Allen Miller 72-75-80-78=305 +17 892 Kermit Zarley 66-79-78-82=305T60 Bob Eastwood 72-74-76-84=306 +18 864 Mark Hayes (c) 72-75-79-80=306 Gary McCord 72-74-81-79=306 Pat McGowan 73-74-79-80=306 Artie McNickle 73-73-85-75=306T65 Buddy Gardner 71-75-78-83=307 +19 836 Barney Thompson 74-72-80-81=307T67 Al Geiberger (c) 71-75-80-82=308 +20 820 Craig Stadler 72-73-81-82=308T69 Dan Halldorson 69-70-81-89=309 +21 804 Rik Massengale 71-76-78-84=30971 Bob Murphy 75-71-74-92=312 +24 792CUT Don Bies 70-78=148 +4 Danny Edwards 69-79=148 David Edwards 74-74=148 Dave Eichelberger 71-77=148 Hale Irwin 71-77=148 Bruce Lietzke 73-75=148 Jeff Mitchell 73-75=148 Florentino Molina 71-77=148 Peter Oosterhuis 74-74=148 Chi Chi Rodriguez 71-77=148 Curtis Strange 73-75=148 Leonard Thompson 72-76=148 Bobby Wadkins 74-74=148 Larry Ziegler 72-76=148 Wally Armstrong 72-77=149 +5 Dave Barr 73-76=149 Billy Casper 78-71=149 Ben Crenshaw 74-75=149 Rod Curl 75-74=149 Jim Dent 75-74=149 Keith Fergus 73-76=149 Rod Funseth 77-72=149 Mike Hill 75-74=149 Don Iverson 72-77=149 Bob Lunn 73-76=149 Mike Morley 75-74=149 Eddie Pearce 73-76=149 Scott Simpson 74-75=149 J. C. Snead 71-78=149 Brad Bryant 69-81=150 +6 Fred Marti 71-79=150 Johnny Miller 74-76=150 Mark Pfeil 75-75=150 Greg Powers 70-80=150 Carlton White 72-78=150 Fuzzy Zoeller 73-77=150 Bill Calfee 73-78=151 +7 Frank Conner 73-78=151 Joe Inman 73-78=151 John Lister 73-78=151 Tom Purtzer 75-76=151 Bill Rogers 73-78=151 Terry Diehl 76-76=152 +8 Mac McLendon 75-77=152 Steve Melnyk 77-75=152 Lee Mikles 78-74=152 Calvin Peete 74-78=152 Gary Player 73-79=152 Don Pooley 77-75=152 Ed Sneed 76-76=152 D. A. Weibring 73-79=152 Bob Mann 76-77=153 +9 Bobby Walzel 72-81=153 Tommy Aaron 76-78=154 +10 Homero Blancas 75-79=154 George Cadle 77-77=154 Barry Jaeckel 75-79=154 Mike Sullivan 76-78=154 Lon Hinkle 75-80=155 +11 Tom Weiskopf 73-82=155 Joe Hager 75-81=156 +12 Jerry Heard 79-77=156 Ed Sabo 75-81=156 Seve Ballesteros 76-81=157 +13 Dale Douglass 79-78=157 Bob Shearer 75-82=157 Bob Zender 78-80=158 +14 Frank Beard 82-77=159 +15 Jeff Hewes 78-81=159 Dave Hill 79-80=159 Alan Pate 84-80=164 +20 Bob Wynn 84-80=164

References

External links The Players Championship website