The 1987 Tournament Players Championship was a golf tournament in Florida on the PGA Tour, held at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, southeast of Jacksonville. It was the fourteenth Tournament Players Championship.
Sandy Lyle of Scotland defeated Jeff Sluman on the third hole of a sudden-death playoff to become the first international player to win the title. Rains had softened the course and led to favorable scoring; the 36-hole cut of 143 (−1) was the lowest until 1993.
At the second playoff hole, the par-3 17th "Island Green," an unruly spectator jumped into the water as Sluman was addressing his birdie putt for the win. After order was restored, he missed and they went to third extra hole at 18. Both found the fairway with their tee shots but both approaches went deep. Sluman couldn't save par from while Lyle made his from to end it.
This was the second playoff at the Tournament Players Championship, but the first at the Stadium Course. This year also marked the championship's first seven-figure purse and its last with "Tournament" in the title.
Defending champion John Mahaffey finished ten strokes back, in a tie for 32nd place.
Venue
This was the sixth Tournament Players Championship held at the TPC at Sawgrass Stadium Course and it remained at .
Eligibility requirements 1. Top 126 players, if PGA Tour members, from Final 1986 Official Money List:
Greg Norman, Bob Tway, Payne Stewart, Andy Bean, Dan Pohl, Hal Sutton, Tom Kite, Ben Crenshaw, Raymond Floyd, Bernhard Langer, John Mahaffey, Calvin Peete, Fuzzy Zoeller, Joey Sindelar, Jim Thorpe, Ken Green, Larry Mize, Doug Tewell, Corey Pavin, Tom Watson, Mike Hulbert, Don Pooley, Lanny Wadkins, Kenny Knox, Mark Wiebe, John Cook, Donnie Hammond, Paul Azinger, Mark O'Meara, Tim Simpson, Curtis Strange, Bobby Wadkins, Jack Nicklaus, Nick Price, Scott Hoch, Tom Purtzer, Chip Beck, Roger Maltbie, Scott Simpson, Gene Sauers, Phil Blackmar, Clarence Rose, Jay Haas, David Frost, Bruce Lietzke, Jodie Mudd, Bob Murphy, Gary Koch, Steve Pate, Willie Wood, Craig Stadler, Dan Forsman, D. A. Weibring, Ronnie Black, Howard Twitty, Mark Calcavecchia, Wayne Levi, Jeff Sluman, Rick Fehr, J. C. Snead, Sandy Lyle, Pat McGowan, Mike Reid, Danny Edwards, Ernie Gonzalez, Larry Nelson, Dave Barr, David Edwards, Bill Glasson, Hubert Green, Mark Hayes, Brian Claar, Fred Couples, Davis Love III, Peter Jacobsen, Lennie Clements, Mark McCumber, Jim Colbert, Mike Donald, Morris Hatalsky, Bob Gilder, Lon Hinkle, Bobby Clampett, David Graham, Brett Upper, Brad Faxon, Buddy Gardner, Russ Cochran, Tom Byrum, Blaine McCallister, Bobby Cole, Charlie Bolling, TC Chen, Lee Trevino, Bob Lohr, Jack Renner, Dan Halldorson, Leonard Thompson, Dave Rummells, George Archer, Barry Jaeckel, Larry Rinker, Jim Gallagher Jr., Curt Byrum, Dick Mast, Ken Brown, Mark Lye, George Burns, David Ogrin, Chris Perry, Fred Wadsworth, Andy Dillard, Bob Eastwood, Johnny Miller, Ed Fiori, Andrew Magee, Gary Hallberg, Mark Pfeil, Jay Delsing, John Adams, Tom Sieckmann, Antonio Cerda, Jr.
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Mac O'Grady, Gil Morgan, Mike Sullivan, and Tony Sills elected not to play
2. Designated players
Andy North
3. Any foreign player meeting the requirements of a designated player, whether or not he is a PGA Tour member
Seve Ballesteros
4. Winners in the last 10 calendar years of the Tournament Players Championship, PGA Championship, U.S. Open, Masters Tournament and World Series of Golf
Hale Irwin, Bill Rogers
5. The leader in Senior PGA Tour official earnings of 1986
Bruce Crampton elected not to play
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6. The three players, not otherwise eligible, designated by the TPC Committee as "special selections"
Rodger Davis, Dave Stockton
7. To complete a field of 144 players, those players in order, not otherwise eligible, from the 1987 Official Money List, as of the completion of the USF&G Classic, March 22, 1987
Isao Aoki, Keith Clearwater, Steve Elkington, Sam Randolph, Brad Fabel, Bill Sander, Tsuneyuki Nakajima, Steve Jones, Rick Dalpos, Rocco Mediate, Jay Don Blake, John Inman, Mark Brooks, Denis Watson, Richard Zokol, Mike Nicolette
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General source:
Round summaries First round Thursday, March 26, 1987 Friday, March 27, 1987 PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Steve Jones 66 −6 T2 Bob Eastwood 67 −5 Brad Fabel Sandy Lyle Greg Norman T6 Isao Aoki 68 −4 Paul Azinger Mark Brooks Hale Irwin Wayne Levi Blaine McCallister Mark O'Meara Chris Perry Dan Pohl Dave Rummells Gene Sauers Hal Sutton Source:
Second round Friday, March 27, 1987 Saturday, March 28, 1987
PlacePlayerScoreTo parT1 Steve Jones 66-67=133 −11 Mark O'Meara 68-65=133T3 Dan Pohl 68-66=134 −10 Scott Simpson 69-65=134T5 Brad Fabel 67-68=135 −9 Greg Norman 67-68=135T7 Hale Irwin 68-68=136 −8 Tom Purtzer 69-67=136 Jeff Sluman 70-66=13610 Curt Byrum 69-68=137 −7 Source:
Third round Saturday, March 28, 1987 PlacePlayerScoreTo parT1 Mark O'Meara 68-65-69=202 −14 Scott Simpson 69-65-68=202T3 Ben Crenshaw 70-68-66=204 −12 Sandy Lyle 67-71-66=204 5 Jeff Sluman 70-66-69=205 −116 Paul Azinger 68-70-68=206 −10 Bill Glasson 69-69-68=206 Greg Norman 67-68-71=206 9 Nick Price 71-68-68=207 −910 Tom Purtzer 69-67-72=208 −8 Source:
Final round Sunday, March 29, 1987
On the 72nd hole, Lyle and Sluman both made birdie putts to finish at 274 (−14) and advanced to the playoff. Champion(c) = past champion PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)T1 Sandy Lyle 67-71-66-70=274 −14 Playoff Jeff Sluman 70-66-69-69=2743 Mark O'Meara 68-65-69-73=275 −13 68,000T4 Greg Norman 67-68-71-70=276 −12 44,000 Scott Simpson 69-65-68-74=2766 Paul Azinger 68-70-68-71=277 −11 36,000T7 Bill Glasson 69-69-68-72=278 −10 32,250 Dan Pohl 68-66-75-69=278T9 Ben Crenshaw 70-68-66-75=279 −9 27,000 Tom Kite 72-70-67-70=279 Tom Purtzer 69-67-72-71=279 Leaderboard below the top 10PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)T12 Brad Fabel 67-68-75-70=280 −8 21,000 Mark McCumber 69-71-69-71=280 Larry Mize 70-70-69-71=280T15 David Frost 70-69-71-71=281 −7 16,000 Hubert Green 69-71-72-69=281 Steve Jones 66-67-76-72=281 Tsuneyuki Nakajima 69-70-70-72=281 Mike Reid 72-69-69-71=281T20 Keith Clearwater 73-70-71-68=282 −6 11,650 Morris Hatalsky 73-69-70-70=282 Chris Perry 68-71-70-73=282 Mark Wiebe 70-69-71-72=282T24 Isao Aoki 68-73-72-70=283 −5 7,737 Buddy Gardner 69-69-75-70=283 Ken Green 71-72-69-71=283 Mike Hulbert 71-71-71-70=283 Hale Irwin 68-68-74-73=283 Bernhard Langer 72-71-71-69=283 Nick Price 71-68-68-76=283 Hal Sutton (c) 68-74-71-70=283T32 Curt Byrum 69-68-73-74=284 −4 5,414 David Edwards 70-70-70-74=284 Bob Gilder 73-68-72-71=284 John Mahaffey (c) 70-72-69-73=284 Jack Renner 70-73-69-72=284 Dave Rummells 68-71-73-72=284 Gene Sauers 68-72-72-72=284T39 Scott Hoch 76-65-70-74=285 −3 4,400 Clarence Rose 73-69-70-73=285T41 Bobby Cole 70-70-71-75=286 −2 3,900 Mike Nicolette 73-69-70-74=286 Don Pooley 74-68-73-71=286T44 Chip Beck 71-71-76-69=287 −1 3,023 Chen Tze-chung 71-69-73-74=287 Lennie Clements 74-67-72-74=287 John Inman 73-70-72-72=287 Bob Murphy 73-70-69-75=287 Bill Rogers 69-73-69-76=287T50 Mark Calcavecchia 73-69-73-73=288 E 2,435 Jay Haas 70-73-74-71=288 Rocco Mediate 71-72-76-69=288 Corey Pavin 75-68-70-75=288T54 Andy Dillard 70-73-73-73=289 +1 2,270 Bob Eastwood 67-73-74-75=289 Mark Hayes (c) 70-70-73-76=289 Barry Jaeckel 72-69-72-76=289 Andy North 70-69-76-74=289 Fuzzy Zoeller 75-67-73-74=28960 Russ Cochran 72-70-76-72=290 +2 2,200T61 Ken Brown 71-71-69-80=291 +3 2,170 Dan Forsman 71-69-74-77=291T63 Mark Brooks 68-75-73-76=292 +4 2,130 Joey Sindelar 72-71-71-78=292T65 Seve Ballesteros 70-69-77-77=293 +5 2,080 George Burns 69-73-84-67=293 Larry Rinker 75-68-78-72=29368 Rodger Davis 73-70-76-76=295 +7 2,04069 Blaine McCallister 68-73-80-75=296 +8 2,02070 Dave Stockton 68-70-79-80=297 +9 2,00071 Bob Lohr 72-71-73-82=298 +10 1,98072 Sam Randolph 71-71-82-78=302 +14 1,960CUT John Adams 72-72=144 E Tom Byrum 76-68=144 Bobby Clampett 74-70=144 John Cook 72-72=144 Fred Couples (c) 72-72=144 Steve Elkington 74-70=144 Jim Gallagher Jr. 71-73=144 Lon Hinkle 71-73=144 Kenny Knox 73-71=144 Andrew Magee 71-73=144 Roger Maltbie 73-71=144 Larry Nelson 73-71=144 Jack Nicklaus (c) 70-74=144 Steve Pate 71-73=144 J. C. Snead 71-73=144 Leonard Thompson 74-70=144 Bob Tway 71-73=144 Bobby Wadkins 72-72=144 D. A. Weibring 72-72=144 Richard Zokol 74-70=144 Phil Blackmar 71-74=145 +1 Charlie Bolling 69-76=145 Ed Fiori 75-70=145 Gary Hallberg 77-68=145 Johnny Miller 73-72=145 Calvin Peete (c) 71-74=145 Mark Pfeil 73-72=145 Tim Simpson 73-72=145 Payne Stewart 77-68=145 Doug Tewell 74-71=145 Lanny Wadkins (c) 70-75=145 Tom Watson 73-72=145 Antonio Cerda Jr. 75-71=146 +2 Danny Edwards 70-76=146 Donnie Hammond 70-76=146 Wayne Levi 68-78=146 Pat McGowan 74-72=146 Craig Stadler 74-72=146 Jim Thorpe 76-70=146 Fred Wadsworth 69-77=146 Dave Barr 73-74=147 +3 Ronnie Black 72-75=147 Mike Donald 78-69=147 Brad Faxon 76-71=147 Rick Fehr 73-74=147 Bruce Lietzke 71-76=147 Davis Love III 73-74=147 Mark Lye 73-74=147 Dick Mast 74-73=147 Denis Watson 73-74=147 Jay Don Blake 78-70=148 +4 Brian Claar 81-67=148 Rick Dalpos 73-75=148 Bill Sander 74-74=148 Brett Upper 71-77=148 Jay Delsing 73-76=149 +5 Ernie Gonzalez 76-73=149 Dan Halldorson 76-73=149 Raymond Floyd (c) 74-76=150 +6 Gary Koch 75-75=150 Curtis Strange 75-75=150 Howard Twitty 76-74=150 Lee Trevino (c) 70-81=151 +7 George Archer 77-75=152 +8 Peter Jacobsen 75-77=152 David Ogrin 73-79=152 Andy Bean 73-80=153 +9 David Graham 76-77=153 Tom Sieckmann 81-72=153 Willie Wood 80-78=158 +14WD Jodie Mudd 70 −2 Jim Colbert 75 +3
Playoff PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)1 Sandy Lyle 5-3-4=12 E 180,0002 Jeff Sluman 5-3-5=13 +1 108,000 The sudden-death playoff began on hole 16, went to 17, and ended at 18.
Scorecard Hole 16 17 18 Par534 Lyle EEE Sluman EE+1 Source:
References
External links The Players Championship website