The 1988 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 fifteenth Players Championship and the first without "Tournament" in the title.

Local resident Mark McCumber opened with 65 and won with 273 (−15), four strokes ahead of runner-up Mike Reid. McCumber's score at the Stadium Course set a record; it was equaled in 1992 and broken in 1993.

Jay Haas was disqualified on Thursday after playing with a bent putter. Davis Love III had a similar occurrence on Friday, while Curtis Strange reported that he signed an incorrect (Strange won the next two U.S. Opens.)

Weather delays on Saturday caused the leaders to complete only a few holes of the third round; play was resumed early on Sunday morning.

Defending champion Sandy Lyle missed the 36-hole cut by six strokes, and the purse was increased 25% this year to $1.25 million.

Venue

This was the seventh Players Championship held at the TPC at Sawgrass Stadium Course and it remained at .

Field Fulton Allem, Isao Aoki, Paul Azinger, Seve Ballesteros, Dave Barr, Andy Bean, Chip Beck, Ronnie Black, Phil Blackmar, Jay Don Blake, Ken Brown, George Burns, Curt Byrum, Tom Byrum, Mark Calcavecchia, Jim Carter, Chen Tze-chung, Bobby Clampett, Keith Clearwater, Lennie Clements, Russ Cochran, John Cook, Fred Couples, Ben Crenshaw, Rodger Davis, Mike Donald, Ed Dougherty, Bob Eastwood, Danny Edwards, David Edwards, Dave Eichelberger, Steve Elkington, Brad Fabel, Nick Faldo, Brad Faxon, Rick Fehr, Ed Fiori, Raymond Floyd, Dan Forsman, David Frost, Buddy Gardner, Bob Gilder, Bill Glasson, Wayne Grady, David Graham, Hubert Green, Ken Green, Jay Haas, Gary Hallberg, Dan Halldorson, Donnie Hammond, Morris Hatalsky, Mark Hayes, Vance Heafner, Lon Hinkle, Scott Hoch, Mike Hulbert, John Huston, John Inman, Hale Irwin, David Ishii, Peter Jacobsen, Steve Jones, Tom Kite, Kenny Knox, Gary Koch, Billy Kratzert, Bernhard Langer, Wayne Levi, Bruce Lietzke, Bob Lohr, Davis Love III, Mark Lye, Sandy Lyle, Andrew Magee, John Mahaffey, Roger Maltbie, Dick Mast, Blaine McCallister, Mike McCullough, Mark McCumber, Pat McGowan, Rocco Mediate, Johnny Miller, Larry Mize, Gil Morgan, Jodie Mudd, Tsuneyuki Nakajima, Larry Nelson, Jack Nicklaus, Greg Norman, Andy North, Mac O'Grady, Mark O'Meara, David Ogrin, Akiyoshi Ohmachi, Steve Pate, Corey Pavin, Calvin Peete, Chris Perry, Kenny Perry, Dan Pohl, Don Pooley, Nick Price, Tom Purtzer, Sam Randolph, Mike Reid, Jack Renner, Larry Rinker, Loren Roberts, Bill Rogers, Clarence Rose, Dave Rummells, Bill Sander, Gene Sauers, Tom Sieckmann, Tony Sills, Scott Simpson, Tim Simpson, Joey Sindelar, Jeff Sluman, J. C. Snead, Craig Stadler, Payne Stewart, Ray Stewart, Curtis Strange, Mike Sullivan, Hal Sutton, Doug Tewell, Leonard Thompson, Bob Tway, Howard Twitty, Bobby Wadkins, Lanny Wadkins, Fred Wadsworth, Denis Watson, Tom Watson, D. A. Weibring, Mark Wiebe, Willie Wood, Ian Woosnam, Robert Wrenn, Fuzzy Zoeller, Richard Zokol

Round summaries First round Thursday, March 24, 1988 PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Mark McCumber 65 −7 T2 Curt Byrum 66 −6 Greg Norman T4 Ed Fiori 67 −5 David Frost Tom Kite John Mahaffey David Ogrin Fuzzy ZoellerT10 Donnie Hammond 68 −4 Mike Reid Source:

Second round Friday, March 25, 1988 PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Payne Stewart 71-65=136 −8T2 Mark McCumber 65-72=137 −7 Mike Reid 68-69=137T4 David Frost 67-71=138 −6 Morris Hatalsky 70-68=138 Dan Pohl 69-69=138T7 Curt Byrum 66-73=139 −5 Gil Morgan 69-70=139 Calvin Peete 70-69=139T7 Chip Beck 73-67=140 −4 Ben Crenshaw 69-71=140 Ed Fiori 67-73=140 Tom Kite 67-73=140 Dick Mast 70-70=140 Greg Norman 66-74=140 Source:

Third round Saturday, March 26, 1988 Sunday, March 27, 1988

Due to weather delays, McCumber completed the last fourteen holes of his third round on Sunday morning and went to his nearby home between rounds. PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Mark McCumber 65-72-67=204 −12 2 David Frost 67-71-68=206 −103 Payne Stewart 71-65-71=207 −9T4 Curt Byrum 66-73-69=208 −8 Greg Norman 66-74-68=208 Dan Pohl 69-69-70=208T7 Chip Beck 73-67-69=209 −7 Ben Crenshaw 69-71-69=209 Tom Kite 67-73-69=209 Lanny Wadkins 70-72-67=209 Source:

Final round Sunday, March 27, 1988 Champion(c) = past champion PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)1 Mark McCumber 65-72-67-69=273 −15 225,0002 Mike Reid 68-69-73-67=277 −11 135,000T3 Fulton Allem 73-72-65-68=278 −10 65,000 Curt Byrum 66-73-69-70=278 David Frost 67-71-68-72=278T6 Gil Morgan 69-70-71-69=279 −9 43,437 Lanny Wadkins (c) 70-72-67-70=279T8 Wayne Levi 70-71-71-68=280 −8 36,250 Dan Pohl 69-69-70-72=280 Payne Stewart 71-65-71-73=280 Leaderboard below the top 10PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)T11 Chip Beck 73-67-69-72=281 −7 26,500 Ben Crenshaw 69-71-69-72=281 Tom Kite 67-73-69-72=281 Greg Norman 66-74-68-73=281 Mark Wiebe 71-70-71-69=281T16 Mike Hulbert 74-69-69-70=282 −6 17,535 Peter Jacobsen 69-75-69-69=282 Gary Koch 70-72-69-71=282 Bernhard Langer 71-72-67-72=282 Calvin Peete (c) 70-69-71-72=282 Gene Sauers 70-71-70-71=282 Joey Sindelar 69-72-67-74=282T23 Fred Couples (c) 72-72-71-68=283 −5 11,500 Ed Fiori 67-73-72-71=283 Larry Rinker 75-70-68-70=283 Fuzzy Zoeller 67-74-71-71=283T27 Dan Halldorson 70-71-71-72=284 −4 9,250 John Mahaffey (c) 67-75-69-73=284 Tsuneyuki Nakajima 73-72-67-72=284T30 Paul Azinger 70-71-72-72=285 −3 8,125 Morris Hatalsky 70-68-71-76=285 Dick Mast 70-70-72-73=28533 Kenny Perry 71-71-72-72=286 −2 7,375T34 Jay Don Blake 70-73-72-72=287 −1 6,907 Bob Eastwood 70-72-72-73=287T36 Dave Barr 70-75-73-70=288 E 5,760 Andy Bean 72-74-70-72=288 Buddy Gardner 72-74-70-72=288 Donnie Hammond 68-75-73-72=288 Jodie Mudd 72-74-68-74=288 Doug Tewell 72-72-73-71=288T42 Lennie Clements 74-71-71-73=289 +1 4,625 Brad Fabel 72-70-74-73=289 Corey Pavin 70-76-69-74=289T45 Tom Purtzer 74-72-70-74=290 +2 3,875 Jeff Sluman 71-73-71-75=290 Craig Stadler 74-71-73-72=290T48 David Edwards 73-71-71-76=291 +3 3,275 Steve Jones 73-72-72-74=291 Jack Renner 71-72-76-72=291T51 Bob Lohr 73-73-74-72=292 +4 3,008 Roger Maltbie 72-72-71-77=292 Bobby Wadkins 72-71-76-73=292T54 Mike Donald 70-74-75-74=293 +5 2,875 Steve Elkington 70-74-75-74=293 Don Pooley 71-75-76-71=29357 Steve Pate 70-71-74-79=294 +6 2,825T58 Jim Carter 73-73-76-73=295 +7 2,787 Pat McGowan 74-70-72-79=295T60 Isao Aoki 71-75-75-75=296 +8 2,725 Bobby Clampett 73-72-73-78=296 David Ishii 72-74-69-81=296T64 Mark Calcavecchia 70-75-76-76=297 +9 2,637 Dave Eichelberger 73-73-72-79=297 Chris Perry 75-69-77-76=297 Willie Wood 73-73-75-76=29768 John Huston 73-73-78-74=298 +10 2,575T69 Mark Lye 71-74-73-81=299 +11 2,537 Mike McCullough 74-72-77-76=29971 Andy North 73-72-73-83=301 +13 2,50072 David Ogrin 67-77-76-82=302 +14 2,475CUT Chen Tze-chung 75-72=147 +3 Wayne Grady 71-76=147 David Graham 71-76=147 Ken Green 70-77=147 Hale Irwin 75-72=147 Larry Mize 73-74=147 Jack Nicklaus (c) 73-74=147 Mike Sullivan 76-71=147 Ken Brown 77-71=148 +4 Ed Dougherty 73-75=148 Andrew Magee 74-74=148 Blaine McCallister 76-72=148 Mark O'Meara 76-72=148 Leonard Thompson 72-76=148 Tom Watson 75-73=148 Keith Clearwater 72-77=149 +5 Russ Cochran 74-75=149 Bob Gilder 76-73=149 Bruce Lietzke 74-75=149 Johnny Miller 73-76=149 Tim Simpson 70-79=149 Ray Stewart 75-74=149 D. A. Weibring 73-76=149 Brad Faxon 72-78=150 +6 Gary Hallberg 76-74=150 Mark Hayes (c) 75-75=150 Lon Hinkle 80-70=150 Scott Hoch 78-72=150 Kenny Knox 75-75=150 Loren Roberts 73-77=150 Clarence Rose 71-79=150 Scott Simpson 73-77=150 Howard Twitty 73-77=150 Denis Watson 74-76=150 Tom Byrum 76-75=151 +7 Rodger Davis 74-77=151 Vance Heafner 77-74=151 Rocco Mediate 76-75=151 Larry Nelson 73-78=151 Dave Rummells 78-73=151 Tom Sieckmann 73-78=151 Phil Blackmar 75-77=152 +8 Danny Edwards 78-74=152 Hubert Green 75-77=152 Billy Kratzert 74-78=152 Sandy Lyle (c) 79-73=152 Hal Sutton (c) 76-76=152 John Cook 74-79=153 +9 Rick Fehr 75-78=153 Bill Glasson 77-76=153 John Inman 76-77=153 Bill Sander 76-77=153 Tony Sills 77-76=153 Ian Woosnam 74-79=153 Seve Ballesteros 76-78=154 +10 Nick Faldo 75-79=154 Dan Forsman 77-77=154 Akiyoshi Ohmachi 77-77=154 Bill Rogers 79-75=154 J. C. Snead 78-76=154 Bob Tway 77-77=154 Robert Wrenn 75-79=154 Richard Zokol 77-77=154 Ronnie Black 77-78=155 +11 Sam Randolph 79-76=155 Fred Wadsworth 75-82=157 +13 Mac O'Grady 79-83=162 +18WD George Burns 76 +4DQ Raymond Floyd (c) 73-73-70-80=296 +8 Davis Love III 73-71=144 E Nick Price 74-75=149 +5 Curtis Strange 73 +1 Jay Haas 77 +5

References

External links The Players Championship website