# 1979 Tournament Players Championship

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 135 (−9). 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 91 yards (83 m) to 7,083 yards (6,477 m).

## 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
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
| 1 | Kermit Zarley | 66 | −6 |
| T2 | Jack Nicklaus | 67 | −5 |
| T2 | Andy North | 67 | −5 |
| T2 | Lanny Wadkins | 67 | −5 |
| T5 | Don January | 68 | −4 |
| T5 | Gil Morgan | 68 | −4 |
| T5 | Jim Nelford | 68 | −4 |
| T5 | Ron Streck | 68 | −4 |
| T9 | Brad Bryant | 69 | −3 |
| T9 | Danny Edwards | 69 | −3 |
| T9 | Ed Fiori | 69 | −3 |
| T9 | Dan Halldorson | 69 | −3 |
| T9 | Phil Hancock | 69 | −3 |
| T9 | Billy Kratzert | 69 | −3 |
| T9 | Wayne Levi | 69 | −3 |
| T9 | Lindy Miller | 69 | −3 |
| T9 | Jack Newton | 69 | −3 |
| T9 | Jerry Pate | 69 | −3 |
| T9 | Tim Simpson | 69 | −3 |
| T9 | Dave Stockton | 69 | −3 |
Source:

### Second round

Friday, March 23, 1979
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
| 1 | Lanny Wadkins | 67-68=135 | −9 |
| 2 | George Burns | 72-66=138 | −6 |
| T3 | Dan Halldorson | 69-70=139 | −5 |
| T3 | Billy Kratzert | 69-70=139 | −5 |
| T3 | Lee Trevino | 70-69=139 | −5 |
| T6 | Ed Fiori | 69-71=140 | −4 |
| T6 | Mark McCumber | 70-70=140 | −4 |
| T6 | Jack Nicklaus | 67-73=140 | −4 |
| T9 | Wayne Levi | 69-72=141 | −3 |
| T9 | Andy North | 67-74=141 | −3 |
| T9 | Dave Stockton | 69-72=141 | −3 |
Source:

### Third round

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

### Final round

Sunday, March 25, 1979
* Champion
* (c) = past champion
| Place | Player | Score | To par | Money ($) |
| 1 | Lanny Wadkins | 67-68-76-72=283 | −5 | 72,000 |
| 2 | Tom Watson | 70-72-75-71=288 | E | 43,200 |
| 3 | Jack Renner | 73-70-71-75=289 | +1 | 27,200 |
| 4 | Phil Hancock | 69-73-75-74=291 | +3 | 19,200 |
| T5 | Billy Kratzert | 69-70-75-79=293 | +5 | 14,600 |
| T5 | Wayne Levi | 69-72-77-75=293 | +5 | 14,600 |
| T5 | Lee Trevino | 70-69-75-79=293 | +5 | 14,600 |
| 8 | Andy Bean | 72-73-74-75=294 | +6 | 12,400 |
| T9 | Jay Haas | 71-74-74-76=295 | +7 | 10,800 |
| T9 | Tom Kite | 72-73-75-75=295 | +7 | 10,800 |
| T9 | Jack Newton | 69-74-77-75=295 | +7 | 10,800 |
Leaderboard below the top 10 :
| Place | Player | Score | To par | Money ($) |
| T12 | Mike McCullough | 71-73-79-73=296 | +8 | 8,800 |
| T12 | Gil Morgan | 68-77-76-75=296 | +8 | 8,800 |
| T14 | George Burns | 72-66-76-83=297 | +9 | 6,600 |
| T14 | Ed Fiori | 69-71-79-78=297 | +9 | 6,600 |
| T14 | Raymond Floyd | 71-72-80-74=297 | +9 | 6,600 |
| T14 | Peter Jacobsen | 74-72-76-75=297 | +9 | 6,600 |
| T14 | Graham Marsh | 72-75-75-75=297 | +9 | 6,600 |
| T14 | Victor Regalado | 70-74-73-80=297 | +9 | 6,600 |
| T20 | Rex Caldwell | 70-76-78-74=298 | +10 | 4,035 |
| T20 | Hubert Green | 73-72-78-75=298 | +10 | 4,035 |
| T20 | Gary Koch | 70-72-74-82=298 | +10 | 4,035 |
| T20 | Larry Nelson | 72-75-74-77=298 | +10 | 4,035 |
| T20 | Andy North | 67-74-76-81=298 | +10 | 4,035 |
| T20 | Jerry Pate | 69-73-77-79=298 | +10 | 4,035 |
| T20 | Tim Simpson | 69-73-80-76=298 | +10 | 4,035 |
| T20 | Howard Twitty | 75-67-76-80=298 | +10 | 4,035 |
| T28 | Jim Colbert | 73-72-76-78=299 | +11 | 2,720 |
| T28 | Lindy Miller | 69-76-77-77=299 | +11 | 2,720 |
| T28 | John Schroeder | 71-76-76-76=299 | +11 | 2,720 |
| T28 | Alan Tapie | 71-72-75-81=299 | +11 | 2,720 |
| T28 | Jim Thorpe | 72-73-77-77=299 | +11 | 2,720 |
| T33 | Gibby Gilbert | 71-75-78-76=300 | +12 | 2,310 |
| T33 | Jack Nicklaus (c) | 67-73-82-78=300 | +12 | 2,310 |
| T35 | Bob Byman | 70-74-75-82=301 | +13 | 1,847 |
| T35 | Charles Coody | 71-76-77-77=301 | +13 | 1,847 |
| T35 | Marty Fleckman | 72-74-79-76=301 | +13 | 1,847 |
| T35 | Bruce Fleisher | 73-72-78-78=301 | +13 | 1,847 |
| T35 | Mark McCumber | 70-70-80-81=301 | +13 | 1,847 |
| T35 | Jim Nelford | 68-76-78-79=301 | +13 | 1,847 |
| T35 | Mike Reid | 71-73-78-79=301 | +13 | 1,847 |
| T35 | Dave Stockton | 69-72-79-81=301 | +13 | 1,847 |
| T43 | Miller Barber | 70-75-77-80=302 | +14 | 1,248 |
| T43 | Bobby Cole | 71-75-77-79=302 | +14 | 1,248 |
| T43 | Lee Elder | 70-76-78-78=302 | +14 | 1,248 |
| T43 | Bob Gilder | 72-74-81-75=302 | +14 | 1,248 |
| T43 | Lou Graham | 70-76-76-80=302 | +14 | 1,248 |
| T43 | Orville Moody | 73-73-77-79=302 | +14 | 1,248 |
| T43 | Ron Streck | 68-77-78-79=302 | +14 | 1,248 |
| T50 | Randy Erskine | 76-68-82-77=303 | +15 | 950 |
| T50 | David Graham | 73-70-80-80=303 | +15 | 950 |
| T50 | Morris Hatalsky | 71-73-78-81=303 | +15 | 950 |
| T50 | Mark Lye | 71-76-79-77=303 | +15 | 950 |
| T50 | Arnold Palmer | 72-75-79-77=303 | +15 | 950 |
| T50 | Cesar Sanudo | 72-75-78-78=303 | +15 | 950 |
| T50 | Jim Simons | 71-73-76-83=303 | +15 | 950 |
| 57 | Don January | 68-79-79-78=304 | +16 | 904 |
| T58 | Allen Miller | 72-75-80-78=305 | +17 | 892 |
| T58 | Kermit Zarley | 66-79-78-82=305 | +17 | 892 |
| T60 | Bob Eastwood | 72-74-76-84=306 | +18 | 864 |
| T60 | Mark Hayes (c) | 72-75-79-80=306 | +18 | 864 |
| T60 | Gary McCord | 72-74-81-79=306 | +18 | 864 |
| T60 | Pat McGowan | 73-74-79-80=306 | +18 | 864 |
| T60 | Artie McNickle | 73-73-85-75=306 | +18 | 864 |
| T65 | Buddy Gardner | 71-75-78-83=307 | +19 | 836 |
| T65 | Barney Thompson | 74-72-80-81=307 | +19 | 836 |
| T67 | Al Geiberger (c) | 71-75-80-82=308 | +20 | 820 |
| T67 | Craig Stadler | 72-73-81-82=308 | +20 | 820 |
| T69 | Dan Halldorson | 69-70-81-89=309 | +21 | 804 |
| T69 | Rik Massengale | 71-76-78-84=309 | +21 | 804 |
| 71 | Bob Murphy | 75-71-74-92=312 | +24 | 792 |
| CUT | Don Bies | 70-78=148 | +4 | |
| CUT | Danny Edwards | 69-79=148 | +4 | |
| CUT | David Edwards | 74-74=148 | +4 | |
| CUT | Dave Eichelberger | 71-77=148 | +4 | |
| CUT | Hale Irwin | 71-77=148 | +4 | |
| CUT | Bruce Lietzke | 73-75=148 | +4 | |
| CUT | Jeff Mitchell | 73-75=148 | +4 | |
| CUT | Florentino Molina | 71-77=148 | +4 | |
| CUT | Peter Oosterhuis | 74-74=148 | +4 | |
| CUT | Chi Chi Rodriguez | 71-77=148 | +4 | |
| CUT | Curtis Strange | 73-75=148 | +4 | |
| CUT | Leonard Thompson | 72-76=148 | +4 | |
| CUT | Bobby Wadkins | 74-74=148 | +4 | |
| CUT | Larry Ziegler | 72-76=148 | +4 | |
| CUT | Wally Armstrong | 72-77=149 | +5 | |
| CUT | Dave Barr | 73-76=149 | +5 | |
| CUT | Billy Casper | 78-71=149 | +5 | |
| CUT | Ben Crenshaw | 74-75=149 | +5 | |
| CUT | Rod Curl | 75-74=149 | +5 | |
| CUT | Jim Dent | 75-74=149 | +5 | |
| CUT | Keith Fergus | 73-76=149 | +5 | |
| CUT | Rod Funseth | 77-72=149 | +5 | |
| CUT | Mike Hill | 75-74=149 | +5 | |
| CUT | Don Iverson | 72-77=149 | +5 | |
| CUT | Bob Lunn | 73-76=149 | +5 | |
| CUT | Mike Morley | 75-74=149 | +5 | |
| CUT | Eddie Pearce | 73-76=149 | +5 | |
| CUT | Scott Simpson | 74-75=149 | +5 | |
| CUT | J. C. Snead | 71-78=149 | +5 | |
| CUT | Brad Bryant | 69-81=150 | +6 | |
| CUT | Fred Marti | 71-79=150 | +6 | |
| CUT | Johnny Miller | 74-76=150 | +6 | |
| CUT | Mark Pfeil | 75-75=150 | +6 | |
| CUT | Greg Powers | 70-80=150 | +6 | |
| CUT | Carlton White | 72-78=150 | +6 | |
| CUT | Fuzzy Zoeller | 73-77=150 | +6 | |
| CUT | Bill Calfee | 73-78=151 | +7 | |
| CUT | Frank Conner | 73-78=151 | +7 | |
| CUT | Joe Inman | 73-78=151 | +7 | |
| CUT | John Lister | 73-78=151 | +7 | |
| CUT | Tom Purtzer | 75-76=151 | +7 | |
| CUT | Bill Rogers | 73-78=151 | +7 | |
| CUT | Terry Diehl | 76-76=152 | +8 | |
| CUT | Mac McLendon | 75-77=152 | +8 | |
| CUT | Steve Melnyk | 77-75=152 | +8 | |
| CUT | Lee Mikles | 78-74=152 | +8 | |
| CUT | Calvin Peete | 74-78=152 | +8 | |
| CUT | Gary Player | 73-79=152 | +8 | |
| CUT | Don Pooley | 77-75=152 | +8 | |
| CUT | Ed Sneed | 76-76=152 | +8 | |
| CUT | D. A. Weibring | 73-79=152 | +8 | |
| CUT | Bob Mann | 76-77=153 | +9 | |
| CUT | Bobby Walzel | 72-81=153 | +9 | |
| CUT | Tommy Aaron | 76-78=154 | +10 | |
| CUT | Homero Blancas | 75-79=154 | +10 | |
| CUT | George Cadle | 77-77=154 | +10 | |
| CUT | Barry Jaeckel | 75-79=154 | +10 | |
| CUT | Mike Sullivan | 76-78=154 | +10 | |
| CUT | Lon Hinkle | 75-80=155 | +11 | |
| CUT | Tom Weiskopf | 73-82=155 | +11 | |
| CUT | Joe Hager | 75-81=156 | +12 | |
| CUT | Jerry Heard | 79-77=156 | +12 | |
| CUT | Ed Sabo | 75-81=156 | +12 | |
| CUT | Seve Ballesteros | 76-81=157 | +13 | |
| CUT | Dale Douglass | 79-78=157 | +13 | |
| CUT | Bob Shearer | 75-82=157 | +13 | |
| CUT | Bob Zender | 78-80=158 | +14 | |
| CUT | Frank Beard | 82-77=159 | +15 | |
| CUT | Jeff Hewes | 78-81=159 | +15 | |
| CUT | Dave Hill | 79-80=159 | +15 | |
| CUT | Alan Pate | 84-80=164 | +20 | |
| CUT | Bob Wynn | 84-80=164 | +20 | |
Source: