# 1999 Players' Championship

The 1999 GMC World Curling Tour Players' Championship, the championship of the men's World Curling Tour (WCT) for the 1998-99 curling season was held March 17–21, 1999 at the Max Bell Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The total purse for the event was $150,000 with $20,000 going to the winning team, plus $1,000 per win and $250 per loss.
Ontario's Team Wayne Middaugh went undefeated en route to Middaugh's third tour championship title, and second as a skip. The team defeated the Russ Howard rink (also from Ontario, but with Howard living in New Brunswick) in the final, 9–5. The victory was helped by a three-ender in the third after Howard missed both of his draws, giving Middaugh an easy draw to take a 4–2 lead up to that point. In the fifth, Howard attempted to tie the game with a tap-back for two, but his rock hit a guard, resulting in a steal of one for Middaugh, who took a 5–2 lead. Middaugh did not look back from there. With the win, he took home $25,000 for the week, and Howard won $19,250.
The event was well attended, with over 18,000 spectators in total, a record for the WCT at that point. It was said more people were turned away from the sold-out final than had attended the entire event in 1997, which was held at Winnipeg's Granite Club.
Games were played in eight ends, instead of the usual ten so that all the games could fit into the schedule to accommodate the playoffs, which would be shown on television. This drew criticism from some of the teams, who preferred 10 ends. The semifinals were shown on CTV Sportsnet, and the final was shown on CTV. The semis and the final were played in 10 ends.

## Teams

The event included the top 20 teams in the world, plus three European teams. Sweden's Peja Lindholm rink was the sponsor's exemption, after Mike Harris turned it down. Another notable missing team was Ed Werenich.
The teams were as follows:
| Skip | Third | Second | Lead | Locale |
| Kerry Burtnyk | Jeff Ryan | Rob Meakin | Keith Fenton | Winnipeg, Manitoba |
| Dale Duguid | Doran Johnson | Shane Park | Merv Bodnarchuk | Vancouver, British Columbia |
| Markus Eggler | Andy Schwaller | Andreas Östreich | Damian Grichting | Biel, Switzerland |
| David Nedohin | Randy Ferbey (skip) | Scott Pfeifer | Carter Rycroft | Edmonton, Alberta |
| Doug Harcourt | Kevin Kalthoff | Greg Harcourt | Brian Wempe | Quill Lake, Saskatchewan |
| Jeff Hartung | Dean Klippenstine | Marty Derbowka | Bob Hartung | Langenburg, Saskatchewan |
| Brad Heidt | Eugene Hritzuk | Wes Cowlishaw | Dale Hannon | Kerrobert, Saskatchewan |
| Guy Hemmings | Pierre Charette | Guy Thibaudeau | Dale Ness | Montreal, Quebec |
| Russ Howard | Glenn Howard | Peter Corner | Neil Harrison | Midland, Ontario |
| Bruce Korte | Darrell McKee | Roger Korte | Rory Golanowski | Saskatoon, Saskatchewan |
| Peja Lindholm | Tomas Nordin | Magnus Swartling | Peter Narup | Östersund, Sweden |
| Kevin Martin | Don Walchuk | Rudy Ramcharan | Don Bartlett | Edmonton, Alberta |
| Greg McAulay | Brent Pierce | Bryan Miki | Darin Fenton | Vancouver, British Columbia |
| Wayne Middaugh | Graeme McCarrel | Ian Tetley | Scott Bailey | Toronto, Ontario |
| Rich Moffatt | Howard Rajala | Chris Fulton | Paul Madden | Ottawa, Ontario |
| Frank Morissette | Mickey Pendergast | Kevin Pendergast | Eugene Doherty | Calgary, Alberta |
| Mark Olson | Neil Patterson | Dave Leclair | Paul Kelly | Winnipeg, Manitoba |
| Vic Peters | Dave Smith | Chris Neufeld | Don Harvey | Winnipeg, Manitoba |
| Pat Ryan | Jay Peachey | Jamie Smith | Kevin MacKenzie | Kelowna, British Columbia |
| Brent Scales | Ken Tresoor | Doug Harrison | Grant Spicer | Swan River, Manitoba |
| Gerald Shymko | Gerry Adam | Arnie Geisler | Neil Cursons | Yorkton, Saskatchewan |
| Warwick Smith | Hammy McMillan | Ewan MacDonald | Peter Loudon | Inverness, Scotland |
| Don Spriggs | Dean Moxham | Dale Michie | Rick Blight | Portage la Prairie, Manitoba |
| Jeff Stoughton | Jon Mead | Garry Vandenberghe | Doug Armstrong | Winnipeg, Manitoba |

### Round-robin standings

The top two teams in each pool advanced to the playoffs.
Final round-robin standings
Key :
* Teams to Playoffs
* Teams to Tiebreakers
| M&M Meat Shops Division | W | L |
| Russ Howard | 4 | 1 |
| Mark Olson | 4 | 1 |
| Bruce Korte | 3 | 2 |
| Gerald Shymko | 2 | 3 |
| Kevin Martin | 2 | 3 |
| Don Spriggs | 0 | 5 |
| Molson Division | W | L |
| Wayne Middaugh | 5 | 0 |
| Rich Moffatt | 3 | 2 |
| Team Nedohin | 3 | 2 |
| Doug Harcourt | 2 | 3 |
| Markus Eggler | 1 | 4 |
| Jeff Hartung | 1 | 4 |
| Bell Express Vu Division | W | L |
| Jeff Stoughton | 4 | 1 |
| Guy Hemmings | 3 | 2 |
| Team McMillan | 3 | 2 |
| Pat Ryan | 3 | 2 |
| Frank Morissette | 1 | 4 |
| Brent Scales | 1 | 4 |
| Canadian Airlines Division | W | L |
| Kerry Burtnyk | 4 | 1 |
| Vic Peters | 4 | 1 |
| Dale Duguid | 3 | 2 |
| Brad Heidt | 3 | 2 |
| Peja Lindholm | 1 | 4 |
| Greg McAulay | 0 | 5 |

## Scores

Scores were as follows:

### Draw 1

* Howard 6, Spriggs 3
* Shymko 5, Martin 4
* Olson 4, Korte 2
* Moffatt 3, Hartung 2
* Duguid 5, Peters 4

### Draw 2

* Hemmings 7, Scales 3
* Eggler 5, Harcourt 4
* Middaugh 5, Nedohin 4
* Morissette 8, McMillan 5
* Stoughton 6, Ryan 3

### Draw 3

* Burtnyk 5, Heidt 4
* Lindholm 8, McAulay 7
* Shymko 6, Spriggs 5
* Martin 6, Korte 4
* Howard 7, Olson 6

### Draw 4

* Stoughton 6, Morissette 4
* Hemmings 5, Ryan 4
* McMillan 4, Scales 1
* Nedohin 6, Harcourt 4
* Middaugh 7, Hartung 1

### Draw 5

* Moffatt 5, Eggler 4
* Peters 6, Heidt 5
* Burtnyk 6, Lindholm 3
* Duguid 6, McAulay 5
* Korte 6, Spriggs 2

### Draw 6

* Olson 6, Martin 4
* Howard 4, Shymko 1
* Hemmings 7, Morissette 5
* Ryan 6, Scales 1
* McMillan 6, Stoughton 2

### Draw 7

* Harcourt 5, Hartung 2
* Middaugh 6, Moffatt 5
* Nedohin 5, Eggler 3
* Peters 6, Lindholm 4
* Burtnyk 8, McAulay 4

### Draw 8

* Heidt 9, Duguid 4
* Olson 8, Spriggs 5
* Howard 6, Martin 4
* Korte 9, Shymko 5
* Scales 6, Morissette 4

### Draw 9

* Ryan 4, McMillan 3
* Stoughton 6, Hemmings 3
* Harcourt 5, Moffatt 4
* Middaugh 8, Eggler 2
* Nedohin 7, Hartung 2

### Draw 10

* Peters 6, McAulay 4
* Burtnyk 5, Duguid 3
* Heidt 8, Lindholm 3
* Martin 8, Spriggs 3
* Olson 5, Shymko 2

### Draw 11

* Moffatt 5, Nedohin 2
* Hartung 7, Eggler 3
* Ryan 7, Morissette 6
* McMillan 6, Hemmings 1
* Middaugh 6, Harcourt 2

### Draw 12

* Korte 6, Howard 5
* Heidt 7, McAulay 5
* Stoughton 7, Scales 1
* Peters 6, Burtnyk 5
* Duguid 7, Lindholm 5

### Tiebreakers

| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Final |
| Pat Ryan | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | X | 7 |
| Hammy McMillan | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | X | 4 |
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Final |
| Rich Moffatt | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Team Nedohin | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Final |
| Guy Hemmings | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| Pat Ryan | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 |

## Playoffs

| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Finals | Finals | Finals |
| Wayne Middaugh | Wayne Middaugh | 9 | | | | | | |
| Guy Hemmings | Guy Hemmings | 7 | | | | | | |
| Guy Hemmings | Guy Hemmings | 7 | Wayne Middaugh | Wayne Middaugh | 10 | | | |
| | | | Jeff Stoughton | Jeff Stoughton | 5 | | | |
| Jeff Stoughton | Jeff Stoughton | 8 | Jeff Stoughton | Jeff Stoughton | 5 | | | |
| Team Nedohin | Team Nedohin | 4 | | | | | | |
| Team Nedohin | Team Nedohin | 4 | | | | Wayne Middaugh | Wayne Middaugh | 9 |
| | | | | | | Russ Howard | Russ Howard | 5 |
| Vic Peters | Vic Peters | 8 | | | | | | | Russ Howard | Russ Howard | 5 |
| Kerry Burtnyk | Kerry Burtnyk | 5 | | | | | | |
| Kerry Burtnyk | Kerry Burtnyk | 5 | Vic Peters | Vic Peters | 4 | | | |
| | | | Russ Howard | Russ Howard | 6 | | | |
| Russ Howard | Russ Howard | 8 | Russ Howard | Russ Howard | 6 | | | |
| Mark Olson | Mark Olson | 7 | | | | | | |

### Semifinals

March 20
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Final |
| Russ Howard | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | X | 6 |
| Vic Peters | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | X | 4 |
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Final |
| Wayne Middaugh | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | X | X | X | 10 |
| Jeff Stoughton | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | X | X | X | 5 |

### Final

March 21
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Final |
| Russ Howard | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | X | 5 |
| Wayne Middaugh | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | X | 9 |