1976 Tournament Players Championship
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | February 26 – March 1, 1976 |
| Location | Lauderhill, Florida, U.S. 26°10′23″N 80°14′10″W / 26.173°N 80.236°W |
| Course(s) | Inverrary Country Club East Course[1] |
| Tour(s) | PGA Tour |
| Statistics | |
| Par | 72 |
| Length | 7,128 yards (6,518 m)[2] |
| Field | 143 players, 81 after cut |
| Cut | 145 (+1) |
| Prize fund | $300,000 |
| Winner's share | $60,000 |
| Champion | |
 Jack Nicklaus | |
| 269 (−19) | |
| Location map | |
  Inverrary CC Location in the United States  Inverrary CC Location in Florida | |
The 1976 Tournament Players Championship was a golf tournament in Florida on the PGA Tour, held February 26 to March 1 at Inverrary Country Club in Lauderhill, northwest of Fort Lauderdale. This was the third Tournament Players Championship;[3] Jack Nicklaus won his second title, three strokes ahead of runner-up J. C. Snead,[2][4] similar to his 1974 win.
Saturday was washed out by a thunderstorm; the third round was on Sunday and the final round on Monday.[5][6]
Defending champion Al Geiberger finished fifteen strokes back, in a tie for 24th place.
The first two editions had been played in late summer, after the major championships; this year's began in late February.[1]
Venue
This was the only Tournament Players Championship held in south Florida; the first was in Georgia and the second in Texas. It relocated to northeast Florida at Ponte Vedra Beach in 1977. Inverrary hosted an annual event on the PGA Tour from 1972 through 1983, which was not played in 1976.
Past champions in the field
| Player | Country | Year won | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total | To par | Finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jack Nicklaus |  United States |
1974 | 66 | 70 | 68 | 65 | 269 | −19 | 1 |
| Al Geiberger | United States |
1975 | 74 | 69 | 68 | 73 | 287 | −4 | T24 |
Source:[2]
Round summaries
First round
Thursday, February 26, 1976
Friday, February 27, 1976
| Place | Player | Country | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| T1 | Fred Marti | United States |
66 | −6 |
| Jack Nicklaus | United States
| |||
| T3 | Barry Jaeckel | United States |
67 | −5 |
| Don January | United States
| |||
| J. C. Snead | United States
| |||
| Tom Watson | United States
| |||
| T7 | George Burns | United States |
68 | −4 |
| Dale Douglass | United States
| |||
| Bob Gilder | United States
| |||
| John Mahaffey | United States
| |||
| Ed Sneed | United States
|
Source:[7]
Second round
Friday, February 27, 1976
| Place | Player | Country | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Don January | United States |
67-68=135 | −9 |
| T2 | Jack Nicklaus | United States |
66-70=136 | −8 |
| J. C. Snead | United States |
67-69=136 | ||
| T4 | Jim Masserio | United States |
69-68=137 | −7 |
| Tom Watson | United States |
67-70=137 | ||
| T6 | Butch Baird | United States |
71-67=138 | −6 |
| George Burns | United States |
71-67=138 | ||
| Dale Douglass | United States |
68-70=138 | ||
| Mark Hayes | United States |
71-67=138 | ||
| Hale Irwin | United States |
70-68=138 |
Source:[8]
Third round
Saturday, February 28, 1976
Sunday, February 29, 1976
| Place | Player | Country | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| T1 | Jack Nicklaus | United States |
66-70-68=204 | −12 |
| J. C. Snead | United States |
67-69-68=204 | ||
| T3 | Roger Maltbie | United States |
70-70-65=205 | −11 |
| Mark Hayes | United States |
71-67-67=205 | ||
| 5 | Tom Watson | United States |
67-70-70=207 | −9 |
| T6 | Hale Irwin | United States |
70-68-70=208 | −8 |
| Don January | United States |
67-68-73=208 | ||
| 8 | Jim Masserio | United States |
69-68-72=209 | −7 |
| T9 | Butch Baird | United States |
71-67-72=210 | −6 |
| Bob Payne | United States |
69-70-71=210 |
Source:[9]
Final round
Monday, March 1, 1976
| Place | Player | Country | Score | To par | Money ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jack Nicklaus | United States |
66-70-68-65=269 | −19 | 60,000 |
| 2 | J. C. Snead | United States |
67-69-68-68=272 | −16 | 34,200 |
| T3 | Roger Maltbie | United States |
70-70-65-71=276 | −12 | 17,700 |
| Jim Masserio | United States |
69-68-72-67=276 | |||
| 5 | Mark Hayes | United States |
71-67-67-72=277 | −11 | 12,300 |
| 6 | Lee Elder | United States |
69-72-70-67=278 | −10 | 10,800 |
| T7 | Butch Baird | United States |
71-67-72-70=280 | −8 | 9,225 |
| Don January | United States |
67-68-73-72=280 | |||
| T9 | David Graham |  Australia |
70-71-71-69=281 | −7 | 7,500 |
| Gary Player |  South Africa |
73-70-71-67=281 | |||
| Tom Watson | United States |
67-70-70-74=281 |
Source:[2]
References
- ^ a b Martz, Ron (February 26, 1976). "Golf pros create true tourney of champions". St. Petersburg Times. (Florida). p. 9C.
- ^ a b c d "Nicklaus' seven-under 65 plenty adequate for title". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. March 2, 1976. p. 15.
- ^ Biggers, Don (June 23, 1974). "Move over 'big four,' here comes another". Rome News-Tribune. (Georgia). p. 1C.
- ^ "Jack quiets cynics, wins TPC golf". Chicago Tribune. Associated Press. March 2, 1976. p. 1, sec. 4.
- ^ "Showers postpone TPC". Chicago Tribune. UPI. February 29, 1976. p. 9, sec. 3.
- ^ "Thunderstorm puts TPC back a day". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. February 29, 1976. p. 8C.
- ^ "Marti, Nicklaus share top spot". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. February 27, 1976. p. 4C.
- ^ "January captures Players golf lead". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. February 28, 1976. p. 3B.
- ^ "A replay of 1974 Players". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. March 1, 1976. p. 2C.