1976 Tournament Players Championship

1976 Tournament Players Championship
Tournament information
Dates	February 26 – ; March 1, 1976
Location	Lauderhill, Florida, U.S.
Course(s)	Inverrary Country Club; East Course
Tour(s)	PGA Tour
Statistics
Par	72
Length	7,128 yards (6,518 m)
Cut	145 (+1)
Prize fund	$300,000
Winner's share	$60,000
Champion
	Jack Nicklaus
	269 (−19)
	← 1975 1977 →

Inverrary

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Location in the United States

Inverrary
Country Club

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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
T1	Jack Nicklaus	United States	66	−6
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
T2	J. C. Snead	United States	67-69=136	−8
T4	Jim Masserio	United States	69-68=137	−7
T4	Tom Watson	United States	67-70=137	−7
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
T1	J. C. Snead	United States	67-69-68=204	−12
T3	Roger Maltbie	United States	70-70-65=205	−11
T3	Mark Hayes	United States	71-67-67=205	−11
5	Tom Watson	United States	67-70-70=207	−9
T6	Hale Irwin	United States	70-68-70=208	−8
T6	Don January	United States	67-68-73=208	−8
8	Jim Masserio	United States	69-68-72=209	−7
T9	Butch Baird	United States	71-67-72=210	−6
T9	Bob Payne	United States	69-70-71=210	−6

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
T3	Jim Masserio	United States	69-68-72-67=276	−12	17,700
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
T7	Don January	United States	67-68-73-72=280	−8	9,225
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.

External links

26°10′23″N 80°14′10″W / 26.173°N 80.236°W / 26.173; -80.236

[trutor-1] Martz, Ron (February 26, 1976). "Golf pros create true tourney of champions". St. Petersburg Times. (Florida). p. 9C.

[srsvnun-2] "Nicklaus' seven-under 65 plenty adequate for title". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. March 2, 1976. p. 15.

[hcmsanr-3] Biggers, Don (June 23, 1974). "Move over 'big four,' here comes another". Rome News-Tribune. (Georgia). p. 1C.

[ctjck-4] "Jack quiets cynics, wins TPC golf". Chicago Tribune. Associated Press. March 2, 1976. p. 1, sec. 4.

[ctspptp-5] "Showers postpone TPC". Chicago Tribune. UPI. February 29, 1976. p. 9, sec. 3.

[tsputbk-6] "Thunderstorm puts TPC back a day". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. February 29, 1976. p. 8C.

[mnshtopsp-7] "Marti, Nicklaus share top spot". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. February 27, 1976. p. 4C.

[jcpgl-8] "January captures Players golf lead". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. February 28, 1976. p. 3B.

[replaysvf-9] "A replay of 1974 Players". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. March 1, 1976. p. 2C.

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v t e The Players Championship
Tournaments	1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Venues	Atlanta Country Club (1974) Colonial Country Club (1975) Inverrary Country Club (1976) Sawgrass Country Club (1977–1981) Tournament Players Club at Sawgrass (1982–present)