1988 Players Championship

Golf tournament

TPC Sawgrass

Location in the United States

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TPC Sawgrass

Location in Florida

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The 1988 Players Championship was a golf tournament in Florida on the PGA Tour, held March 24–27 at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, southeast of Jacksonville. It was the fifteenth Players Championship and the first without "Tournament" in the title.^[2]

Local resident Mark McCumber opened with 65 and won with 273 (−15), four strokes ahead of runner-up Mike Reid.^[3]^[4]^[2] McCumber's 72-hole 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.^[5] Davis Love III had a similar occurrence on Friday, while Curtis Strange reported that he signed an incorrect scorecard.^[6] (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.^[7]

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 6,857 yards (6,270 m).^[1]

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

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Mark McCumber	65	−7
T2	Curt Byrum	66	−6
T2	Greg Norman	66	−6
T4	Ed Fiori	67	−5
	David Frost
	Tom Kite
	John Mahaffey
	David Ogrin
	Fuzzy Zoeller
T10	Donnie Hammond	68	−4
T10	Mike Reid	68	−4

Source:^[5]

Second round

Friday, March 25, 1988

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Payne Stewart	71-65=136	−8
T2	Mark McCumber	65-72=137	−7
T2	Mike Reid	68-69=137	−7
T4	David Frost	67-71=138	−6
	Morris Hatalsky	70-68=138
	Dan Pohl	69-69=138
T7	Curt Byrum	66-73=139	−5
	Gil Morgan	69-70=139
	Calvin Peete	70-69=139
T7	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:^[8]

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.^[4]

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Mark McCumber	65-72-67=204	−12
2	David Frost	67-71-68=206	−10
3	Payne Stewart	71-65-71=207	−9
T4	Curt Byrum	66-73-69=208	−8
	Greg Norman	66-74-68=208
	Dan Pohl	69-69-70=208
T7	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:^[1]^[3]

Final round

Sunday, March 27, 1988

Champion

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
1	Mark McCumber	65-72-67-69=273	−15	225,000
2	Mike Reid	68-69-73-67=277	−11	135,000
T3	Fulton Allem	73-72-65-68=278	−10	65,000
	Curt Byrum	66-73-69-70=278
	David Frost	67-71-68-72=278
T6	Gil Morgan	69-70-71-69=279	−9	43,437
T6	Lanny Wadkins (c)	70-72-67-70=279	−9	43,437
T8	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 10
Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
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=281
T16	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=282
T23	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=283
T27	Dan Halldorson	70-71-71-72=284	−4	9,250
	John Mahaffey (c)	67-75-69-73=284
	Tsuneyuki Nakajima	73-72-67-72=284
T30	Paul Azinger	70-71-72-72=285	−3	8,125
	Morris Hatalsky	70-68-71-76=285
	Dick Mast	70-70-72-73=285
33	Kenny Perry	71-71-72-72=286	−2	7,375
T34	Jay Don Blake	70-73-72-72=287	−1	6,907
T34	Bob Eastwood	70-72-72-73=287	−1	6,907
T36	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=288
T42	Lennie Clements	74-71-71-73=289	+1	4,625
	Brad Fabel	72-70-74-73=289
	Corey Pavin	70-76-69-74=289
T45	Tom Purtzer	74-72-70-74=290	+2	3,875
	Jeff Sluman	71-73-71-75=290
	Craig Stadler	74-71-73-72=290
T48	David Edwards	73-71-71-76=291	+3	3,275
	Steve Jones	73-72-72-74=291
	Jack Renner	71-72-76-72=291
T51	Bob Lohr	73-73-74-72=292	+4	3,008
	Roger Maltbie	72-72-71-77=292
	Bobby Wadkins	72-71-76-73=292
T54	Mike Donald	70-74-75-74=293	+5	2,875
	Steve Elkington	70-74-75-74=293
	Don Pooley	71-75-76-71=293
57	Steve Pate	70-71-74-79=294	+6	2,825
T58	Jim Carter	73-73-76-73=295	+7	2,787
T58	Pat McGowan	74-70-72-79=295	+7	2,787
T60	Isao Aoki	71-75-75-75=296	+8	2,725
	Bobby Clampett	73-72-73-78=296
	David Ishii	72-74-69-81=296
T64	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=297
68	John Huston	73-73-78-74=298	+10	2,575
T69	Mark Lye	71-74-73-81=299	+11	2,537
T69	Mike McCullough	74-72-77-76=299	+11	2,537
71	Andy North	73-72-73-83=301	+13	2,500
72	David Ogrin	67-77-76-82=302	+14	2,475
CUT	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		+11
Fred Wadsworth	75-82=157	+13
Mac O'Grady	79-83=162	+18
WD	George Burns	76	+4
DQ	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

Source:^[9]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "PGA Players". Toledo Blade. (Ohio). Associated Press. March 28, 1988. p. 27.
^ ^a ^b Diaz, Jaime (April 4, 1988). "Mark him well". Sports Illustrated. p. 32.
^ ^a ^b "McCumber wins emotional 'major'". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. March 28, 1988. p. 2B.
^ ^a ^b Hanley, Reid (March 28, 1988). "McCumber brings TPC home". Chicago Tribune. p. 5, sec. 3.
^ ^a ^b "Haas disqualified for using bent putter". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). (Los Angeles Times). March 25, 1988. p. 2B.
^ "Two more out over bent club, bad scorecard". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). (Los Angeles Times). March 26, 1988. p. 7C.
^ Hanley, Reid (March 27, 1988). "Pohl has 1-shot lead in rain-delayed TPC". Chicago Tribune. p. 12, sec. 3.
^ "Last-hole eagle puts Stewart up". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. March 26, 1988. p. 7C.
^ "Past Results 1974 – present". PGA Tour. Archived from the original on September 1, 2020. Retrieved March 1, 2020.