1983 Tournament Players Championship

The 1983 Tournament Players Championship was a golf tournament in Florida on the PGA Tour, held March 24–28 at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, southeast of Jacksonville. It was the tenth Tournament Players Championship.

Heavy rains on Thursday delayed the start until Friday, with the final two rounds planned for Sunday. Thunderstorms on Sunday morning allowed only the third round to be completed, and the final round was held on Monday.

Hal Sutton, age 24, came from four strokes back with a final round 69 to win his second tour event, one stroke ahead of runner-up Bob Eastwood. Later in the year, Sutton won his only major title, the PGA Championship in August at Riviera.

Defending champion Jerry Pate withdrew before the start, due to a lingering neck injury.

Sutton became the youngest champion of the TPC, formerly Mark Hayes, 27 in 1977. It was only for a year, as Fred Couples was five months younger at his win in 1984.

This was the second Tournament Players Championship held at the TPC at Sawgrass Stadium Course and it remained at 6,857 yards (6,270 m). Despite refinements in the past year, the Pete Dye-designed course continued to be scrutinized by many.

1. Top 125 players on Final 1982 Official Money List
2. Players who appear in Top 25 on 1983 Official Money List as of March 14, 1981
3. Leading 1982 Official Money Winner on the Senior PGA Tour
4. All designated players
5. Any foreign player who meets the requirements of a designated Player, whether or not he is a PGA Tour member
6. Past winners of the Tournament Players Championship, World Series of Golf, PGA Championship, Masters Tournament and U.S. Open since 1973
7. Three "special selections," as determined by TPC Committee

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John Adams, Isao Aoki, George Archer, Seve Ballesteros, Miller Barber, Andy Bean, Chip Beck, Woody Blackburn, Jim Booros, Bill Britton, Brad Bryant, George Burns, Bob Byman, Rex Caldwell, Antonio Cerda Jr., Bobby Clampett, Lennie Clements, Jim Colbert, Bobby Cole, Frank Conner, Charles Coody, John Cook, Fred Couples, Ben Crenshaw, Jim Dent, Bruce Devlin, Terry Diehl, Mike Donald, Bob Eastwood, Danny Edwards, David Edwards, Dave Eichelberger, Lee Elder, Nick Faldo, Keith Fergus, Forrest Fezler, Ed Fiori, Bruce Fleisher, Raymond Floyd, John Fought, Al Geiberger, Gibby Gilbert, Bob Gilder, David Graham, Lou Graham, Thomas Gray, Hubert Green, Jay Haas, Gary Hallberg, Dan Halldorson, Phil Hancock, Morris Hatalsky, Vance Heafner, Lon Hinkle, Scott Hoch, Mike Holland, Joe Inman, Hale Irwin, Peter Jacobsen, Barry Jaeckel, Tom Jenkins, Tom Kite, Gary Koch, Wayne Levi, Bruce Lietzke, Pat Lindsey, Mark Lye, John Mahaffey, Roger Maltbie, Mike McCullough, Mark McCumber, Pat McGowan, Mark McNulty, Steve Melnyk, Allen Miller, Johnny Miller, Jeff Mitchell, Larry Mize, Gil Morgan, Jodie Mudd, Bob Murphy, Tsuneyuki Nakajima, Jim Nelford, Larry Nelson, Jack Nicklaus, Mike Nicolette, Greg Norman, Tim Norris, Andy North, Mark O'Meara, Peter Oosterhuis, Arnold Palmer, Calvin Peete, Mark Pfeil, Dan Pohl, Don Pooley, Greg Powers, Tom Purtzer, Victor Regalado, Mike Reid, Jack Renner, Bill Rogers, Clarence Rose, Bob Shearer, Jim Simons, Scott Simpson, Tim Simpson, J. C. Snead, Ed Sneed, Craig Stadler, Payne Stewart, Curtis Strange, Ron Streck, Mike Sullivan, Hal Sutton, Doug Tewell, Leonard Thompson, Jim Thorpe, Lee Trevino, Howard Twitty, Tommy Valentine, Bobby Wadkins, Lanny Wadkins, Denis Watson, Tom Watson, D. A. Weibring, Tom Weiskopf, Larry Ziegler, Fuzzy Zoeller

• Defending champion Jerry Pate withdrew due to a lingering neck injury.

Friday, March 25, 1983

Rain washed out play on Thursday, and the final two rounds were rescheduled for Sunday.

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Saturday, March 26, 1983

With two rounds planned for Sunday, the cut was set at 149 (+5), reducing the field to 67. The eight players on 150, who would normally have made the cut, received prize money.

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Sunday, March 27, 1983

Officials had hoped to complete the event with 36 holes on Sunday. Thunderstorms in the morning delayed play for three hours, and the final round was moved to Monday.

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Monday, March 28, 1983

Source:

• The Players Championship website