1998 Players Championship Explained

1998 Players Championship
Location:Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
Course:TPC Sawgrass,
Stadium Course
Tour:PGA Tour
Par:72
Yardage:6950yd[1]
Field:144 players, 72 after cut
Cut:146 (+2)
Purse:$4.0 million
Winners Share:$720,000
Champion: Justin Leonard
Score:278 (−10)
Map:USA#USA Florida
Map Relief:yes
Map Label:TPC Sawgrass
Coordinates:30.198°N -81.394°W
Previous:1997
Next:1999

The 1998 Players Championship was a golf tournament in Florida on the PGA Tour, held at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, southeast of Jacksonville. It was the 25th Players Championship.

Tournament summary

Defending champion Steve Elkington withdrew on Monday night, citing complications after sinus surgery.[2] [3] He was the first defending champion that did not compete since Jerry Pate in 1983. In addition, Greg Norman, the 1994 champion, withdrew prior to the first round with a shoulder injury.[4]

Lee Janzen, who won the tournament three years previous, held the lead after third round. However, he shot a final round 79 and fell to eighteenth. Journeyman Len Mattiace took advantage, surging into the lead. However, he scored a quintuple-bogey at the par-3 17th hole to end his chances. He birdied the final hole though to finish in the top five.[5] [6] Five strokes back, Justin Leonard shot a final round 67 to win at 278 (−10), two ahead of runners-up Glen Day and Tom Lehman.[7]

Venue

See main article: TPC at Sawgrass. This was the seventeenth Players Championship held at the TPC at Sawgrass Stadium Course; it was extended this year to 6950yd,[1] an increase of .

Field

1. All winners of PGA Tour events awarding official money and official victory status in the preceding 12 months, concluding with the Bay Hill Invitational and dating from the 1997 Players Championship

2. The top 125 PGA Tour players from the final 1997 Official Money List[8]

3. Winners in the last 10 calendar years of The Players Championship, Masters Tournament, U.S. Open, PGA Championship, and NEC World Series of Golf

4. British Open winners since 1990

5. Up to eight players, not otherwise eligible, designated by The Players Championship Committee as "special selections"

6. Any players, not otherwise eligible, who are among the top 10 money winners from the 1998 Official Money List through the Bay Hill Invitational

7. To complete a field of 144 players, those players in order, not otherwise eligible, from the 1998 Official Money List through the Bay Hill Invitational

Source:[9]

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, March 26, 1998

PlacePlayerScoreTo par
1 66 −6
T2 67 −5
4 68 −4
T5 69 −3
Bruce Lietzke
Source:[4] [10]

Second round

Friday, March 27, 1998

PlacePlayerScoreTo par
T1 70-67=137 −7
69-68=137
2 72-66=138 −6
T3 66-73=139 −5
68-71=139
69-70=139
T6 67-73=140 −4
69-71=140
72-68=140
69-71=140
69-71=140
67-73=140
Source:[11]

Third round

Saturday, March 28, 1998

PlacePlayerScoreTo par
1 70-67-69=206 −10
2 66-73-70=209 −7
3 72-69-70=211 −5
T4 69-75-68=212 −4
73-69-70=212
72-70-70=212
69-71-72=212
69-73-70=212
T9 67-73-73=213 −3
71-72-70=213
69-71-73=213
69-70-74=213
69-75-69=213
69-68-76=213
71-72-70=213
71-70-72=213
72-71-70=213
74-71-68=213
Source:[12]

Final round

Sunday, March 29, 1998

Champion
(c) = past champion
PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)
1 Justin Leonard 72-69-70-67=278 −10 720,000
T2 66-73-70-71=280 −8 352,000
72-70-70-68=280
4 69-75-68-69=281 −7 192,000
T5 73-69-70-70=282 −6 146,000
69-71-72-70=282
74-71-68-69=282
T8 69-73-70-71=283 −5 116,000
Nick Price (c) 71-72-70-70=283
72-71-75-65=283
[13]

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Players Championship . Wilmington Morning Star . (North Carolina) . Associated Press . March 30, 1998 . 7C.
  2. News: Smits . Gary . March 25, 1998 . Elkington out . Florida Times-Union . (Jacksonville) . May 12, 2017.
  3. News: March 25, 1998 . Elkington won't defend . 2B . Eugene Register-Guard . wire services . (Oregon) .
  4. News: March 27, 1998 . Eagle on 19th makes it a great Day for leader . 5C . Eugene Register-Guard . Associated Press . (Oregon) .
  5. Garrity . John . April 6, 1998 . Sunday Driver . Sports Illustrated . 60.
  6. News: March 30, 1998 . Leonard rallies from five shots back to win . 7C . Wilmington Morning Star . Associated Press . (North Carolina) .
  7. News: Leonard charges to victory in TPC . Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . Parascenzo . Marino . March 30, 1998 . C1.
  8. Web site: Official Money – Season: 1997 . 2023-03-25 . PGA Tour.
  9. Web site: 1998 PGA Tour Media Guide . live . PGA Tour . 336 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200924150603/https://pgatourmedia.pgatourhq.com/static-assets/page/header/files/1998_pgatour.pdf . 2020-09-24.
  10. News: Golf: PGA Tour . Eugene Register-Guard . (Oregon) . March 27, 1998 . 6C.
  11. News: Golf:PGA Tour . Eugene Register-Guard . (Oregon) . March 28, 1998 . 8D.
  12. News: Janzen taking aim at TPC . Eugene Register-Guard . (Oregon) . wire services . March 29, 1998 . 3G.
  13. Web site: Past Results 1974 – present . PGA Tour . March 1, 2020 . September 1, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200901175049/https://www.theplayers.com/past-results.html . dead .

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "1998 Players Championship".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.