1984 Tournament Players Championship, March 29 – April 1
This is the third of a five-part series on THE PLAYERS Championship featuring milestone anniversaries involving members of the World Golf Hall of Fame.
By Travis Puterbaugh, Curator of World Golf Hall of Fame & Museum
Winner: Fred Couples (2nd career victory on the PGA TOUR)
Purse: $800,000
This Week in 1984 Trivia:
The Georgetown Hoyas, paced by Reggie Williams and Patrick Ewing, defeat the University of Houston Cougars in the finals of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, 84-75, to win their first and only national championship.
Introduction:
After becoming the new permanent home to The Players Championship in 1982, TPC Sawgrass already sported a revised look for the 1984 edition. With feedback from a five-person committee made up of players – notably including Jack Nicklaus, Ben Crenshaw, and Hale Irwin – a report was made to course architect Pete Dye and PGA TOUR Commissioner Deane Beman about what alterations the course needed to become more playable, with the severe sloping of the greens a chief concern. By March 1984, 16 of the holes had been modified in some way, greens were slowed down, and the sloping on nine of the greens had been eliminated. If conditions at the Sawgrass Country Club had been too windy from 1977-1981, and the greens had been “Dye-abolical” during the first two years at TPC Sawgrass, then 1984 promised to be just right.
“If you’re close to a coast, then you have to make the course more strategic,” Crenshaw said. “We’ve tried to take out the unfairness. The surfaces are a little more predictable now.”
Meanwhile, heading into the tournament leaderboard stalwarts of the day such as Nicklaus, Lanny Wadkins, Hal Sutton, and Gary Koch were considered the favorites. Florida Times-Union columnist Greg Larson installed each at 4-1 odds to win the tournament. One individual not making his pre-tournament odds list, and thus meriting odds of greater than 25-1, was a player who had just one victory on the PGA TOUR (the 1983 Kemper Open), and in two previous showings at TPC Sawgrass, missed both cuts while shooting 79, 80, 84 and 81. Thus, Fred Couples would not have been on anyone’s radar heading into the event. Even leading into the tournament, Couples hadn’t picked up his clubs in over a week, and in his practice round on Wednesday, he failed to break 80. If Larson had chosen to install Couples at 100-1 odds to win the tournament, that may have even been considered generous.
Memorable Quote:
“I thought 17 was one of the easier par-5s on the course today.” – John Mahaffey, after the opening round in which winds howled at over 40 miles per hour and 64 balls found the water on the par-3 17th.
Turning Point:
In an homage to the old days across A1A at Sawgrass Country Club, the winds played havoc on the course in the first round with gusts of over 40 miles per hour. Jim Thorpe took the early lead with a 4-under 68, while Couples shot out of the gate – at least by his TPC Sawgrass standards – with a more-than-respectable 71 when only 13 players even shot par on the day. On the 17th hole alone, an astounding 64 balls were hit into the water by 59 players and the average score for the round was 76.1. Mark McCumber called the 17th the most intimidating hole he had ever seen, and he was one of the lucky few who managed to write a “3” for the hole.
“It gave you the fear of the Lord,” he said.
Day two brought much better weather and perhaps the most unanticipated round in the tournament’s brief history. If Couples’ first round 71 had people surprised, then his course-record 64 on Friday must surely have had the golfers and the galleries in utter disbelief. Trailing by three-strokes entering the day, Couples held a two-stroke lead by the end of the round. Despite a round featuring eight birdies and an eagle, even Couples seemed to find the result unexpected.
“I still think it’s too hard,” said Couples, who did have bogeys on the 1st and 18th holes to bookend an otherwise brilliant round. “My wife (Deborah) stayed in California because we both knew I’d miss the cut again. Now she’s flying in. It’ll never play any easier than right now.”
Result:
In the third round, Couples maintained his lead with a solid three-birdie performance despite having Seve Ballesteros, Lee Trevino, Tom Watson all nipping at his heels. He led Ballesteros by two-strokes heading into the final round, and perhaps buoyed by his alma matter Houston winning in overtime against Virginia in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, knew that fate, if not the fans, would be on his side on Sunday. In a world where Couples had not yet become a household name, much less the fan-favorite he would someday become, he felt like the spectators at TPC Sawgrass would be pulling for an established star to take the win.
“I can definitely see the crowd pulling for Seve, Tom, or one of the other big names,” Couples said. “I’m sure they don’t want me to play poorly, but they want the big names to win.”
Couples was neither intimidated by his pairing with Ballesteros and Watson, nor did he succumb to the pressure of closing out the tournament with a hot Trevino charging from behind. His 71 was just good enough to take the title by one stroke over Trevino, who had a chance to get to 11-under on the 18th but missed a 30-foot birdie attempt. With two shots to play with, Couples had just enough of a cushion that his do-no-harm three-putt on the 18th still allowed him to take the title by a single stroke. In addition to the title and the winner’s check – at $144,000, the largest payday in TOUR history – Couples earned a 10-year exemption on the PGA TOUR. He derived his greatest satisfaction, however, from slaying the beast that so tormented him in 1982 and 1983.
“Just winning the TPC is great, the money is nice, but the title is what means most to me,” Couples said. “My biggest accomplishment was beating the course.”
