| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | March 26–29, 1987 |
| Location | Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida 30°11′53″N 81°23′38″W / 30.198°N 81.394°W |
| Course(s) | TPC Sawgrass, Stadium Course |
| Tour(s) | PGA Tour |
| Statistics | |
| Par | 72 |
| Length | 6,857 yards (6,270 m)[1] |
| Field | 144 players, 72 after cut |
| Cut | 143 (−1) |
| Prize fund | $1.0 million |
| Winner's share | $180,000 |
| Champion | |
 Sandy Lyle | |
| 274 (−14), playoff | |
| Location map | |
  TPC Sawgrass Location in the United States  TPC Sawgrass Location in Florida | |
The 1987 Tournament Players Championship was a golf tournament in Florida on the PGA Tour, held March 26–29 at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, southeast of Jacksonville. It was the fourteenth Tournament Players Championship.
Sandy Lyle of Scotland defeated Jeff Sluman on the third hole of a sudden-death playoff to become the first international player to win the title.[2][3][4] Rains had softened the course and led to favorable scoring;[5] the 36-hole cut of 143 (−1) was the lowest until 1993.
At the second playoff hole, the par-3 17th "Island Green," an unruly spectator jumped into the water as Sluman was addressing his six-foot (1.8 m) birdie putt for the win. After order was restored, he missed and they went to third extra hole at 18. Both found the fairway with their tee shots but both approaches went deep. Sluman couldn't save par from twelve feet (3.7 m) while Lyle made his from seven feet (2.1 m) to end it.[2][3][5]
This was the second playoff at the Tournament Players Championship, but the first at the Stadium Course. This year also marked the championship's first seven-figure purse and its last with "Tournament" in the title.
Defending champion John Mahaffey finished ten strokes back, in a tie for 32nd place.
- ^ "Tournament Players Championship". Toledo Blade. (Ohio). Associated Press. March 30, 1987. p. 22.
- ^ a b "Lyle takes TPC with playoff win". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. March 30, 1987. p. 2C.
- ^ a b Loomis, Tom (March 30, 1987). "Lyle ducks rain, competition for extra-hole victory in TPC". Toledo Blade. (Ohio). p. 20.
- ^ Hanley, Reid (March 30, 1987). "Lyle bags the TPC in playoff". Chicago Tribune. p. 8, sec. 3.
- ^ a b Ballard, Sarah (April 6, 1987). "Taming a toothless tiger". Sports Illustrated. p. 128.