Hal Sutton had the right club, on that day.
Fred Funk hit into a bunker he’d never been in before, then got a huge break on the lie.
Raymond Floyd schooled an up-and-coming PGA Tour star who would one day join him in the World Golf Hall of Fame.
And the two biggest stars in golf history over the last 60 years added Players Championships to their lengthy resumes.
And they all happened on a Monday.
The Players Championship will have a Monday finish at the Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass because of storms on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. It will be the eighth Monday finish in the history of the tournament and the fourth at the Stadium Course.
No one – the Tour, players, fans and TV partners – is ever happy with a Monday finish. It’s made for longer weeks, cuts into preparations for the next event on the schedule, denies many fans who held Sunday tickets the chance to see the winner walk down the 18th fairway and results in lower ratings.
But in the case of The Players, the Monday finishes have resulted in some of the most memorable moments in tournament history and certainly among the most worthy winners.
Jack Nicklaus has won a record three Players Championships and two of them were on a Monday, at two venues, one in the summer and one in the spring.
Tiger Woods won the first of his two Players titles, closing it out two days after sinking his famous “Better than Most,” putt at No. 17 and holding off Vijay Singh – who executed perhaps the most stunning and inventive short-game shot in tournament history.
Floyd won on a Monday, the last year The Players was contested at the Sawgrass Country Club.
Both of Hal Sutton’s Players titles and Funk’s biggest professional triumph – yep, on Mondays.
That’s three members of the Hall of Fame, a major champion in Sutton and one of the most respected, blue-collar winners on the PGA Tour during his time in Funk.
Not a bad set of winners for any tournament, on any day.
Here’s the history of Players Monday finishes:
Jack Nicklaus in 1974. (Photo: Paul Vathis/AP)
The inaugural Players Championship was held on Labor Day weekend at the Atlanta Country Club under PGA Tour commissioner Deane Beman’s initial concept of rotating the venue. It was also called the Tournament Players Championship, giving rise to the shorthanded version, “the TPC.”
Weather delays interrupted the tournament on Thursday and Sunday, and Nicklaus trailed J.C. Snead by three shots entering the final round. But draining six birdie putts between 8 and 25 feet, Nicklaus fired a closing 67 to win by two.
Nicklaus played his first 13 holes at 5-under on Sunday to catch and pass Snead, then returned on Monday to play his last five holes at even par to stay ahead. Nine days later, Nicklaus found out he would be among the charter Hall of Fame members.
Jack Nicklaus in action during the 1976 PGA tour season. Malcolm Emmons- USA TODAY Sports
Believe it or not, entering the 1976 Players at Inverrary in Fort Lauderdale, Nicklaus faced whispers about whether his better days were behind him. He shot an 82 in the final round at Pebble Beach after leading through 54 holes, and then frittered away a chance to win the Bob Hope.
“Is Jack past his peak?” wrote AP golf writer Bob Green.
But on a blustery March 1, with almost the entire final round played on Monday due to Friday storms, Nicklaus showed it was far from the truth.
He fired a 65 to pull away from a tie with Snead to win by three shots. It was the second time in less than three years that Snead finished second to Nicklaus in The Players. Nicklaus capped his rally with a 30-foot eagle putt at the 15th hole.
Raymond Floyd (Photo by USA Today Network.)
Even in 1981, The Players purse was the biggest in golf at $440,000. But winner Raymond Floyd did more than just take home the $72,000 first-place check: He earned a $250,000 bonus put up by the sponsors of the Florida Swing events for anyone who won back-to-back tournaments. Floyd had won at Doral the week before.
He flew under the radar all week and at the close of the day on Saturday, trailed Barry Jaeckel by six shots. Torrential rain washed out the entire day on Sunday and when the field returned on Monday, Floyd fired a 68 to Jackel’s 74 and Curtis Strange had a 70 to make it a three-man playoff.
Floyd made short work of it, at the par-4 15th hole. Jaeckel and Strange both missed the green and then missed par-putt attempts of 6 feet. Floyd two-putted for the winning par.
Hal Sutton lines up a putt. (File photo by USA Today Network)
Hal Sutton was one of the rising PGA Tour stars and he made the 1983 Players, the second at the Stadium Course, his coming-out party.
After rain washed out the entire first day, Sutton lurked from behind and a third-round 70 put him at 2-under, four shots behind John Cook.
Sutton made his move with birdies at Nos. 16 and 17, including a tee shot to within a foot of the cup at the Island Green to take a one-shot lead over the fading Cook.
Sutton bogeyed the 18th to fall back into a tie for the lead but Cook obliged by hooking his tee shot in the water.
“Every hole on this golf course is a potential disaster,” Sutton said after the tournament. “I was fortunate I was able to steer clear of most of the trouble.”
Hal Sutton holds the champions trophy after the final round of the 2000 Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. (Photo: Getty Images)
After four Monday finishes in the first 10 years of The Players, the tournament was concluded on Sunday for the next 16 years. But the string ran out during the final round in 2000 when the final twosome of Sutton and Woods were in the 12th fairway.
Sutton, who would eventually win wire-to-wire, had a three-shot lead over Woods when play was halted, and when they returned, Woods three-putted the 12th to fall four back. Sutton kept grinding out one par after another (he would par out his final seven holes) but Woods cut the lead to one with a birdie at No. 13, then a spectacular eagle at No. 16, dropping his approach shot 4 feet behind the hole.
But Sutton wouldn’t budge and from the middle of the 18th fairway he drilled a 6-iron to within 10 feet of the hole, drawing his now-famous “be the right club … today!” followed by a hand-slap with caddie Freddie Burns. It was the 17th green Sutton hit in the final round.
During the week, with Woods never more than four shots behind him, Sutton was adamant that he wouldn’t be intimidated by Woods’ aura.
“Tiger Woods is not bigger than the game,” Sutton said after the final round. “You all do a good job of making him bigger than the game. That’s what makes it tough.”
Tiger Woods pumps his fist after sinking a 60-foot birdie putt at the 17th hole of the TPC Sawgrass Players Stadium Course on March 24, 2001, in the third round of The Players Championship. Woods went on to win the tournament two days later in a Monday finish. [Bob Self/Florida Times-Union]
Woods came to the 2001 Players Championship at the pinnacle of his career. He had won the 2000 U.S. Open, British Open and PGA, made the turn into 2001 and captured the Arnold Palmer Invitational the week before The Players.
He then fired weekend rounds of 66-67 and won The Players by one shot over Vijay Singh.
Woods highlighted the third round with his 50-foot putt at No. 17 to come within two shots of Jerry Kelly. He then tied Kelly when he started the final round birdie-eagle, the latter coming on a chip-in, and went ahead with a 10-foot birdie putt at No. 9. The tournament was suspended because of darkness, the after-effect of a nearly 3-hour weather delay before Woods teed off.
Woods returned and birdied Nos. 10, 12 and 16 to take a commanding lead. Singh made it interesting, especially with a chip-in for eagle at No. 16 in which he turned his putter around and tapped the ball out of heavy rough with the toe. But it wasn’t enough and Woods was able to safely bogey the last to win the first of his two Players.
Woods won the Masters in his next start to earn his “Tiger Slam” — holding the championships of all four majors at the same time.
Fred Funk holds the trophy after the final round of The Players Championship at the Tournament Players Club at Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, on March 28, 2005. Funk won the tournament with a final round 71. (Photo by Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images)
In terms of the number of holes he needed to play, Funk had to work harder than any Players winner on a Monday finish.
With his cheering section “Funk’s Punks” following his every step on a wild, windy day, Funk played 32 holes and survived despite three three-putts on the back nine.
After a normal first round played in good weather on Thursday (Funk shot 65) weather washed out the entire day on Friday and interrupted play on Saturday and Sunday. Through all of the stops and starts, Funk held his game together with a 72 and two 71s.
Funk arrived at No. 18 with a one-shot lead. He hit his second shot into the bunker at No. 18, and he got a break when the ball popped out of the “fried egg” divot in the sand and landed on the lip it formed. He blasted out to within 6 feet and made the par putt to win by one shot over Scott Verplank, Luke Donald and Tom Lehman.
Sixteen players didn’t break 80 in the final round and it also was memorable because Bob Tway set the record for the highest score at No. 17, recording a 12.
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