Golf Network News
Sunday 29 March 1998PGA TourYear in Review
Leonard wins the Players Championship
TPC at Sawgrass Stadium Course, Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida · Thursday 26 to Sunday 29 March 1998 · Justin Leonard’s win no. 4 on the PGA Tour · purse $4,000,000 USD
The headline is set by GNN from the record. Reports from the papers of the day are below as they are found.
The weather
12 h 13 m
of daylight on the final day, the sun 63° up at noon, and that night a waxing crescent moon (computed from the date and the place).
- R123°/14°C · wind 20 km/h ENE, gusts 39 · 0 mm rainERA5 reanalysis at the course Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis
- R223°/15°C · wind 19 km/h ESE, gusts 39 · 0 mm rainERA5 reanalysis at the course Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis
- R324°/13°C · wind 15 km/h ESE, gusts 28 · 0.8 mm rainERA5 reanalysis at the course Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis
- R425°/17°C · wind 15 km/h SE, gusts 31 · 0 mm rainERA5 reanalysis at the course Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis
The name over time
Not yet traced: its earlier names, sponsors and courses come with research.
The ones it got away from
- Tom Lehman USA · 280Closed with a 68 to tie for second, two strokes behind GOLFonline (AP, Ron Sirak): Leonard comes from five back to win The Players Championship, 1998-03-29 (Wayback Machine)
- Glen Day USA · 280Two ahead at the turn, bogeyed the 10th, 12th and 13th and closed with a 71 to tie for second ASAP Sports interview transcript: Glen Day, 1998-03-29
144 started, 72 made it
Same week
PGA Tour event
The Players Championship
TPC at Sawgrass (Stadium Course), TPC at Sawgrass Stadium Course, Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
4 of 5 researched
Winner
Justin Leonard
Runner-up not yet researched.
From the papers
ASAP Sports (interview transcript)
29 March 1998
I knew the golf tournament was within reach. It was a matter of coming out, playing well, hoping that the two guys in the last group don't have a great day and, you know, they didn't.
Associated Press via GOLFonline
29 March 1998
There wasn't a lot of pressure on me, being five back, I'm a member here and I got a lot of member bounces.
ASAP Sports (interview transcript)
29 March 1998
Then the rest of the day was just kind of, you know: Ho-hum, let's get to the house.
Top 10
| Pos | Player | Rounds | Total | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Justin Leonard | 72 · 69 · 70 · 67 | 278 | −10 |
| T2 | Tom Lehman | 72 · 70 · 70 · 68 | 280 | −8 |
| T2 | Glen Day | 66 · 73 · 70 · 71 | 280 | −8 |
| 4 | Mark Calcavecchia | 69 · 75 · 68 · 69 | 281 | −7 |
| T5 | Scott Hoch | 73 · 69 · 70 · 70 | 282 | −6 |
| T5 | Len Mattiace | 69 · 71 · 72 · 70 | 282 | −6 |
| T5 | Lee Westwood | 74 · 71 · 68 · 69 | 282 | −6 |
| T8 | Payne Stewart | 72 · 71 · 75 · 65 | 283 | −5 |
| T8 | Nick Price | 71 · 72 · 70 · 70 | 283 | −5 |
| T8 | Phil Mickelson | 69 · 73 · 70 · 71 | 283 | −5 |
The golfer
born 1972-06-15, Dallas, Texas; USA; turned pro 1994; age 25 that week; tour wins to date: 4; majors to date: 1; world No. 11 that week (OWGR rankBefore as stated by the OWGR player profile events table (Players Championship, week 13 of 1998)).
What’s in the bag
No bag on file yet