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Editor's Note: This is the third in a series of 12 vignettes about memorable moments in the history of THE PLAYERS Championship. The 2007 event will be played May 10-13 on THE PLAYERS Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass.

Jack Nicklaus won three PLAYERS titles.

Results

The top five finishers in the 1976 edition of The PLAYERS Championship

Pos. Player Score 1. Jack Nicklaus 269 2. J.C. Snead 272 T3. Roger Maltbie 276 T3. Jim Masserio 276 5. Mark Hayes 277

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Leave it to Jack Nicklaus to make his profound mark on a new tournament.

When Nicklaus won the 1976 PLAYERS Championship at Inverrary Golf Club in Lauderhill, Fla., he captured his second title in the three-year-old event.

Nicklaus won the inaugural tournament in 1974 at Atlanta Country Club and would go on to win a record third title in 1978 at Sawgrass Country Club, across A1A from the current TPC Sawgrass site.

Nicklaus finished 1976 at a tournament-record 19-under par 269, a mark which is still the third-lowest total in tournament history.

Nicklaus and J.C. Snead, also the runner-up in 1974, began the final round tied for the lead at 12 under. Nicklaus carried a two-stroke lead to the 532-yard, par-5 15th hole.

After pitching in for eagle in the third round on that hole, Nicklaus hit the green in two in the final round and holed a 30-footer for eagle to sew up the win. Nicklaus played that par 5 in a cumulative 6 under and was 13 under on the par 5s for the week.

That was also the year that PGA TOUR Commissioner Deane Beman began seeking a permanent site for the tournament. By 1977, Ponte Vedra Beach was the home of the event, first for five years at Sawgrass Country Club and then at TPC Sawgrass in 1982.