   
| Memorable Moments: Wadkins rides like the wind in 1979  Editor's Note: This is the fourth 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. Add a lot of wind to the Sawgrass Country Club course, and the result was a lot more strokes for the field at the sixth PLAYERS Championship.  Lanny Wadkins has 21 PGA TOUR titles.
It was in 1979 that Lanny Wadkins battled the elements at the difficult Sawgrass site, on the eastern side of Highway A1A. The wind whipped up to 35 miles per hour during the weekend and Wadkins was the sole survivor. His 5-under-par 283 total won the tournament by five strokes and made him the first player to finish the event under par in three years of PLAYERS competition over the course. "This is probably the best I've ever played," said Wadkins. Conditions were so difficult that Jack Nicklaus shot an 82 on Saturday, tying his career high as a professional. The stroke average was 77.49 during Saturday's third round and 78.46 in Sunday's final round, which included a 92 by Bob Murphy. In Sunday's final round, 25 of the 71 players failed to break 80. Wadkins' even-par 72 on Sunday was bettered only by runner-up Tom Watson's 71. "I just had a fortunate week, I guess," Wadkins said. "Nobody in their right mind likes to play in conditions like this, and I've never really considered myself a good wind player. But I hit some of the best shots I've ever hit in my life and I made some key putts. It seemed like I was making a three- or four-footer all day long." A sign of the future appeared on A1A that week. "Players Club, Future Site of the Tournament Players Championship." Tours were conducted around the undeveloped property, signaling the continuation of the tournament in Ponte Vedra Beach. |
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