PLAYERS Champions: Where are they now?

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Editor's note: Many of the winners of THE PLAYERS Championship are still competing on the PGA TOUR or Champions Tour. PGATOUR.COM's Lauren Deason caught up with several, though, who have moved on to different pursuits.

John Mahaffey
1986 PLAYERS Champion

John Mahaffey was not a big fan of hitting a draw off the tee. But the 18th hole at TPC Sawgrass, which curves around a lake to the left, called for a right-to-left shot.

"I promised myself if I had a chance to win the golf tournament that I would actually hook it on No. 18," Mahaffey said. And he executed the plan perfectly in 1986 on the 72nd hole of THE PLAYERS Championship.

At the time, Mahaffey and his playing partner, Larry Mize, were tied for the lead. Mahaffey had the honors and his well-played shot put the onus on the slender man from Augusta, Ga.

"I was so proud of that tee shot. It was just like I pictured it," Mahaffey said.

Mize, who had held or shared the lead for the previous 71 holes, went on to make his fourth bogey in five holes. He then watched Mahaffey tap in a short par putt and toss his visor into the lake to celebrate his 13-under-par victory. The win, his ninth of 10 victories, was worth $162,000 from the total purse of $900,000.

Mahaffey has a gig on the other side of the ropes these days. The Texan began working as an on-course reporter for the GOLF CHANNEL's Champions Tour broadcasts in 2004 after injuries curtailed his competitive career.

"I'm very happy working for the GOLF CHANNEL," Mahaffey said. He still occasionally partakes in a round of golf with friends but typically devotes his time to talking about golf, not playing it.

Still, his win at THE PLAYERS Championship is one of his favorite memories, especially since it gave him a 10-year exemption on the PGA TOUR.

"I think it's second only to my winning the PGA Championship in 1978," Mahaffey said. "A lot of guys don't understand what a 10-year exemption can mean to somebody and it meant an awful lot at that particular point. I enjoyed. It was very nerve-wracking but fun."

Calvin Peete
1985 PLAYERS Champion

It's so simple to Calvin Peete.

"That is my major," Peete said of his win at THE PLAYERS Championship in 1985. "That was the greatest accomplishment of my career other than leading (the TOUR) in Driving Accuracy for 10 straight years. That was my greatest win."

Despite his knack for keeping the ball in the fairway, an out-of-character errant shot nearly derailed his chances, though. On the 10th hole at TPC Sawgrass, Peete needed to punch his ball out of the woods but found he had a restricted swing.

"I had a shot, but I was afraid I was going to hit a limb and break my club or break my wrist," Peete said at the time. "I figured $162,000 was worth breaking either of them, so I went ahead and hit the shot."

The victory was the 10th of Peete's 12 career victories. Peete, who didn't pick up the game until his 20s and had once peddled clothes and food to migrant farm workers, would remain the most successful black golfer until Tiger Woods.

Peete now lives in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., just minutes from TPC Sawgrass. He doesn't play much competitive golf these days but enjoys teeing it up for exhibitions and charity events in Jacksonville.

Pepper Peete, Calvin's wife, is the Executive Director of the First Tee of Jacksonville. Calvin enjoys meeting the kids who visit Brentwood Golf Course to participate in the program and teaching them the First Tee's nine core values and life lessons.

"I spend a lot of time out there with the kids, helping them with their game and speaking with them," Peete said.

He can't stay away from watching THE PLAYERS Championship every year, either. Peete enjoys watching all the top TOUR players perform, but he has a soft spot for Fred Funk, the champion at TPC Sawgrass in 2005.

Peete fell from a tree as a youngster and broke his arm but it was never set properly. Because of the injury, his left arm remained bent while he swung the golf club and he had to focus on accuracy instead of power.

"Naturally Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson -- they are my favorites," Peete acknowledged. "But I've got to think about Fred Funk. He and I were probably two of the shortest hitters of all time that ever won that tournament."

Mark Hayes
1977 PLAYERS Champion

Winds gusting to 40 mph blew over a scoreboard and knocked Joe Inman out cold at THE PLAYERS Championship in 1977.

According to a report in the Washington Post that Friday, Ben Crenshaw joked in the locker room after particularly tough conditions, "Your attention, please. We have Jim Colbert in the interview area. Jim, tell us about your 88."

Mark Hayes survived "Black Friday" and shot a 74. He continued to plod along during the weekend, never expecting a victory and just trying to make par. On Sunday, though, when Tom Watson hit shots high in those windy conditions into more bunkers than greens, Hayes' strategy paid off with a victory.

Hayes was the first player to win THE PLAYERS after it moved to Jacksonville, Fla. But he didn't win at TPC Sawgrass -- the tournament's current home was not built until 1980. Instead, Hayes' win occurred at Sawgrass Country Club amidst some of the toughest conditions in the event's history on a course that was modified the next year to eliminate the dangerous bunkers around the greens.

The victory gave him a 10-year exemption on the PGA TOUR but Hayes never won again. He began devoting his time and concentration to his children and his golf course design business, which meant that he had less time to focus on golf.

"I really did not perform up to par after that point and I think I never was consistent enough to be considered a real good player out there. I had some swing flaws and things in my game," Hayes said. "I consider the field at (THE PLAYERS) to be as strong as or stronger than any the rest of the year so I was proud to win it. If I were to have backed it up with more wins, it would have been a lot more worthwhile."

He now lives in Edmond, Okla., and continues to work as a golf course architect. Hayes actually enjoys renovations as much as he does building his own courses.

"It's real steady and it's something I'll be able to do when I'm 80," Hayes said. "The golf industry needs people to renovate golf courses more than they need people to build golf courses because we have too many golf courses. Probably 75 percent of what I've done in the last five years has been in renovations."