1978 PGA Championship

Coordinates: 40°31′34″N 79°49′37″W / 40.526°N 79.827°W / 40.526; -79.827
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1978 PGA Championship
Tournament information
DatesAugust 3–6, 1978
LocationOakmont, Pennsylvania
40°31′34″N 79°49′37″W / 40.526°N 79.827°W / 40.526; -79.827
Course(s)Oakmont Country Club
Organized byPGA of America
Tour(s)PGA Tour
Statistics
Par71
Length6,989 yards (6,391 m)[1][2]
Field149 players, 70 after cut[2]
Cut148 (+6)
Prize fund$300,240
Winner's share$50,000
Champion
United States John Mahaffey
276 (−8), playoff
Location Map
Oakmont is located in the United States
Oakmont
Oakmont
Location in the United States
Oakmont is located in Pennsylvania
Oakmont
Oakmont
Location in Pennsylvania
← 1977
1979 →

The 1978 PGA Championship was the 60th PGA Championship, played August 3–6 at Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pennsylvania, a suburb northeast of Pittsburgh. John Mahaffey won his only major championship in a sudden-death playoff over Jerry Pate and Tom Watson.[3][4]

Watson led the tournament each day and held a five-shot lead after 54 holes, but he faltered on Sunday with a 73 (+2) in his best opportunity for a PGA Championship, the only major he has never won. Pate had a four-foot (1.3 m) putt for a par and the victory on the 72nd hole, but it lipped out. After opening with a four-over 75 on Thursday, Mahaffey rebounded to go 12-under for the next three rounds, including a five-under 66 in the final round to gain the seven strokes on Watson. He had a history of hard luck in majors: at the U.S. Open, he lost the 18-hole playoff in 1975 and was the 54-hole leader in 1976, won by tour rookie Pate. Mahaffey broke that streak when he birdied the second extra hole to win the playoff at Oakmont.[5] It was the second of three consecutive playoffs at the PGA Championship.

Like Arnold Palmer, Watson won numerous majors but never the PGA Championship, the only leg missing for a career grand slam. At this time he had won three of his eight majors; his next best finish at the PGA Championship came fifteen years later in 1993, placing fifth at Inverness. Pate finished in the top five for the third straight year (and would again the next year) but never won another major.

Jack Nicklaus, age 38, shot a 79 in the first round[6][7] and missed the cut by five strokes in one of his worst performances in a major. Four-time champion Nicklaus was a pre-tournament favorite: in his previous majors at Oakmont (two U.S. Opens), he won in 1962, his first major and first win as a professional, and tied for fourth in the 1973. At the previous year's PGA Championship at Pebble Beach, he finished third, one stroke out of the playoff.

This was the eighth major held at Oakmont and its third PGA Championship; the previous two in 1922 and 1951 were match play events.

Course layout[edit]

Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Out 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 In Total
Yards 469 343 425 561 379 201 434 255 480 3,547 462 371 603 185 360 453 230 322 456 3,442 6,989
Par 4 4 4 5 4 3 4 3 5 36 4 4 5 3 4 4 3 4 4 35 71

Lengths of the course for previous major championships:

Before 1962, the 1st hole was played as a par 5.

Round summaries[edit]

First round[edit]

Thursday, August 3, 1978

Place Player Score To par
1 United States Tom Watson 67 −4
2 United States Dave Stockton 68 −3
T3 United States Dave Hill 69 −2
United States Ben Crenshaw
United States Johnny Miller
United States Lee Trevino
T7 United States Grier Jones 70 −1
United States Phil Hancock
United States Lanny Wadkins
United States Mike Sullivan
United States Mike Morley
United States Billy Kratzert
United States Jerry McGee
United States Rod Funseth
United States Craig Stadler

Second round[edit]

Friday, August 4, 1978

Place Player Score To par
1 United States Tom Watson 67-69=136 −6
T2 United States Tom Weiskopf 73-67=140 −2
United States Joe Inman 72-68=140
United States Ben Crenshaw 69-71=140
5 United States Johnny Miller 69-72=141 −1
T6 United States John Mahaffey 75-67=142 E
United States Bobby Nichols 75-67=142
United States Bob Zender 73-69=142
United States Jerry Pate 72-70=142
United States Tom Purtzer 72-70=142
United States Hubert Green 71-71=142
United States Lee Trevino 69-73=142

Source:[1]

Third round[edit]

Saturday, August 5, 1978

Place Player Score To par
1 United States Tom Watson 67-69-67=203 −10
2 United States Jerry Pate 72-70-66=208 −5
T3 United States Joe Inman 72-68-69=209 −4
United States Tom Weiskopf 73-67-69=209
5 United States John Mahaffey 75-67-68=210 −3
6 United States Craig Stadler 70-74-67=211 −2
7 United States Lee Trevino 69-73-70=212 −1
T8 United States Gil Morgan 76-71-66=213 E
United States Kermit Zarley 75-71-67=213
United States Phil Hancock 70-73-70=213
United States Johnny Miller 69-72-72=213

Source:[8]

Final round[edit]

Sunday, August 6, 1978

Place Player Score To par Money ($)
T1 United States John Mahaffey 75-67-68-66=276 −8 Playoff
United States Jerry Pate 72-70-66-68=276
United States Tom Watson 67-69-67-73=276
T4 United States Gil Morgan 76-71-66-67=280 −4 14,500
United States Tom Weiskopf 73-67-69-71=280
6 United States Craig Stadler 70-74-67-71=282 -2 10,000
T7 United States Andy Bean 72-72-70-70=284 E 8,000
Australia Graham Marsh 72-74-68-70=284
United States Lee Trevino 69-73-70-72=284
10 United States Fuzzy Zoeller 75-69-73-68=285 +1 6,500

Source:[9][3]

Playoff[edit]

The sudden death playoff began on the front nine at hole #1, a par-4 which all three parred.
After Watson and Pate could not birdie hole #2, Mahaffey sunk a 12-foot (3.7 m) birdie putt to win the title.[4]

Place Player Score To par Money ($)
1 United States John Mahaffey 4-3 −1 50,000
T2 United States Jerry Pate 4-x E 25,000
United States Tom Watson 4-x

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Watson leads a PGA without Jack by four". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. wire services. August 5, 1978. p. 1B.
  2. ^ a b "Tournament Info for: 1978 PGA Championship". PGA.com. Archived from the original on November 30, 2012. Retrieved May 31, 2013.
  3. ^ a b "Mahaffey healthy, wealthy and alive again". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. wire services. August 7, 1978. p. B1.
  4. ^ a b Parascenzo, Marino (August 7, 1978). "Mahaffey wins PGA in 3-way playoff". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 11.
  5. ^ Jenkins, Dan (August 14, 1978). "Jumping for joy". Sports Illustrated. p. 16.
  6. ^ "Nicklaus scuffles around in 79 in the PGA". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. Associated Press. August 4, 1978. p. 1D.
  7. ^ Axelrod, Phil (August 4, 1978). "Dame Oakmont plays Jack". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 11.
  8. ^ "Watson has all but wrapped up the PGA". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. UPI. August 6, 1978. p. B1.
  9. ^ "1978 PGA Championship". databasegolf.com. Retrieved July 1, 2012.

External links[edit]