1978 PGA Championship

1978 PGA Championship
Tournament information
Dates	August 3–6, 1978
Location	Oakmont, Pennsylvania
Course(s)	Oakmont Country Club
Organized by	PGA of America
Tour(s)	PGA Tour
Statistics
Par	71
Length	6,989 yards (6,391 m)^[1]^[2]
Field	149 players, 70 after cut^[2]
Cut	148 (+6)
Prize fund	$300,240
Winner's share	$50,000
Champion
John Mahaffey
276 (−8), playoff
«1977 1979»

Oakmont

Location in the United States

Oakmont

Location in Pennsylvania

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

Main article: Oakmont Country Club

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	396	201	434	230	480	3,549	462	371	603	185	360	453	228	322	456	3,440	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:

6,921 yards (6,329 m), par 71 - 1973 U.S. Open
6,894 yards (6,304 m), par 71 - 1962 U.S. Open
6,916 yards (6,324 m), par 72 - 1953 U.S. Open
6,882 yards (6,293 m), par 72 - 1951 PGA Championship

6,981 yards (6,383 m), par 72 - 1935 U.S. Open
6,965 yards (6,369 m), par 72 - 1927 U.S. Open
6,707 yards (6,133 m), par 74 - 1922 PGA Championship

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

Past champions in the field

Made the cut

Player	Country	Year(s) won	R1	R2	R3	R4	Total	To par	Finish
Lee Trevino	United States	1974	69	73	70	72	284	E	T7
Don January	United States	1967	73	72	75	69	289	+5	T19
Bobby Nichols	United States	1964	75	67	73	74	289	+5	T19
Dave Stockton	United States	1970, 1976	68	75	74	72	289	+5	T19
Gary Player	South Africa	1962, 1972	76	72	71	71	290	+6	T26
Lanny Wadkins	United States	1977	70	73	72	76	291	+7	T34
Raymond Floyd	United States	1969	76	72	73	73	294	+10	T50

Missed the cut

Player	Country	Year(s) won	R1	R2	Total	To par
Julius Boros	United States	1968	78	71	149	+7
Doug Ford	United States	1955	74	75	149	+7
Al Geiberger	United States	1966	76	75	151	+9
Dow Finsterwald	United States	1958	77	74	151	+9
Jack Nicklaus	United States	1963, 1971, 1973, 1975	79	74	153	+11

Source:^[1]^[8]^[3]

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, August 3, 1978

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

Second round

Friday, August 4, 1978

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

Source:^[1]

Third round

Saturday, August 5, 1978

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

Source:^[9]

Final round

Sunday, August 6, 1978

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

Source:^[8]^[3]

Playoff

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

References

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

External links

About.com: – 1978 PGA Championship
PGA.com – 1978 PGA Championship

Preceded by 1978 Open Championship	Major Championships	Succeeded by 1979 Masters

1978 Men's Major Golf Championships

The Masters U.S. Open The Open Championship PGA Championship

PGA Championships

1916 1917 1918 1919

1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929

1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939

1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949

1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959

1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969

1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979

1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Kraft Nabisco Championships

Other past events

Bob Hope Chrysler Classic (1999–2002, 2004–2006)
Buick Invitational (2005)
Nissan Open (2003–2006)
WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship (1999–2006)
John Deere Classic (2004–2006)
Memorial Tournament (1988–1998)
FedEx St. Jude Classic (1999–2003)
Compaq Classic (1999–2002)
The Barclays Classic (1999–2006)
Booz Allen Classic (2003–2006)
Buick Championship (2000-2002, 2006)
Deutsche Bank Championship (2003–2006)
WGC-American Express Championship (1999–2006)
Chrysler Classic of Greensboro (2003–2006)
Las Vegas Invitational (2001–2006)
Walt Disney World Golf Classic (1998–2006)
Tampa Bay Championship (2003–2006)
The Tour Championship (1991–2006)
Battle at the Bridges (1999–2005)
WGC-EMC World Cup (2000–2006)
Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge (1999–2008)
Skins Game (1991-2008)
Target World Challenge (2001–2006)

Key figures

Music composers	Barry White ("Love's Theme") Non Stop Music Bob Christianson

Television contract history
ABC's Wide World of Sports (1966-1996)
Golf on ESPN

Coordinates: 40°31′34″N 79°49′37″W / 40.526°N 79.827°W / 40.526; -79.827

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