1978 PGA Championship

1978 PGA Championship

Tournament information
Dates	August 3–6, 1978
Location	Oakmont, 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 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
Location map
Oakmont Location in the United States Show map of the United States Oakmont Location in Pennsylvania Show map of Pennsylvania
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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. It was his only missed cut in a major the entire 1970s decade. 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.

Lengths of the course for previous major championships:

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

Thursday, August 3, 1978

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

Friday, August 4, 1978

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

Source:^[1]

Saturday, August 5, 1978

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

Source:^[8]

Sunday, August 6, 1978

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

Source:^[9][3]

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	John Mahaffey	4-3	−1	50,000
T2	Jerry Pate	4-x	E	25,000
	Tom Watson	4-x

• PGA.com – 1978 PGA Championship