1978 PGA Championship

1978 PGA Championship

Tournament information
Dates	August 3–6, 1978
Location	Oakmont, Pennsylvania
Course(s)	Oakmont Country Club
Tour(s)	PGA Tour
Statistics
Par	71
Length	6,989 yards (6,391 m)[1][2]
Field	149 players, 78 after cut[2]
Cut	148 (+6)
Prize fund	$300,240
Winner's share	$50,000
Champion
John Mahaffey
276 (−8), playoff

Oakmont CC

Location in the United States

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.

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 previous majors at Oakmont he won the 1962 U.S. Open, his first major and first win as a professional, and tied for fourth in the 1973 U.S. Open. At the previous year's PGA Championship at Pebble Beach, he finished third, one stroke out of the playoff.

This was the third PGA Championship held at Oakmont and its eighth major.

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 Marley	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
	Tom Weiskopf	United States	73-67-69=209
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
	Tom Weiskopf	United States	73-67-69-71=280
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
	Tom Watson	United States	4-x

References

External links

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

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