1979 PGA Championship

The 1979 PGA Championship was the 61st PGA Championship, played August 2–5 at Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Township, Michigan, a suburb northwest of Detroit. After a double-bogey on the 72nd hole, David Graham won the first of his two major titles on the third hole of a sudden-death playoff with Ben Crenshaw.[2][3] Through 17 holes in the final round, Graham was seven-under, with seven birdies and ten pars. Of the 21 holes he played Sunday, nine were birdies.

1979 PGA Championship
Tournament information
DatesAugust 2–5, 1979
LocationBloomfield Township, Michigan
42.544°N 83.277°W / 42.544; -83.277
Course(s)Oakland Hills Country Club,
South Course
Organized byPGA of America
Tour(s)PGA Tour
Statistics
Par70
Length7,054 yards (6,450 m)
Field150 players, 74 after cut[1]
Cut146 (+6)
Prize fund$350,600
Winner's share$60,000
Champion
David Graham
272 (−8), playoff
Location map
Oakland Hills Country Club
Location in the United States
Oakland Hills Country Club
Location in Michigan

After 54 holes, Rex Caldwell was the leader at 203 (−7), Crenshaw was two strokes back and Graham four behind at 207 (−3), all in search of their first major title.[4] It was the fifth runner-up finish for Crenshaw in a major, and second consecutive.[5] He later won two majors, both at the Masters, in 1984 and 1995; Graham won his second at the U.S. Open in 1981 at Merion.

Three-time champion Sam Snead set the record for the oldest player to make the cut in a major. He was 67 years, 2 months, and 7 days of age at the cut and finished 42nd at 288 (+8). He won in 1942, 1949, and 1951, all in match play.

It was the sixth major championship held on the South Course, which previously hosted the PGA Championship in 1972 and the U.S. Open in 1924, 1937, 1951, and 1961. It later hosted the U.S. Open in 1985 and 1996, the PGA Championship in 2008, and the Ryder Cup in 2004.

This was the third consecutive playoff at the PGA Championship (and nearly the fourth, as the 1976 title was decided by the final putt on the 72nd green).[6]

Graham became the second Australian-born player to win the PGA Championship, preceded by Jim Ferrier in 1947.

Jerry Pate and Tom Watson, runners-up in the previous year's playoff, were tied with Graham in third place after 54 holes. Pate's 71 tied for fifth but Watson's 74 dropped him into a tie for twelfth at 281. Watson had won three of his eight majors at this time, but never completed the career grand slam, missing the PGA Championship leg. Defending champion John Mahaffey tied for 51st.

This was the final major championship of the 1970s. Jack Nicklaus and Tom Weiskopf played in the event assuring that they played in every major championship in the 1970s. They were the first players to play in every major championship for an entire decade.

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, August 2, 1979

PlacePlayerScoreTo par
1 Tom Watson66−4
2 Rex Caldwell67−3
T3 Jay Haas68−2
Ron Streck
T5 Ben Crenshaw69−1
Gibby Gilbert
David Graham
Hubert Green
Don January
Bruce Lietzke
Graham Marsh
Jim Masserio
Artie McNickle
Jerry Pate
Alan Tapie

Source:[7]

Second round

Friday, August 3, 1979

PlacePlayerScoreTo par
1 Ben Crenshaw69-67=136−4
T2 Rex Caldwell67-70=137−3
David Graham69-68=137
Jay Haas68-69=137
T5 Bruce Lietzke69-69=138−2
Jerry Pate69-69=138
Alan Tapie69-69=138
Tom Watson66-72=138
T9 Rod Funseth70-69=139−1
Hubert Green69-70=139
Don January69-70=139
Graham Marsh69-70=139
Artie McNickle69-70=139
Ron Streck68-71=139
Leonard Thompson72-67=139

Source:[8]

Third round

Saturday, August 4, 1979

PlacePlayerScoreTo par
1 Rex Caldwell67-70-66=203−7
2 Ben Crenshaw69-67-69=205−5
T3 David Graham69-68-70=207−3
Jerry Pate69-69-69=207
Tom Watson66-72-69=207
6 Ron Streck68-71-69=208−2
T7 Gibby Gilbert69-72-68=209−1
Bruce Lietzke69-69-71=209
Gene Littler71-71-67=209
T10 Graham Marsh69-72-68=209E
Jay Haas68-69-73=210
Don January69-70-71=210

Source:[9]

Final round

Sunday, August 5, 1979

PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)
T1 David Graham69-68-70-65=272−8Playoff
Ben Crenshaw69-67-69-67=272
3 Rex Caldwell67-70-66-71=274−625,000
4 Ron Streck68-71-69-68=276−420,000
T5 Gibby Gilbert69-72-68-69=278−214,500
Jerry Pate69-69-69-71=278
T7 Jay Haas68-69-73-69=279−19,200
Don January69-70-71-69=279
Howard Twitty70-73-69-67=279
T10 Lou Graham69-74-68-69=280E6,750
Gary Koch71-71-71-67=280

Source:[10]

Scorecard
Birdie Bogey Double bogey

Final round

Hole  1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9   10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18 
Par453444443445344434
Graham−4−5−5−5−5−5−6−7−7−8−9−9−9−9−10−10−10−8

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

Playoff

The sudden-death playoff began at the first tee and Graham saved par with one putt from 18 feet (5.5 m) to tie. At the par-5 second hole, Crenshaw tapped in for birdie while Graham sank a ten-footer (3 m) to continue. He won with a birdie on the 202-yard (185 m) par-3 third hole, after Crenshaw found a bunker and his 25-foot (8 m) putt for par lipped out. Graham put his 4-iron tee shot to within 8 feet (2.4 m) and with two putts to win, sank the first.[2][3][6]

PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)
1 David Graham4-4-2−260,000
2 Ben Crenshaw4-4-4E40,000

Scorecard
Hole  1    2    3  
Par453
GrahamE−1−2
CrenshawE−1E

References
  1. "Tournament Info for: 1979 PGA Championship". PGA of America. Archived from the original on August 9, 2012. Retrieved August 16, 2012.
  2. Parascenzo, Marino (August 6, 1979). "Graham's birdie wins PGA in sudden death". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 9.
  3. Taylor, Jim (August 6, 1979). "Graham's win 'extra' special". Toledo Blade. Ohio. p. 15.
  4. Taylor, Jim (August 5, 1979). "Caldwell leads PGA by 2". Toledo Blade. Ohio. p. 1D.
  5. "Delray's Graham wins PGA". Palm Beach Post. Associated Press. August 6, 1979. p. B5.
  6. Jenkins, Dan (August 13, 1979). "This Graham simply refused to crack". Sports Illustrated. p. 42.
  7. "Watson swings out of slump". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. UPI. August 3, 1979. p. 1D.
  8. "Gentle Ben says he's ready to win". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. wire reports. August 4, 1979. p. 1B.
  9. "A longshot good shot for PGA". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. wire reports. August 5, 1979. p. 1B.
  10. "1979 PGA Championship". databasegolf.com. Retrieved August 2, 2013.
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