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. 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.
After 54 holes, Rex Caldwell was the leader at 203, Crenshaw was two strokes back and Graham four behind at 207, all in search of their first major title. It was the fifth runner-up finish for Crenshaw in a major, and second consecutive. 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. 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.
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.

Past champions in the field

Made the cut

Missed the cut

Source

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, August 2, 1979
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Tom Watson66−4
2Rex Caldwell67−3
T3Jay Haas68−2
T3Ron Streck68−2
T5Ben Crenshaw69−1
T5Gibby Gilbert69−1
T5David Graham69−1
T5Hubert Green69−1
T5Don January69−1
T5Bruce Lietzke69−1
T5Graham Marsh69−1
T5Jim Masserio69−1
T5Artie McNickle69−1
T5Jerry Pate69−1
T5Alan Tapie69−1

Source:

Second round

Friday, August 3, 1979
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Ben Crenshaw69-67=136−4
T2Rex Caldwell67-70=137−3
T2David Graham69-68=137−3
T2Jay Haas68-69=137−3
T5Bruce Lietzke69-69=138−2
T5Jerry Pate69-69=138−2
T5Alan Tapie69-69=138−2
T5Tom Watson66-72=138−2
T9Rod Funseth70-69=139−1
T9Hubert Green69-70=139−1
T9Don January69-70=139−1
T9Graham Marsh69-70=139−1
T9Artie McNickle69-70=139−1
T9Ron Streck68-71=139−1
T9Leonard Thompson72-67=139−1

Source:

Third round

Saturday, August 4, 1979
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Rex Caldwell67-70-66=203−7
2Ben Crenshaw69-67-69=205−5
T3David Graham69-68-70=207−3
T3Jerry Pate69-69-69=207−3
T3Tom Watson66-72-69=207−3
6Ron Streck68-71-69=208−2
T7Gibby Gilbert69-72-68=209−1
T7Bruce Lietzke69-69-71=209−1
T7Gene Littler71-71-67=209−1
T10Graham Marsh69-72-68=209E
T10Jay Haas68-69-73=210E
T10Don January69-70-71=210E

Source:

Final round

Sunday, August 5, 1979
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney
T1David Graham69-68-70-65=272−8Playoff
T1Ben Crenshaw69-67-69-67=272−8Playoff
3Rex Caldwell67-70-66-71=274−625,000
4Ron Streck68-71-69-68=276−420,000
T5Gibby Gilbert69-72-68-69=278−214,500
T5Jerry Pate69-69-69-71=278−214,500
T7Jay Haas68-69-73-69=279−19,200
T7Don January69-70-71-69=279−19,200
T7Howard Twitty70-73-69-67=279−19,200
T10Lou Graham69-74-68-69=280E6,750
T10Gary Koch71-71-71-67=280E6,750

Source:

Scorecard

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 to tie. At the par-5 second hole, Crenshaw tapped in for birdie while Graham sank a ten-footer to continue. He won with a birdie on the par-3 third hole, after Crenshaw found a bunker and his putt for par lipped out. Graham put his 4-iron tee shot to within and with two putts to win, sank the first.
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney
1David Graham4-4-2−260,000
2Ben Crenshaw4-4-4E40,000

Scorecard