1979 PGA Championship

Template:Use mdy dates Template:Short descriptionTemplate:Template other 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 (−7), Crenshaw was two strokes back and Graham four behind at 207 (−3), 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 (+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).

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

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Template:Flagicon Tom Watson	66	−4
2	Template:Flagicon Rex Caldwell	67	−3
T3	Template:Flagicon Jay Haas	68	−2
	Template:Flagicon Ron Streck
T5	Template:Flagicon Ben Crenshaw	69	−1
	Template:Flagicon Gibby Gilbert
	Template:Flagicon David Graham
	Template:Flagicon Hubert Green
	Template:Flagicon Don January
	Template:Flagicon Bruce Lietzke
	Template:Flagicon Graham Marsh
	Template:Flagicon Jim Masserio
	Template:Flagicon Artie McNickle
	Template:Flagicon Jerry Pate
	Template:Flagicon Alan Tapie

Source:

Second round

Friday, August 3, 1979

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Template:Flagicon Ben Crenshaw	69-67=136	−4
T2	Template:Flagicon Rex Caldwell	67-70=137	−3
	Template:Flagicon David Graham	69-68=137
	Template:Flagicon Jay Haas	68-69=137
T5	Template:Flagicon Bruce Lietzke	69-69=138	−2
	Template:Flagicon Jerry Pate	69-69=138
	Template:Flagicon Alan Tapie	69-69=138
	Template:Flagicon Tom Watson	66-72=138
T9	Template:Flagicon Rod Funseth	70-69=139	−1
	Template:Flagicon Hubert Green	69-70=139
	Template:Flagicon Don January	69-70=139
	Template:Flagicon Graham Marsh	69-70=139
	Template:Flagicon Artie McNickle	69-70=139
	Template:Flagicon Ron Streck	68-71=139
	Template:Flagicon Leonard Thompson	72-67=139

Source:

Third round

Saturday, August 4, 1979

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Template:Flagicon Rex Caldwell	67-70-66=203	−7
2	Template:Flagicon Ben Crenshaw	69-67-69=205	−5
T3	Template:Flagicon David Graham	69-68-70=207	−3
	Template:Flagicon Jerry Pate	69-69-69=207
	Template:Flagicon Tom Watson	66-72-69=207
6	Template:Flagicon Ron Streck	68-71-69=208	−2
T7	Template:Flagicon Gibby Gilbert	69-72-68=209	−1
	Template:Flagicon Bruce Lietzke	69-69-71=209
	Template:Flagicon Gene Littler	71-71-67=209
T10	Template:Flagicon Graham Marsh	69-72-68=209	E
	Template:Flagicon Jay Haas	68-69-73=210
	Template:Flagicon Don January	69-70-71=210

Source:

Final round

Sunday, August 5, 1979

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
T1	Template:Flagicon David Graham	69-68-70-65=272	−8	Playoff
	Template:Flagicon Ben Crenshaw	69-67-69-67=272
3	Template:Flagicon Rex Caldwell	67-70-66-71=274	−6	25,000
4	Template:Flagicon Ron Streck	68-71-69-68=276	−4	20,000
T5	Template:Flagicon Gibby Gilbert	69-72-68-69=278	−2	14,500
	Template:Flagicon Jerry Pate	69-69-69-71=278
T7	Template:Flagicon Jay Haas	68-69-73-69=279	−1	9,200
	Template:Flagicon Don January	69-70-71-69=279
	Template:Flagicon Howard Twitty	70-73-69-67=279
T10	Template:Flagicon Lou Graham	69-74-68-69=280	E	6,750
	Template:Flagicon Gary Koch	71-71-71-67=280

Source:

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
Par	4	5	3	4	4	4	4	4	3	4	4	5	3	4	4	4	3	4
Template:Flagicon 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 (3 m) 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.

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
1	Template:Flagicon David Graham	4-4-2	−2	60,000
2	Template:Flagicon Ben Crenshaw	4-4-4	E	40,000

Scorecard

Hole	1	2	3
Par	4	5	3
Template:Flagicon Graham	E	−1	−2
Template:Flagicon Crenshaw	E	−1	E

External links

• PGA.com – 1979 PGA Championship