| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | August 3–6, 1978 |
| Location | Oakmont, Pennsylvania 40°31′34″N79°49′37″W / 40.526°N 79.827°W /40.526; -79.827 |
| Course | Oakmont Country Club |
| Organized by | PGA of America |
| Tour | 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 | |
The1978 PGA Championship was the 60thPGA Championship, played August 3–6 atOakmont Country Club inOakmont, Pennsylvania, a suburb northeast ofPittsburgh.John Mahaffey won his onlymajor championship in a sudden-death playoff overJerry Pate andTom 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 theU.S. Open, he lost the 18-hole playoff in1975 and was the 54-hole leader in1976, 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.
LikeArnold Palmer, Watson won numerous majors but never the PGA Championship, the only leg missing for a careergrand slam. At this time he had won three of his eight majors; his next best finish at the PGA Championship came fifteen years later in1993, placing fifth atInverness. Pate finished in the top five for the third straight year (and would again thenext 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 in1962, his first major and first win as a professional, and tied for fourth in the1973. At theprevious year's PGA Championship atPebble 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 in1922 and1951 werematch play events.
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yards | 469 | 343 | 425 | 561 | 379 | 201 | 434 | 255 | 480 | 3,547 | 462 | 371 | 603 | 185 | 360 | 453 | 230 | 322 | 456 | 3,442 | 6,989 |
| Par | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 36 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 35 | 71 |
Lengths of the course for previous major championships:
|
|
Before 1962, the 1st hole was played as a par 5.
Thursday, August 3, 1978
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 |
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 |
