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1979 PGA Championship

Field	Value
name	1979 PGA Championship
dates	August 2–5, 1979
location	Bloomfield Township, Michigan
course	Oakland Hills Country Club,
South Course
org	PGA of America
tour	PGA Tour
par	70
yardage	7054 yd
field	150 players, 74 after cut
cut	146 (+6)
purse	$350,600
winners_share	$60,000
champion	AUS David Graham
score	272 (−8), playoff
previous	[1978](1978-pga-championship)
next	[1980](1980-pga-championship)
map	USA#USA Michigan
map_relief	yes
map_label	Oakland Hills Country Club
map_caption	Location in the United States##Location in Michigan
coordinates

South Course 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	USA Tom Watson	66	−4
2	USA Rex Caldwell	67	−3
T3	USA Jay Haas	68	−2
USA Ron Streck
T5	USA Ben Crenshaw	69	−1
USA Gibby Gilbert
AUS David Graham
USA Hubert Green
USA Don January
USA Bruce Lietzke
AUS Graham Marsh
USA Jim Masserio
USA Artie McNickle
USA Jerry Pate
USA Alan Tapie

Source:

Second round

Friday, August 3, 1979

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	USA Ben Crenshaw	69-67=136	−4
T2	USA Rex Caldwell	67-70=137	−3
AUS David Graham	69-68=137
USA Jay Haas	68-69=137
T5	USA Bruce Lietzke	69-69=138	−2
USA Jerry Pate	69-69=138
USA Alan Tapie	73-65=138
USA Tom Watson	66-72=138
T9	USA Rod Funseth	70-69=139	−1
USA Hubert Green	69-70=139
USA Don January	69-70=139
AUS Graham Marsh	69-70=139
USA Artie McNickle	69-70=139
USA Ron Streck	68-71=139
USA Leonard Thompson	72-67=139

Source:

Third round

Saturday, August 4, 1979

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

Source:

Final round

Sunday, August 5, 1979

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
T1	AUS David Graham	69-68-70-65=272	−8	Playoff
USA Ben Crenshaw	69-67-69-67=272
3	USA Rex Caldwell	67-70-66-71=274	−6	25,000
4	USA Ron Streck	68-71-69-68=276	−4	20,000
T5	USA Gibby Gilbert	69-72-68-69=278	−2	14,500
USA Jerry Pate	69-69-69-71=278
T7	USA Jay Haas	68-69-73-69=279	−1	9,200
USA Don January	69-70-71-69=279
USA Howard Twitty	70-73-69-67=279
T10	USA Lou Graham	69-74-68-69=280	E	6,750
USA 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
AUS 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 ft 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 yd par-3 third hole, after Crenshaw found a bunker and his 25 ft putt for par lipped out. Graham put his 4-iron tee shot to within 8 ft and with two putts to win, sank the first.

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

Scorecard

Hole	1	2	3
Par	4	5	3
AUS Graham	E	−1	−2
USA Crenshaw	E	−1	E

References

"Tournament Info for: 1979 PGA Championship". PGA of America.
Parascenzo, Marino. (August 6, 1979). "Graham's birdie wins PGA in sudden death". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Taylor, Jim. (August 6, 1979). "Graham's win 'extra' special". Toledo Blade.
Taylor, Jim. (August 5, 1979). "Caldwell leads PGA by 2". Toledo Blade.
(August 6, 1979). "Delray's Graham wins PGA". Palm Beach Post.
Jenkins, Dan. (August 13, 1979). "This Graham simply refused to crack".
(August 3, 1979). "Watson swings out of slump". Eugene Register-Guard.
(August 4, 1979). "Gentle Ben says he's ready to win". Eugene Register-Guard.
(August 5, 1979). "A longshot good shot for PGA". Eugene Register-Guard.
"1979 PGA Championship". databasegolf.com.

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