1977 PGA Championship

1977 PGA Championship
Tournament information
Dates	August 11–14, 1977
Location	Pebble Beach, California
Course(s)	Pebble Beach Golf Links
Organized by	PGA of America
Tour(s)	PGA Tour
Statistics
Par	72
Length	6,806 yards (6,223 m)^[1]^[2]
Field	138 players, 71 after cut
Cut	151 (+7)
Prize fund	$250,000^[3]
Winner's share	$45,000
Champion
Lanny Wadkins
282 (−6), playoff
«1976 1978»

Pebble Beach

Location in the United States

Pebble Beach

Location in California

The 1977 PGA Championship was the 59th PGA Championship, played August 11–14 at Pebble Beach Golf Links in Pebble Beach, California. Lanny Wadkins, 27, won his only major championship in a sudden-death playoff over Gene Littler. It was the first playoff at the PGA Championship in ten years and was the first-ever sudden-death playoff in a stroke-play major championship.^[1]^[4] The last was 36 years earlier at the 1941 PGA Championship, when the 36-hole final match went to two extra holes.

Prior to the start of the championship, the irons of several top players were deemed to have non-conforming groove dimensions, most notably those of Tom Watson. He had won the Masters and British Open earlier that year, and was attempting to become the first to win three majors in the same year since Ben Hogan in 1953. Others with non-conforming irons included major winners Raymond Floyd, Hale Irwin, Gary Player, and Tom Weiskopf.^[5]^[6] The rule limiting groove width to .035 inches (0.89 mm) had been around for decades. Watson shot an opening round of 68 (−4) with an old set of borrowed irons,^[6]^[7]^[8] and finished at 286 (−2), four strokes back in a tie for sixth. He won eight majors but never a PGA Championship; his only win in the U.S. Open came here at Pebble Beach in 1982.

Four-time champion Jack Nicklaus finished one stroke out of the playoff at 283 (−5). He won the previous major at this course, the U.S. Open in 1972, and was runner-up to Watson at the next in 1982.

This was the second major championship at Pebble Beach, which had hosted the U.S. Open in 1972. The U.S. Open returned in 1982, 1992, 2000, and 2010. It was only the second PGA Championship in California and the first as a stroke-play competition; the previous was in December 1929 in Los Angeles at Hillcrest. The 1962 event was originally awarded to Brentwood in L.A., but was moved to Philadelphia at Aronimink.^[9]^[10]

The fairways at Pebble Beach were extremely dry, due to an extended drought, in its third year in northern California.^[11]

Past champions in the field

Made the cut

Player	Country	Year(s) won	R1	R2	R3	R4	Total	To par	Finish
Jack Nicklaus	United States	1963, 1971, 1973, 1975	69	71	70	73	283	−5	3
Al Geiberger	United States	1966	71	70	73	72	286	−2	T6
Don January	United States	1967	75	69	70	72	286	−2	T6
Lee Trevino	United States	1974	71	73	71	73	288	E	T13
Gary Player	South Africa	1962, 1972	74	77	68	74	293	+5	T31
Dave Stockton	United States	1970, 1976	75	75	69	74	293	+5	T31
Raymond Floyd	United States	1969	74	72	73	76	295	+7	T40
Bobby Nichols	United States	1964	72	75	78	75	300	+12	T51
Sam Snead	United States	1942, 1949, 1951	80	71	71	79	301	+13	T54
Julius Boros	United States	1968	73	75	77	77	302	+14	T58
Dow Finsterwald	United States	1958	76	75	84	75	310	+22	70

Missed the cut

Player	Country	Year won	R1	R2	Total	To par
Lionel Hebert	United States	1957	79	78	157	+13
Jay Hebert	United States	1960	80	79	159	+15
Jerry Barber	United States	1961	79	81	160	+16
Doug Ford	United States	1955	81	79	160	+16

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, August 11, 1977

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
1	Gene Littler	United States	67	−5
T2	Mark Hayes	United States	68	−4
	Jerry McGee	United States
	Tom Watson	United States
T5	George Cadle	United States	69	−3
	Jack Nicklaus	United States
	Lanny Wadkins	United States
T8	George Archer	United States	70	−2
	Charles Coody	United States
	John Lister	New Zealand
	Roger Maltbie	United States
	Johnny Miller	United States
	Fuzzy Zoeller	United States

Second round

Friday, August 12, 1977

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
1	Gene Littler	United States	67-69=136	−8
2	Jerry McGee	United States	68-70=138	−6
T3	Jack Nicklaus	United States	69-71=140	−4
T3	Lanny Wadkins	United States	69-71=140	−4
T5	Charles Coody	United States	70-71=141	−3
	Al Geiberger	United States	71-70=141
	Joe Inman	United States	72-69=141
	Tom Watson	United States	68-73=141
T9	George Cadle	United States	69-73=142	−2
	Gil Morgan	United States	74-68=212
	Fuzzy Zoeller	United States	70-72=142

Third round

Saturday, August 13, 1977

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
1	Gene Littler	United States	67-69-70=206	−10
2	Jack Nicklaus	United States	69-71-70=210	−6
3	Charles Coody	United States	70-71-70=211	−5
T4	George Cadle	United States	69-73-70=212	−4
	Gil Morgan	United States	74-68-70=212
	Jerry Pate	United States	73-70-69=212
	Lanny Wadkins	United States	69-71-72=212
	Tom Watson	United States	68-73-71=212
T9	Miller Barber	United States	77-68-69=214	−2
	Billy Casper	United States	73-71-70=215
	Al Geiberger	United States	71-70-73=214
	Joe Inman	United States	72-69-73=214
	Don January	United States	75-69-70=214
	Leonard Thompson	United States	73-73-60=215

Final round

Sunday, August 14, 1977

Littler, 47, was the leader in each of the first three rounds and entered Sunday at 206 (−10), with a four-shot lead over Jack Nicklaus. One-under on the front nine, Littler staggered on the back with a five-over 41. After the turn, he made five bogeys in six holes, then rallied with pars on the three finishing holes to make the playoff with a 76 (+4).^[12] Wadkins started the round six strokes back and shot a 70, which included a birdie on the par-5 18th hole to get to six-under for the championship. As the clubhouse leader, he waited for the final pairing of Nicklaus and Littler. Tied for the lead with two holes remaining, Nicklaus bogeyed the par-3 17th to miss the playoff by a stroke. He had famously birdied the same hole in the final round of the 1972 U.S. Open, which he won by three strokes.

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par	Money ($)
T1	Gene Littler	United States	67-69-70-76=282	−6	Playoff
T1	Lanny Wadkins	United States	69-71-72-70=282	−6	Playoff
3	Jack Nicklaus	United States	69-71-70-73=283	−5	15,000
4	Charles Coody	United States	70-71-70-73=284	−4	12,000
5	Jerry Pate	United States	73-70-69-73=285	−3	10,000
T6	Al Geiberger	United States	71-70-73-72=286	−2	7,300
	Lou Graham	United States	71-73-71-71=286
	Don January	United States	75-69-70-72=286
	Jerry McGee	United States	68-70-77-71=286
	Tom Watson	United States	68-73-71-74=286

Source:^[12]^[13]

Playoff

The sudden-death playoff began on the par-4 first hole, where Wadkins missed the green, chipped from the heavy rough to 12 feet (3.7 m) and saved par to tie. At the second hole, both reached the green of the par-5 in two shots, narrowly missed eagle putts, and tapped in for birdies. At the third hole, both missed the green in the heavy rough. Littler's difficult chip left him 20 feet (6 m) for a par four, while Wadkins got his chip to within five feet (1.5 m). After Littler missed to the right, Wadkins rolled his in for the win.^[12]

The championship had gone without a playoff since 1967. The seventh and last sudden-death playoff was in 1996; the format was changed to a three-hole aggregate, first used in 2000.

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par	Money ($)
1	Lanny Wadkins	United States	4-4-4	–1	45,000
2	Gene Littler	United States	4-4-x	E	25,000

Sudden-death playoff played on holes 1, 2, and 3.^[1]

References

1 2 3 Parascenzo, Marino (August 15, 1977). "Littler comes apart, Wadkins captures PGA". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 20.
↑ "Tournament Info for: 1977 PGA Championship". PGA.com. Retrieved May 31, 2013.
↑ Parascenzo, Marino (August 12, 1977). "Littler leads at PGA". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 10.
↑ Jenkins, Dan (August 22, 1977). "The battle of the ages". Sports Illustrated. p. 12.
↑ Parascenso, Marino (August 11, 1977). "PGA bigwigs club Watson". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 15.
1 2 "Watson survives hassle". Milwaukee Journal. AP and UPI. August 12, 1977. p. 8-part 2.
↑ "Watson proves himself". Milwaukee Sentinel. UPI. August 12, 1977. p. 1-part 2.
↑ "Watson trails by one stroke". Spokane Daily Chronicle (Washington). Associated Press. August 12, 1977. p. 23.
↑ "PGA opens its doors to Negroes, world golfers". Florence Times (Alabama). Associated Press. November 10, 1961. p. 4, section 2.
↑ "PGA group abolishes 'Caucasian'". Sarasota Herald-Tribune (Florida). Associated Press. November 10, 1961. p. 22.
↑ "Drought leaves Pebble Beach fairways brown". Daytona Beach Morning Journal (Florida). Associated Press. August 10, 1977. p. 4B.
1 2 3 "Wadkins wins PGA playoff". Eugene Register-Guard (Oregon). Associated Press. August 15, 1977. p. 1C.
↑ "1977 PGA Championship". databasegolf.com. Retrieved June 30, 2012.

External links

Results - at www.golfobserver.com
1977 PGA Championship results
PGA.com – 1977 PGA Championship

Preceded by 1977 Open Championship	Major Championships	Succeeded by 1978 Masters

1977 Men's Major Golf Championships

The Masters U.S. Open The Open Championship PGA Championship

PGA Championships

1916 1917 1918 1919

1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929

1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939

1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949

1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959

1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969

1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979

1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Kraft Nabisco Championships

Other past events

Bob Hope Chrysler Classic (1999–2002, 2004–2006)
Buick Invitational (2005)
Nissan Open (2003–2006)
WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship (1999–2006)
John Deere Classic (2004–2006)
Memorial Tournament (1988–1998)
FedEx St. Jude Classic (1999–2003)
Compaq Classic (1999–2002)
The Barclays Classic (1999–2006)
Booz Allen Classic (2003–2006)
Buick Championship (2000-2002, 2006)
Deutsche Bank Championship (2003–2006)
WGC-American Express Championship (1999–2006)
Chrysler Classic of Greensboro (2003–2006)
Las Vegas Invitational (2001–2006)
Walt Disney World Golf Classic (1998–2006)
Tampa Bay Championship (2003–2006)
The Tour Championship (1991–2006)
Battle at the Bridges (1999–2005)
WGC-EMC World Cup (2000–2006)
Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge (1999–2008)
Skins Game (1991-2008)
Target World Challenge (2001–2006)

Key figures

Music composers	Barry White ("Love's Theme") Non Stop Music Bob Christianson

Television contract history
ABC's Wide World of Sports (1966-1996)
Golf on ESPN

Coordinates: 36°34′05″N 121°57′00″W / 36.568°N 121.950°W / 36.568; -121.950

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