The 1976 PGA Championship was the 58th PGA Championship, played August 12–16 at Congressional Country Club (Blue Course) in Bethesda, Maryland, a suburb northwest of Washington, D.C. Held six weeks following the United States Bicentennial, it was the second major at Congressional; the U.S. Open was conducted twelve years earlier in 1964.
Dave Stockton, the 1970 champion, sank a 15-foot (5 m) putt to save par on the 72nd hole to win his second PGA Championship, one stroke ahead of runners-up Raymond Floyd and Don January. The final round was delayed to Monday for the first time, due to weather. Stockton's final putt averted the first sudden-death playoff in major championship history, which came a year later at the 1977 PGA Championship.
Defending champion Jack Nicklaus shot a final round 74 (+4) and finished two strokes back, in a tie for fourth. Third round leader Charles Coody shot 77 and fell into a tie for eighth.
Course layout
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yards | 403 | 215 | 453 | 420 | 409 | 456 | 166 | 362 | 602 | 3,486 | 460 | 395 | 188 | 445 | 439 | 554 | 211 | 411 | 465 | 3,568 | 7,054 |
| Par | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 35 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 35 | 70 |
Round summaries
First round
Thursday, August 12, 1976
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tom Weiskopf | 65 | −5 |
| T2 | Tom Kite | 66 | −4 |
| Gil Morgan | |||
| T4 | Charles Coody | 68 | −2 |
| Lee Elder | |||
| Jerry McGee | |||
| T7 | Mark Hayes | 69 | −1 |
| Hale Irwin | |||
| Mike Morley | |||
| Jerry Pate | |||
| Bob Zender |
Source:
Second round
Friday, August 13, 1976
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gil Morgan | 66-68=134 | −6 |
| 2 | Tom Kite | 66-72=138 | −2 |
| T3 | Don January | 70-69=139 | −1 |
| Gary Player | 70-69=139 | ||
| Tom Weiskopf | 65-74=139 | ||
| T6 | Bill Collins | 70-70=140 | E |
| Charles Coody | 68-72=140 | ||
| Ben Crenshaw | 71-69=140 | ||
| Raymond Floyd | 72-68=140 | ||
| Gene Littler | 71-69=140 | ||
| Jerry McGee | 68-72=140 | ||
| Jack Nicklaus | 71-69=140 | ||
| Bob Zender | 69-71=140 |
Source:
Third round
Saturday, August 14, 1976
Sunday, August 15, 1976
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Charles Coody | 68-72-67=207 | −3 |
| T2 | Gil Morgan | 66-68-75=209 | −1 |
| Jack Nicklaus | 71-69-69=209 | ||
| 4 | Don January | 70-69-71=210 | E |
| T5 | Raymond Floyd | 72-68-71=211 | +1 |
| David Graham | 70-71-70=211 | ||
| Tom Kite | 66-72-73=211 | ||
| Gary Player | 70-69-72=211 | ||
| Dave Stockton | 70-72-69=211 | ||
| T10 | Lee Elder | 68-74-70=212 | +2 |
| Jerry McGee | 68-72-72=212 | ||
| Tom Weiskopf | 65-74-73=212 |
Source:
Final round
Sunday, August 15, 1976 (cancelled)
Monday, August 16, 1976
After the third round was completed on Sunday morning, the fourth round was begun but then scratched due to weather; the partial scores were cancelled with a fresh start on Monday.
Champion(c) = past champion| Place | Player | Score | To par | Money (US$) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dave Stockton (c) | 70-72-69-70=281 | +1 | 45,000 |
| T2 | Raymond Floyd (c) | 72-68-71-71=282 | +2 | 20,000 |
| Don January (c) | 70-69-71-72=282 | |||
| T4 | David Graham | 70-71-70-72=283 | +3 | 9,750 |
| Jack Nicklaus (c) | 71-69-69-74=283 | |||
| Jerry Pate | 69-73-72-69=283 | |||
| John Schlee | 72-71-70-70=283 | |||
| T8 | Charles Coody | 68-72-67-77=284 | +4 | 6,000 |
| Ben Crenshaw | 71-69-74-70=284 | |||
| Jerry McGee | 68-72-72-72=284 | |||
| Gil Morgan | 66-68-75-75=284 | |||
| Tom Weiskopf | 65-74-73-72=284 |
| Leaderboard below the top 10 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place | Player | Score | To par | Money ($) | |
| T13 | Tom Kite | 66-72-73-76=286 | +6 | 4,350 | |
| Gary Player (c) | 70-69-72-75=286 | ||||
| T15 | Lee Elder | 68-74-70-75=287 | +7 | 3,400 | |
| Mark Hayes | 69-72-73-73=287 | ||||
| Mike Hill | 72-70-73-72=287 | ||||
| Mike Morley | 69-72-72-74=287 | ||||
| Arnold Palmer | 71-76-68-72=287 | ||||
| J. C. Snead | 74-71-70-72=287 | ||||
| Tom Watson | 70-74-70-73=287 | ||||
Source:
