The 1978 PGA Championship was the 60th PGA Championship, played August 3–6 at Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pennsylvania, a suburb northeast of Pittsburgh. John Mahaffey won his only major championship in a sudden-death playoff over Jerry Pate and Tom Watson.
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 the U.S. Open, he lost the 18-hole playoff in 1975 and was the 54-hole leader in 1976, won by tour rookie Pate. Mahaffey broke that streak when he birdied the second extra hole to win the playoff at Oakmont. It was the second of three consecutive playoffs at the PGA Championship.
Like Arnold Palmer, Watson won numerous majors but never the PGA Championship, the only leg missing for a career grand slam. At this time he had won three of his eight majors; his next best finish at the PGA Championship came fifteen years later in 1993, placing fifth at Inverness. Pate finished in the top five for the third straight year (and would again the next year) but never won another major.
Jack Nicklaus, age 38, shot a 79 in the first round 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 in 1962, his first major and first win as a professional, and tied for fourth in 1973. At the previous year's PGA Championship at Pebble 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 in 1922 and 1951 were match play events.
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 | 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:
- 6,921 yards (6,329 m), par 71 - 1973 U.S. Open
- 6,894 yards (6,304 m), par 71 - 1962 U.S. Open
- 6,916 yards (6,324 m), par 72 - 1953 U.S. Open
- 6,882 yards (6,293 m), par 72 - 1951 PGA Championship
- 6,981 yards (6,383 m), par 72 - 1935 U.S. Open
- 6,965 yards (6,369 m), par 72 - 1927 U.S. Open
- 6,707 yards (6,133 m), par 74 - 1922 PGA Championship
Before 1962, the 1st hole was played as a par 5.
Round summaries
First round
Thursday, August 3, 1978
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tom Watson | 67 | −4 |
| 2 | Dave Stockton | 68 | −3 |
| T3 | Dave Hill | 69 | −2 |
| Ben Crenshaw | |||
| Johnny Miller | |||
| Lee Trevino | |||
| T7 | Grier Jones | 70 | −1 |
| Phil Hancock | |||
| Lanny Wadkins | |||
| Mike Sullivan | |||
| Mike Morley | |||
| Billy Kratzert | |||
| Jerry McGee | |||
| Rod Funseth | |||
| Craig Stadler |
Second round
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:
Third round
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:
Final round
Sunday, August 6, 1978
| Place | Player | Score | To par | Money ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| T1 | John Mahaffey | 75-67-68-66=276 | −8 | Playoff |
| Jerry Pate | 72-70-66-68=276 | |||
| Tom Watson | 67-69-67-73=276 | |||
| T4 | Gil Morgan | 76-71-66-67=280 | −4 | 14,500 |
| Tom Weiskopf | 73-67-69-71=280 | |||
| 6 | Craig Stadler | 70-74-67-71=282 | -2 | 10,000 |
| T7 | Andy Bean | 72-72-70-70=284 | E | 8,000 |
| Graham Marsh | 72-74-68-70=284 | |||
| Lee Trevino | 69-73-70-72=284 | |||
| 10 | Fuzzy Zoeller | 75-69-73-68=285 | +1 | 6,500 |
Source:
Playoff
The sudden death playoff began on the front nine at hole #1, a par-4 which all three parred.
After Watson and Pate could not birdie hole #2, Mahaffey sunk a 12-foot (3.7 m) birdie putt to win the title.
| Place | Player | Score | To par | Money ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | John Mahaffey | 4-3 | −1 | 50,000 |
| T2 | Jerry Pate | 4-x | E | 25,000 |
| Tom Watson | 4-x |
