1970 PGA Championship Winner and Scores

The 1970 PGA Championship was the 52nd time the tournament was played. A first-time major winner held off a legend, making his final push to win a PGA Championship, in the last round for the win.

Winner: Dave Stockton, 279

Where it was played: Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma

Tournament dates: August 13-16, 1970

Leader after first round: Jack Nicklaus and Johnny Miller, 68

Leader after second round: Dave Stockton and Larry Hinson, 140

Leader after third round: Dave Stockton, 206

What Happened at the 1970 PGA Championship

Dave Stockton had never won a major championship before this tournament. Arnold Palmer had won plenty of them, but had never won the PGA Championship. In the end, it was Stockton who went home happy.

Palmer, 40 years old at the time, had seven major championship wins, although none since 1964. He had won The Masters, the U.S. Open and the British Open — but not the PGA Championship. He wanted this major badly to complete the career grand slam. Palmer had already finished second twice in the PGA Championship. Unfortunately for him, he finished second once again in the 1970 PGA Championship. This was the last time Palmer finished in the Top 10 in a PGA Championship.

For Stockton, his win here was was only the fourth of his PGA Tour career. He was the co-leader after the second round, but took hold of the tournament with a third-round 66. Palmer fired a 69 in the third round, but fell to five strokes behind the leader.

Palmer played with Stockton in the final round, and Stockton showed the nerves of chasing his biggest win with an up-and-down 73. Stockton was most in danger when he put a ball in the water on the 13th hole, but a brilliant recovery shot allowed him to save bogey. Palmer outplayed Stockton in the final round, 70 to 73, but it wasn't enough to catch him.

Tying Palmer for second was Bob Murphy, who started the final round nine strokes behind Stockton but fired a 66. The defending champion, Raymond Floyd, was in second place, three back of Stockton, heading into the final round. But he scored 75 in Round 4 and dropped into a tie for eighth.

1970 PGA Championship Final Scores

Dave Stockton 70-70-66-73—279
Arnold Palmer 70-72-69-70—281
Bob Murphy 71-73-71-66—281
Gene Littler 72-71-69-70—282
Larry Hinson 69-71-74-68—282
Bruce Crampton 73-75-68-67—283
Jack Nicklaus 68-76-73-66—283
Raymond Floyd 71-73-65-75—284
Dick Lotz 72-70-75-67—284
Mason Rudolph 71-70-73-71—285
Billy Maxwell 72-71-73-69—285
Don January 73-71-73-69—286
Gary Player 74-68-74-70—286
Sam Snead 70-75-68-73—286
Johnny Miller 68-77-70-71—286
Mike Hill 71-70-74-73—288
Al Geiberger 72-74-71-71—288
Billy Casper 72-70-74-73—289
Dan Sikes Jr. 74-70-75-70—289
Bruce Devlin 75-70-71-73—289
Al Mengert 76-72-70-71—289
Bob Stanton 71-74-72-73—290
Kermit Zarley 73-74-73-70—290
Bert Yancey 74-69-75-72—290
Lou Graham 75-68-74-73—290
Bob Charles 74-73-72-72—291
Terry Dill 72-71-75-73—291
Bobby Nichols 71-76-72-72—291
Julius Boros 72-71-72-76—291
Lee Trevino 72-77-77-65—291
Jim Wiechers 72-75-73-72—292
Bob Menne 73-72-75-72—292
Homero Blancas 70-74-72-76—292
Hale Irwin 72-69-76-75—292
Howie Johnson 71-72-76-74—293
Bobby Mitchell 72-76-76-69—293
Rod Funseth 76-70-74-73—293
Dave Marr 76-71-74-72—293
Bob E. Smith 77-73-72-71—293
Charles Coody 69-79-73-72—293
Doug Sanders 75-74-71-74—294
Orville Moody 75-72-75-72—294
Jacky Cupit 70-77-75-72—294
Bob Lunn 74-69-70-81—294
Jack Burke Jr. 74-74-74-73—295
Tommy Aaron 71-74-75-75—295
Larry Ziegler 71-73-79-72—295
Bert Greene 73-73-74-76—296
Phil Rodgers 74-74-76-72—296
Hugh Royer Jr. 76-74-73-73—296
Bill Collins 72-71-77-76—296
Bob Stone 73-77-75-71—296
Jerry Steelsmith 73-72-78-73—296
Ross Coon 74-73-74-76—297
Jimmy Wright 74-74-76-74—298
Jim O'Hern 75-74-73-76—298
Deane Beman 76-72-74-76—298
Frank Beard 73-73-77-75—298
Gibby Gilbert 73-74-77-74—298
George Knudson 77-73-74-74—298
Tommy Jacobs 77-70-75-77—299
George Archer 77-71-75-76—299
Bob Rosburg 72-75-74-81—302
Dick Bury 75-74-77-78—304
Gordon Jones 75-75-78-77—305
Joe Jimenez 75-73-80-77—305
Tommy Aycock 75-73-82-75—305
Dave Hill 76-74-79-77—306
Bob Hold 76-74-81-75—306
Richard Crawford 74-76-80-79—309

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