1990 PGA Championship Winner and Scores

The 1990 PGA Championship was the 72nd time the tournament was played. Wayne Grady took the lead with a second-round 67 and never gave it up, winning by three strokes over Fred Couples.

Winner: Wayne Grady, 282

Where it was played: Shoal Creek Golf and Country Club in Birmingham, Alabama

Tournament dates: August 9-12, 1990

Leader after first round: Bobby Wadkins, 68

Leader after second round: Wayne Grady, 139

Leader after third round: Wayne Grady, 211

What Happened at the 1990 PGA Championship

Making pars down the stretch is what it took for Wayne Grady to win the 1990 PGA Championship when Fred Couples was unable to do the same thing.

The tournament got off to a rough start when it was revealed that host course Shoal Creek Country Club, an exclusive private club in Birmingham, Alabama, had a policy of refusing to allow Blacks to join — and when the club founder reiterated that policy. Civil rights protests ensued and the PGA of America considered moving the tournament. The controversy led the PGA, the PGA Tour and the USGA to develop a new policy: Their tournaments would no longer be played at clubs with discriminatory or exclusionary membership policies. (Prior to the start of the 1990 PGA Championship, Shoal Creek gave "honorary" membership to a local African-American businessman, so the tournament remained at the club. The club soon after changed its discriminatory policies and later hosted more big tournaments.)

As for what happened on the course, Grady began the final round with a 2-stroke lead over Couples. Couples reversed that, taking a 1-stroke lead by the 12th hole.

But Couples crumbled after that point, reeling off four consecutive bogeys. Grady, meanwhile, held steady, making pars down the stretch and winning by three shots.

Grady had only two PGA Tour wins in his career, and this major was the second of those. Couples went on to win the 1992 Masters and eventually joined the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Two-time PGA Championship winner Lee Trevino played this major for the last time this year, missing the cut. John Mahaffey, winner of the 1978 PGA Championship, tied for 40th in what was his last time making the cut in any of the four professional majors.

1990 PGA Championship Final Scores

Wayne Grady 72-67-72-71—282
Fred Couples 69-71-73-72—285
Gil Morgan 77-72-65-72—286
Bill Britton 72-74-72-71—289
Chip Beck 71-70-78-71—290
Billy Mayfair 70-71-75-74—290
Loren Roberts 73-71-70-76—290
Mark McNulty 74-72-75-71—292
Don Pooley 75-74-71-72—292
Tim Simpson 71-73-75-73—292
Payne Stewart 71-72-70-79—292
Hale Irwin 77-72-70-74—293
Larry Mize 72-68-76-77—293
Billy Andrade 75-72-73-74—294
Morris Hatalsky 73-78-71-72—294
Jose Maria Olazabal 73-77-72-72—294
Corey Pavin 73-75-72-74—294
Fuzzy Zoeller 72-71-76-75—294
Bob Boyd 74-74-71-76—295
Nick Faldo 71-75-80-69—295
Blaine McCallister 75-73-74-73—295
Greg Norman 77-69-76-73—295
Mark O'Meara 69-76-79-71—295
Tom Watson 74-71-77-73—295
Mark Wiebe 74-73-75-73—295
Mark Brooks 78-69-76-73—296
Peter Jacobsen 74-75-71-76—296
Chris Perry 75-74-72-75—296
Ray Stewart 73-73-75-75—296
Brian Tennyson 71-77-71-77—296
Paul Azinger 76-70-74-77—297
Ben Crenshaw 74-70-78-75—297
David Frost 76-74-69-78—297
Steve Pate 71-75-71-80—297
Tom Purtzer 74-74-77-72—297
Dave Rummells 73-73-77-74—297
Jeff Sluman 74-74-73-76—297
Scott Verplank 70-76-73-78—297
Ian Woosnam 74-75-70-78—297
Isao Aoki 72-74-78-74—298
Tom Kite 79-71-74-74—298
Davis Love III 72-72-77-77—298
John Mahaffey 75-72-76-75—298
Craig Parry 74-72-75-77—298
Andrew Magee 75-74-73-77—299
Sammy Rachels 75-73-76-75—299
Mike Reid 71-78-78-72—299
Bob Tway 72-76-73-78—299
Raymond Floyd 72-77-74-77—300
Robert Gamez 71-78-75-76—300
Scott Hoch 78-73-72-77—300
Mike Hulbert 71-75-79-75—300
Mark McCumber 73-76-74-77—300
Kenny Perry 73-76-78-73—300
Hal Sutton 72-74-78-76—300
Stan Utley 71-72-80-77—300
Ian Baker-Finch 74-71-78-78—301
Bob Gilder 73-78-73-77—301
John Huston 72-72-77-80—301
David Peoples 77-71-77-76—301
Craig Stadler 75-73-74-79—301
Peter Senior 74-75-72-81—302
Jay Delsing 75-73-73-82—303
Donnie Hammond 77-70-80-76—303
Nick Price 75-71-81-76—303
David Graham 75-75-75-79—304
Scott Simpson 76-75-72-81—304
Bobby Wadkins 68-75-80-81—304
Jim Blair 73-76-76-80—305
Ed Fiori 75-76-77-77—305
Cary Hungate 72-77-79-77—305
Rocco Mediate 75-72-77-81—305
Jumbo Ozaki 75-74-79-77—305
Bob Ford 75-75-79-77—306

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