1976 PGA Championship Winner and Scores
Winner: Dave Stockton, 281
Where it was played: Congressional Country Club (Blue Course) in Bethesda, Maryland
Tournament dates: August 12-16, 1976
Leader after first round: Tom Weiskopf, 65
Leader after second round: Gil Morgan, 134
Leader after third round: Charles Coody, 207
What Happened at the 1976 PGA Championship
Dave Stockton trailed by five strokes after the first round, and by 10 strokes after 36 holes. After a 69 in the third round, he was still four strokes off the lead held by 1971 Masters winner Charles Coody. Jack Nicklaus was tied for second place, two behind Coody but two in front of Stockton.And Stockton's 71 in the final round wasn't spectacular. But on a day of tough scoring, it was enough. Don January and Raymond Floyd, both previous PGA Championship winners, had the clubhouse lead at 282 when Stockton reached the final hole. He needed a par to win. And that's what Stockton got, sinking a 15-foot par putt on the final green to secure the one-stroke victory.
What happened to Coody and Nicklaus? Nicklaus, the defending champion, had a 74 in the final round and tied for fourth place. Coody ballooned to 77 and fell to eighth place. Gil Morgan, tied with Nicklaus in second place after 54 holes, had a 75 and tied for eighth.
Rain made the final two rounds (the last round was pushed into Monday) a slog for many in the field. Stockton's winning score of 1-over 281 was the highest in tournament history to this point. In the United States' bicentennial year, the tournament was played in the Washington, D.C., area: Congressional Country Club made its PGA Championship debut (it had hosted one major previously, the 1964 U.S. Open).
The victory was Stockton's second in this tournament — he also won the 1970 PGA Championship — and proved to be the last of his 10 wins on the PGA Tour.
Nicklaus, Gary Player (tied 13th) and Arnold Palmer (tied 15th) all finished in the Top 15, the last time that ever happened in a major championship. In fact, this was Palmer's last Top 15 finish in any of the four majors. Art Wall, winner of the 1959 Masters, played in a PGA Championship for the last time here and missed the cut.
1976 PGA Championship Final Scores
| Dave Stockton | 70-72-69-70—281 |
| Don January | 70-69-71-72—282 |
| Raymond Floyd | 72-68-71-71—282 |
| David Graham | 70-71-70-72—283 |
| John Schlee | 72-71-70-70—283 |
| Jerry Pate | 69-73-72-69—283 |
| Jack Nicklaus | 71-69-69-74—283 |
| Jerry McGee | 68-72-72-72—284 |
| Tom Weiskopf | 65-74-73-72—284 |
| Ben Crenshaw | 71-69-74-70—284 |
| Gil Morgan | 66-68-75-75—284 |
| Charles Coody | 68-72-67-77—284 |
| Tom Kite | 66-72-73-75—286 |
| Gary Player | 70-69-72-75—286 |
| Mark Hayes | 69-72-73-73—287 |
| Mike Hill | 72-70-73-72—287 |
| Mike Morley | 69-72-72-74—287 |
| Tom Watson | 70-74-70-73—287 |
| J.C. Snead | 74-71-70-72—287 |
| Lee Elder | 68-74-70-75—287 |
| Arnold Palmer | 71-76-68-72—287 |
| Don Massengale | 71-74-73-70—288 |
| Joe Inman | 72-69-74-73—288 |
| Jerry Heard | 72-74-69-73—288 |
| Leonard Thompson | 73-69-72-74—288 |
| Lou Graham | 74-70-70-74—288 |
| Gene Littler | 71-69-73-75—288 |
| Dave Hill | 76-66-75-71—288 |
| Joe Porter | 72-71-70-76—289 |
| Rik Massengale | 71-72-73-74—290 |
| Hubert Green | 73-70-73-74—290 |
| Grier Jones | 71-70-75-74—290 |
| Bob Zender | 69-71-73-77—290 |
| Larry Nelson | 75-71-74-71—291 |
| Bill Collins | 70-70-76-75—291 |
| Hale Irwin | 69-73-77-72—291 |
| Gibby Gilbert | 70-78-72-71—291 |
| Howard Twitty | 73-71-74-74—292 |
| Bruce Crampton | 74-71-75-72—292 |
| Peter Oosterhuis | 75-73-73-71—292 |
| Tommy Aaron | 72-72-72-76—292 |
| Bruce Lietzke | 75-73-68-76—292 |
| John Lister | 74-72-73-74—293 |
| Kermit Zarley | 71-73-74-75—293 |
| Rod Funseth | 71-75-73-74—293 |
| Roger Maltbie | 76-72-73-72—293 |
| Pat Fitzsimons | 77-71-73-72—293 |
| Don Padgett | 71-71-72-79—293 |
| Wally Armstrong | 74-75-69-76—294 |
| Andy North | 72-73-79-70—294 |
| Billy Casper | 75-74-72-74—295 |
| Don Bies | 76-71-72-76—295 |
| George Cadle | 71-70-77-77—295 |
| Dennis Tiziani | 77-68-75-75—295 |
| Bert Weaver | 73-70-78-74—295 |
| Miller Barber | 79-70-73-73—295 |
| Ed Sneed | 71-76-76-73—296 |
| Tom Ulozas | 73-76-74-73—296 |
| Jim Colbert | 72-72-75-77—296 |
| Gene Borek | 73-76-72-76—297 |
| Jim Simons | 75-73-72-77—297 |
| Jimmy Wright | 77-72-72-76—297 |
| Jack Keifer | 72-71-75-79—297 |
| Lyn Lott | 70-72-76-80—298 |
| Bob Dickson | 74-73-77-75—299 |
| Mac McLendon | 77-72-76-74—299 |
| Forrest Fezler | 72-75-73-79—299 |
| Labron Harris Jr. | 73-73-80-75—301 |
| Clayton Cole | 75-74-78-76—303 |
| Bob Gilder | 75-74-79-75—303 |
| Don Iverson | 73-76-81-75—305 |
| Stan Thirsk | 76-71-76-82—305 |
| Mal Galletta | 74-74-78-81—307 |
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