1983 PGA Championship Results
Winner: Hal Sutton, 274
Where it was played: Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles, California
Tournament dates: August 4-7, 1983
Leader after first round: Hal Sutton, 65
Leader after second round: Hal Sutton, 131
Leader after third round: Hal Sutton, 203
What Happened at the 1983 PGA Championship
In the 1970s and 1980s, there were a lot of golfers tagged as "the next Jack Nicklaus." None of them turned out to be that, of course, but for a while it looked like Hal Sutton might. He was 1982 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year, and he won on the PGA Tour a couple months before this tournament.Then, Sutton won the 1983 PGA Championship — and did it leading wire-to-wire. He even held off Nicklaus to do it.
Sutton opened with a 65 in the first round, the low round of the day and tied for low round of the tournament. He led by three after a second-round 66. His play on the weekend wasn't as spectacular, with scores of 72 and 71. But he held a two-stroke lead over second-place Ben Crenshaw going into the final round. Nicklaus was back in seventh place, six strokes behind Sutton, not looking like a big threat as the final round began.
But then Nicklaus threw a 66 at the leader, and fans waited to see if Sutton would hold his nerve. At a PGA Tour tournament just two weeks earlier, Sutton had blown a six-stroke final-round lead. This time, however, he held on, his 71 producing a one-stroke win over Nicklaus and a final score of 10-under 274. Crenshaw, who started the final round in solo second, ballooned to a 77 in the last round and dropped to ninth place.
Sutton led the PGA Tour in earnings in 1983, and was named Player of the Year. He went on to have a fine career, but it was nearly two years before his next win on tour. He finished his career with 14 PGA Tour wins total, the 1983 PGA remaining his only win in a major. For Nicklaus, it was the last of his four career second-place finishes in a PGA Championship (he won five times), and the last of his 19 career second-place finishes in majors (he won 18 of them).
Nick Price made his PGA Championship debut here, finishing tied for 67th. He went on to win the 1992 and 1994 PGA Championships. Three-time major winner Billy Casper played the PGA Championship for the final time this year, missing the cut. Gene Littler, who won the 1961 U.S. Open, also missed the cut in what was his final start in any of the major championships, and the same was true for 1961 PGA Championship winner Jerry Barber.
1983 PGA Championship Final Scores
| Hal Sutton | 65-66-72-71—274 |
| Jack Nicklaus | 73-65-71-66—275 |
| Peter Jacobsen | 73-70-68-65—276 |
| Pat McGowan | 68-67-73-69—277 |
| John Fought | 67-69-71-71—278 |
| Bruce Lietzke | 67-71-70-71—279 |
| Fuzzy Zoeller | 72-71-67-69—279 |
| Dan Pohl | 72-70-69-69—280 |
| Mike Reid | 69-71-72-70—282 |
| Scott Simpson | 66-73-70-73—282 |
| Jay Haas | 68-72-69-73—282 |
| Doug Tewell | 74-72-69-67—282 |
| Ben Crenshaw | 68-66-71-77—282 |
| Roger Maltbie | 71-71-71-70—283 |
| Keith Fergus | 68-70-72-73—283 |
| Hale Irwin | 72-70-73-68—283 |
| Jim Thorpe | 68-72-74-69—283 |
| Lee Trevino | 70-68-74-71—283 |
| David Graham | 70-69-74-70—283 |
| John Cook | 74-71-68-71—284 |
| Raymond Floyd | 69-75-71-69—284 |
| Danny Edwards | 67-76-71-70—284 |
| Chip Beck | 72-71-70-72—285 |
| Fred Couples | 71-70-73-71—285 |
| Jerry Pate | 69-72-70-74—285 |
| Don Pooley | 72-68-74-71—285 |
| Bobby Wadkins | 73-72-74-67—286 |
| Seve Ballesteros | 71-76-72-67—286 |
| Buddy Whitten | 66-70-73-77—286 |
| Andy Bean | 71-73-71-72—287 |
| Mark Pfeil | 73-71-70-73—287 |
| Jim Simons | 69-75-72-71—287 |
| Johnny Miller | 72-75-73-67—287 |
| Tom Weiskopf | 76-70-69-72—287 |
| Bob Boyd | 70-77-72-68—287 |
| Bobby Nichols | 75-69-74-70—288 |
| Calvin Peete | 69-71-76-72—288 |
| Jim Colbert | 73-66-76-73—288 |
| Bob Shearer | 73-67-76-72—288 |
| Tim Simpson | 76-70-70-72—288 |
| Larry Nelson | 72-68-68-80—288 |
| Lou Graham | 73-74-70-72—289 |
| Gary Player | 74-68-73-74—289 |
| Gary Hallberg | 71-75-71-72—289 |
| Greg Norman | 72-72-70-75—289 |
| Barry Jaeckel | 73-74-67-75—289 |
| Mike Nicolette | 72-71-73-74—290 |
| Vance Heafner | 73-74-72-71—290 |
| Morris Hatalsky | 69-75-73-73—290 |
| Larry Mize | 70-70-75-75—290 |
| Lon Hinkle | 70-75-74-71—290 |
| Peter Oosterhuis | 75-71-71-73—290 |
| Tom Watson | 75-67-78-70—290 |
| Gibby Gilbert | 70-66-80-74—290 |
| Gil Morgan | 72-73-74-72—291 |
| Jack Renner | 74-71-73-73—291 |
| Ed Fiori | 75-69-73-74—291 |
| John Adams | 75-71-72-73—291 |
| Charles Coody | 73-72-70-76—291 |
| George Burns | 78-68-72-73—291 |
| Jim Nelford | 72-72-76-72—292 |
| Scott Hoch | 73-72-74-73—292 |
| Bruce Fleisher | 74-73-74-72—293 |
| Craig Stadler | 72-73-76-72—293 |
| Mark Lye | 75-67-75-76—293 |
| Bob Gilder | 71-69-76-77—293 |
| Nick Price | 72-74-74-74—294 |
| Arnold Palmer | 74-73-74-73—294 |
| Tom Kite | 72-75-73-74—294 |
| Mike Donald | 71-71-76-76—294 |
| George Archer | 70-77-74-73—294 |
| T.C. Chen | 72-75-79-69—295 |
| Larry Gilbert | 71-74-76-75—296 |
| Rex Caldwell | 74-73-75-75—297 |
| Pat Lindsey | 74-72-80-71—297 |
| Ron Streck | 72-73-77-76—298 |
| Jim Logue | 73-74-77-76—300 |
| Bill Britton | 74-73-77-76—300 |
| Bobby Heins | 73-74-75-78—300 |
| Lee Elder | 76-71-77-77—301 |
| Ed Sneed | 74-73-75-79—301 |
| Allen Miller | 69-78-77-78—302 |
| Bob Eastwood | 76-70-77-79—302 |
| Robert Hoyt | 71-72-80-80—303 |
| Leonard Thompson | 73-74-75-81—303 |
| Curtis Strange | 71-74-85-74—304 |
| Jim King | 73-73-78-84—308 |
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