1983 PGA Championship Results

The 1983 PGA Championship was the 65th edition of the tournament. The winner was a young golfer whose career was off to a hot start, and who had to hold off a furious challenge from Jack Nicklaus to claim this trophy.

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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1982 PGA Championship - 1984 PGA Championship

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