1990 PGA Championship Winner and Scores
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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