1978 PGA Championship Winner and Scores
The 1978 PGA Championship was the 60th time the tournament was played, and it was decided in a three-man playoff. The winner needed the biggest final-round comeback in PGA Championship history to get that victory.
Winner: John Mahaffey, 276
Where it was played: Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pennsylvania
Tournament dates: August 3-6, 1978
Leader after first round: Tom Watson, 67
Leader after second round: Tom Watson, 136
Leader after third round: Tom Watson, 203
What Happened at the 1978 PGA Championship
By the time of the 1978 PGA Championship, Tom Watson was a 3-time major winner. He went on from here to win five more majors over the course of his career. In total, Watson won five British Opens, two Masters and one U.S. Open. The only major preventing Watson from claiming the career Grand Slam was the PGA Championship.Watson never won the PGA Championship, so of course you know he didn't win this one. But the 1978 PGA Championship was his best chance at winning, and was a tournament he should have won.
Watson opened 67-69-67. He was the first-round leader, the second-round leader and the third-round leader. Watson had a five-stroke lead over Jerry Pate entering the final round.
Then he blew it. Watson carded a 73 in that final round, while Pate shot 68 to tie Watson atop the leaderboard. The really big mover, however, was John Mahaffey, whose 66 propelled him from seven shots behind Watson — he was tied for fifth after Round 3 — into a 3-way tie for the lead at the end of 72 holes. Pate himself blew a golden opportunity for the win, lipping out a 4-footer for par on the 72nd hole that would have given him the victory.
Watson, Pate and Mahaffey entered a sudden-death playoff. All three parred the first extra hole, then Mahaffey won it with a 12-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole.
Watson never again came as close to winning a PGA Championship. For Mahaffey, it was his first PGA Tour win in five years, just the second PGA Tour win of his career. He went on to win 10 times total on the PGA Tour, and came close in a couple other majors (including losing in another major playoff, to Lou Graham in the 1975 U.S. Open), but the 1978 PGA Championship was Mahaffey's only win in a major. He put himself in the record books with this win, however: He made up a 7-stroke deficit in the final round to win, the biggest final-round comeback in PGA Championship history.
1978 PGA Championship Final Scores
| John Mahaffey | 75-67-68-66—276 |
| Jerry Pate | 72-70-66-68—276 |
| Tom Watson | 67-69-67-73—276 |
| Tom Weiskopf | 73-67-69-71—280 |
| Gil Morgan | 76-71-66-67—280 |
| Craig Stadler | 70-74-67-71—282 |
| Andy Bean | 72-72-70-70—284 |
| Lee Trevino | 69-73-70-72—284 |
| Graham Marsh | 72-74-68-70—284 |
| Fuzzy Zoeller | 75-69-73-68—285 |
| Joe Inman | 72-68-69-77—286 |
| Hale Irwin | 73-71-73-70—287 |
| John Schroeder | 76-69-70-72—287 |
| Larry Nelson | 76-71-70-70—287 |
| Billy Kratzert | 70-77-73-67—287 |
| Grier Jones | 70-73-71-74—288 |
| Ben Crenshaw | 69-71-75-73—288 |
| Phil Hancock | 70-73-70-75—288 |
| Bob Gilder | 74-71-70-74—289 |
| Dave Stockton | 68-75-74-72—289 |
| Wally Armstrong | 71-73-75-70—289 |
| Don January | 73-72-75-69—289 |
| Bobby Nichols | 75-67-73-74—289 |
| Kermit Zarley | 75-71-67-76—289 |
| George Burns | 79-68-70-72—289 |
| Peter Oosterhuis | 73-72-72-73—290 |
| Bob Shearer | 73-73-71-73—290 |
| Hubert Green | 71-71-74-74—290 |
| Bob Zender | 73-69-74-74—290 |
| George Cadle | 74-74-74-68—290 |
| Greg Powers | 75-70-75-70—290 |
| Gary Player | 76-72-71-71—290 |
| Rod Curl | 76-71-73-70—290 |
| Jim Dent | 74-74-70-73—291 |
| Mike Sullivan | 70-75-73-73—291 |
| Lanny Wadkins | 70-73-72-76—291 |
| Victor Regalado | 76-71-70-74—291 |
| Keith Fergus | 71-74-72-75—292 |
| Danny Edwards | 74-73-70-75—292 |
| Morris Hatalsky | 77-71-69-75—292 |
| Johnny Miller | 69-72-72-79—292 |
| Bill Rogers | 72-74-73-74—293 |
| Dave Eichelberger | 74-73-74-72—293 |
| Lee Elder | 71-76-73-73—293 |
| Leonard Thompson | 72-76-74-71—293 |
| Andy North | 76-71-73-73—293 |
| Mike Morley | 70-73-73-77—293 |
| Dewitt Weaver | 75-69-72-77—293 |
| Rod Funseth | 70-73-72-78—293 |
| Tommy Aycock | 74-72-75-73—294 |
| Dave Hill | 69-76-75-74—294 |
| Raymond Floyd | 76-72-73-73—294 |
| Jack Newton | 73-71-71-79—294 |
| Bobby Cole | 75-73-73-74—295 |
| Bobby Wadkins | 74-74-71-76—295 |
| Bob Murphy | 71-75-71-78—295 |
| Tom Purtzer | 72-70-78-75—295 |
| Mike McCullough | 76-71-75-74—296 |
| Jay Haas | 73-71-77-75—296 |
| Curtis Strange | 72-74-71-79—296 |
| George Archer | 76-67-77-77—297 |
| Bruce Lietzke | 75-72-73-78—298 |
| Lon Hinkle | 73-73-74-79—299 |
| Laurie Hammer | 74-72-77-77—300 |
| Gary Koch | 74-72-77-77—300 |
| Howard Twitty | 75-72-77-76—300 |
| Ed Sneed | 76-72-73-79—300 |
| Jerry Heard | 76-71-72-81—300 |
| Jim Colbert | 74-74-73-80—301 |
| Bill Hall | 76-72-77-78—303 |
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