The 1979 PGA Championship was the 61st PGA Championship, played August 2–5 at Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Township, Michigan, a suburb northwest of Detroit. After a double-bogey on the 72nd hole, David Graham won the first of his two major titles on the third hole of a sudden-death playoff with Ben Crenshaw. Through 17 holes in the final round, Graham was seven-under, with seven birdies and ten pars. Of the 21 holes he played Sunday, nine were birdies.

After 54 holes, Rex Caldwell was the leader at 203 (−7), Crenshaw was two strokes back and Graham four behind at 207 (−3), all in search of their first major title. It was the fifth runner-up finish for Crenshaw in a major, and second consecutive. He later won two majors, both at the Masters, in 1984 and 1995; Graham won his second at the U.S. Open in 1981 at Merion.

Three-time champion Sam Snead set the record for the oldest player to make the cut in a major. He was 67 years, 2 months, and 7 days of age at the cut and finished 42nd at 288 (+8). He won in 1942, 1949, and 1951, all in match play.

It was the sixth major championship held on the South Course, which previously hosted the PGA Championship in 1972 and the U.S. Open in 1924, 1937, 1951, and 1961. Due to heavy rainfall, the course was not nearly as hard as it had been in previous years, and the tournament was dubbed the "Monster Massacre" because of the shockingly low scores on the "Monster" South Course; there were 140 rounds at even par or below, and 15 players tied or beat Gary Player's winning 1972 score. The course later hosted the U.S. Open in 1985 and 1996, the PGA Championship in 2008, and the Ryder Cup in 2004.

This was the third consecutive playoff at the PGA Championship (and nearly the fourth, as the 1976 title was decided by the final putt on the 72nd green).

Graham became the second Australian-born player to win the PGA Championship, preceded by Jim Ferrier in 1947.

Jerry Pate and Tom Watson, runners-up in the previous year's playoff, were tied with Graham in third place after 54 holes. Pate's 71 tied for fifth but Watson's 74 dropped him into a tie for twelfth at 281. Watson had won three of his eight majors at this time, but never completed the career grand slam, missing the PGA Championship leg. Defending champion John Mahaffey tied for 51st.

This was the final major championship of the 1970s. Jack Nicklaus and Tom Weiskopf played in the event assuring that they played in every major championship in the 1970s. They were the first players to play in every major championship for an entire decade.

Round summaries First round Thursday, August 2, 1979 PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Tom Watson 66 −42 Rex Caldwell 67 −3 T3 Jay Haas 68 −2 Ron Streck T5 Ben Crenshaw 69 −1 Gibby Gilbert David Graham Hubert Green Don January Bruce Lietzke Graham Marsh Jim Masserio Artie McNickle Jerry Pate Alan Tapie Source:

Second round Friday, August 3, 1979 PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Ben Crenshaw 69-67=136 −4 T2 Rex Caldwell 67-70=137 −3 David Graham 69-68=137 Jay Haas 68-69=137T5 Bruce Lietzke 69-69=138 −2 Jerry Pate 69-69=138 Alan Tapie 73-65=138 Tom Watson 66-72=138T9 Rod Funseth 70-69=139 −1 Hubert Green 69-70=139 Don January 69-70=139 Graham Marsh 69-70=139 Artie McNickle 69-70=139 Ron Streck 68-71=139 Leonard Thompson 72-67=139 Source:

Third round Saturday, August 4, 1979 PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Rex Caldwell 67-70-66=203 −7 2 Ben Crenshaw 69-67-69=205 −5 T3 David Graham 69-68-70=207 −3 Jerry Pate 69-69-69=207 Tom Watson 66-72-69=2076 Ron Streck 68-71-69=208 −2T7 Gibby Gilbert 69-72-68=209 −1 Bruce Lietzke 69-69-71=209 Gene Littler 71-71-67=209 T10 Graham Marsh 69-72-68=209 E Jay Haas 68-69-73=210 Don January 69-70-71=210 Source:

Final round Sunday, August 5, 1979 PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)T1 David Graham 69-68-70-65=272 −8 Playoff Ben Crenshaw 69-67-69-67=272 3 Rex Caldwell 67-70-66-71=274 −6 25,0004 Ron Streck 68-71-69-68=276 −4 20,000T5 Gibby Gilbert 69-72-68-69=278 −2 14,500 Jerry Pate 69-69-69-71=278T7 Jay Haas 68-69-73-69=279 −1 9,200 Don January 69-70-71-69=279 Howard Twitty 70-73-69-67=279T10 Lou Graham 69-74-68-69=280 E 6,750 Gary Koch 71-71-71-67=280 Source:

Scorecard BirdieBogeyDouble bogey Final round Hole  1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9   10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18 Par453444443 445344434 Graham −4−5−5−5−5−5−6−7−7−8−9−9−9−9−10−10−10−8 Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

Playoff The sudden-death playoff began at the first tee and Graham saved par with one putt from to tie. At the par-5 second hole, Crenshaw tapped in for birdie while Graham sank a ten-footer (3 m) to continue. He won with a birdie on the par-3 third hole, after Crenshaw found a bunker and his putt for par lipped out. Graham put his 4-iron tee shot to within and with two putts to win, sank the first.

PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)1 David Graham 4-4-2−2 60,0002 Ben Crenshaw 4-4-4 E 40,000

Scorecard Hole  1    2    3  Par453 Graham E−1−2 Crenshaw E−1E

References

External links

PGA.com – 1979 PGA Championship