1977 Pga Championship

Lanny Wadkins, 27, won his only major championship in a sudden-death playoff over Gene Littler. It was the first playoff at the PGA Championship in ten years and was the first-ever sudden-death playoff in a stroke-play major championship. The last was 36 years earlier at the 1941 PGA Championship, when the 36-hole final match went to two extra holes.

1977 PGA Championship

Tournament information
Dates	August 11–14, 1977
Location	Pebble Beach, California 36°34′05″N 121°57′00″W / 36.568°N 121.950°W / 36.568; -121.950
Course(s)	Pebble Beach Golf Links
Organized by	PGA of America
Tour(s)	PGA Tour
Statistics
Par	72
Length	6,806 yards (6,223 m)
Field	138 players, 71 after cut
Cut	151 (+7)
Prize fund	$250,000
Winner's share	$45,000
Champion
Lanny Wadkins
282 (−6), playoff
Location map
Pebble Beach Location in the United States Show map of the United States Pebble Beach Location in California Show map of California
← 1976 1978 →

Prior to the start of the championship, the irons of several top players were deemed to have non-conforming groove dimensions, most notably those of Tom Watson. He had won the Masters and British Open earlier that year, and was attempting to become the first to win three majors in the same year since Ben Hogan in 1953. Others with non-conforming irons included major winners Raymond Floyd, Hale Irwin, Gary Player, and Tom Weiskopf. The rule limiting groove width to .035 inches (0.89 mm) had been around for decades. Watson shot an opening round of 68 (−4) with an old set of borrowed irons, and finished at 286 (−2), four strokes back in a tie for sixth. He won eight majors but never a PGA Championship; his only win in the U.S. Open came here at Pebble Beach in 1982.

Four-time champion Jack Nicklaus finished one stroke out of the playoff at 283 (−5). He won the previous major at this course, the U.S. Open in 1972, and was runner-up to Watson at the next in 1982.

This was the 13th consecutive professional major won by American-born players. The streak began with Lee Trevino's victory at the 1974 PGA Championship and continued as the Americans swept the majors in 1975, 1976, and the previous majors in 1977. This remains the second longest major-winning streak for Americans; the longest was in the 1940s and ended with Lew Worsham's win at the 1947 U.S. Open.

This was the second major championship at Pebble Beach, which had hosted the U.S. Open in 1972. The U.S. Open returned in 1982, 1992, 2000, 2010, and 2019. It was only the second PGA Championship in California and the first as a stroke-play competition; the previous was in December 1929 in Los Angeles at Hillcrest. The 1962 event was originally awarded to Brentwood in L.A., but was moved to Philadelphia at Aronimink.

The fairways at Pebble Beach were extremely dry, due to an extended drought, in its third year in northern California.

First round

Thursday, August 11, 1977

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Gene Littler	67	−5
T2	Mark Hayes	68	−4
	Jerry McGee
	Tom Watson
T5	George Cadle	69	−3
	Jack Nicklaus
	Lanny Wadkins
T8	George Archer	70	−2
	Charles Coody
	John Lister
	Roger Maltbie
	Johnny Miller
	Fuzzy Zoeller

Second round

Friday, August 12, 1977

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Gene Littler	67-69=136	−8
2	Jerry McGee	68-70=138	−6
T3	Jack Nicklaus	69-71=140	−4
	Lanny Wadkins	69-71=140
T5	Charles Coody	70-71=141	−3
	Al Geiberger	71-70=141
	Joe Inman	72-69=141
	Tom Watson	68-73=141
T9	George Cadle	69-73=142	−2
	Gil Morgan	74-68=142
	Fuzzy Zoeller	70-72=142

Third round

Saturday, August 13, 1977

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Gene Littler	67-69-70=206	−10
2	Jack Nicklaus	69-71-70=210	−6
3	Charles Coody	70-71-70=211	−5
T4	George Cadle	69-73-70=212	−4
	Gil Morgan	74-68-70=212
	Jerry Pate	73-70-69=212
	Lanny Wadkins	69-71-72=212
	Tom Watson	68-73-71=212
T9	Miller Barber	77-68-69=214	−2
	Billy Casper	73-71-70=214
	Al Geiberger	71-70-73=214
	Joe Inman	72-69-73=214
	Don January	75-69-70=214
	Leonard Thompson	72-73-69=214

Final round

Sunday, August 14, 1977

Littler, 47, was the leader in each of the first three rounds and entered Sunday at 206 (−10), with a four-shot lead over Jack Nicklaus. One-under on the front nine, Littler staggered on the back with a five-over 41. After the turn, he made five bogeys in six holes, then rallied with pars on the three finishing holes to make the playoff with a 76 (+4). Wadkins started the round six strokes back and shot a 70, which included a birdie on the par-5 18th hole to get to six-under for the championship. As the clubhouse leader, he waited for the final pairing of Nicklaus and Littler. Tied for the lead with two holes remaining, Nicklaus bogeyed the par-3 17th to miss the playoff by a stroke. He had famously birdied the same hole in the final round of the 1972 U.S. Open, which he won by three strokes.

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
T1	Gene Littler	67-69-70-76=282	−6	Playoff
	Lanny Wadkins	69-71-72-70=282
3	Jack Nicklaus	69-71-70-73=283	−5	15,000
4	Charles Coody	70-71-70-73=284	−4	12,000
5	Jerry Pate	73-70-69-73=285	−3	10,000
T6	Al Geiberger	71-70-73-72=286	−2	7,300
	Lou Graham	71-73-71-71=286
	Don January	75-69-70-72=286
	Jerry McGee	68-70-77-71=286
	Tom Watson	68-73-71-74=286

Source:

Playoff

The sudden-death playoff began on the par-4 first hole, where Wadkins missed the green, chipped from the heavy rough to 20 feet (6 m) and saved par to tie. At the second hole, both reached the green of the par-5 in two shots, narrowly missed eagle putts, and tapped in for birdies. At the third hole, both missed the green in the heavy rough. Littler's difficult chip left him 20 feet (6 m) for a par four, while Wadkins got his chip to within five feet (1.5 m). After Littler missed to the right, Wadkins rolled his in for the win.

The championship had gone without a playoff since 1967. The seventh and last sudden-death playoff was in 1996; the format was changed to a three-hole aggregate, first used in 2000.

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
1	Lanny Wadkins	4-4-4	−1	45,000
2	Gene Littler	4-4-x	E	25,000

• Sudden-death playoff played on holes 1, 2, and 3.