1987 PGA Championship

The 1987 PGA Championship was the 69th PGA Championship, held August 6–9 at the Champion Course of PGA National Golf Club in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. In hot and windy conditions, Larry Nelson won his second PGA Championship in a sudden-death playoff over 1977 champion Lanny Wadkins.[2][3][4] It was Nelson's third and final major title.

1987 PGA Championship
Tournament information
DatesAugust 6–9, 1987
LocationPalm Beach Gardens, Florida
Course(s)PGA National Golf Club
Champion Course
Organized byPGA of America
Tour(s)PGA Tour
Statistics
Par72
Length7,002 yards (6,403 m)
Field150 players, 74 after cut[1]
Cut151 (+7)
Prize fund$900,000
Winner's share$150,000
Champion
Larry Nelson
287 (−1), playoff
PGA National
Location in the United States
PGA National
Location in Florida

D.A. Weibring, a 54-hole co-leader,[5] shot 76 (+4) and finished a stroke back at even-par 288. The other co-leader, Mark McCumber, posted 77 and finished in a tie for fifth. Two major champions in contention shot high scores and fell back: Seve Ballesteros (78) and Raymond Floyd (80).

In the August heat of Florida, the attendance was low.[4][6] A record high temperature for the day of 97 °F (36 °C) was recorded on Sunday.[7] It was the second major played in Florida, following the PGA Championship in 1971, played in February at the old PGA National. Through 2016, this is the last major played in the state. The purse was the last under $1 million at the PGA Championship.

With the win, Nelson gained an automatic bid to the Ryder Cup team in 1987, his third, bumping Don Pooley.[8] Nelson's record in that competition in late September was 0–3–1, as the U.S. lost the Cup for the first time on home soil. He lost all three pairs matches and halved his singles match.

The Champion Course hosted the Ryder Cup in 1983 and the Senior PGA Championship for 19 years (1982–2000). Since 2007, it has been the venue of The Honda Classic on the PGA Tour, played in March.

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, August 6, 1987

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Bobby Wadkins United States68−4
T2David Edwards United States69−3
Fred Funk United States
T4Raymond Floyd United States70−2
Bernhard Langer West Germany
Larry Nelson United States
Curtis Strange United States
Lanny Wadkins United States
T9Bobby Clampett United States71−1
Bobby Cole South Africa
Ray Freeman United States
Dan Pohl United States
Mike Reid United States
Tim Simpson United States

Source:[9]

Second round

Saturday, August 7, 1987

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
T1Raymond Floyd United States70-70=140−4
Lanny Wadkins United States70-70=140
T3Tim Simpson United States71-70=141−3
Jeff Sluman United States72-69=141
T5Seve Ballesteros Spain72-70=142−2
Ben Crenshaw United States72-70=142
Larry Nelson United States70-72=142
Bobby Wadkins United States68-74=142
T9Bobby Clampett United States71-72=143−1
Mark McCumber United States74-69=143

Source:[10]

Third round

Saturday, August 8, 1987

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
T1Mark McCumber United States74-69-69=212−4
D. A. Weibring United States73-72-67=212
T3Raymond Floyd United States70-70-73=213−3
Bobby Wadkins United States68-74-71=213
T5Seve Ballesteros Spain72-70-72=214−2
Lanny Wadkins United States70-70-74=214
7Larry Nelson United States70-72-73=215−1
T8Ben Crenshaw United States72-70-74=216E
David Frost South Africa75-70-71=216
T10Curt Byrum United States74-75-68=217+1
Don Pooley United States73-71-73=217
Nick Price Zimbabwe76-71-70=217
Curtis Strange United States70-76-71=217

Source:[5]

Final round

Sunday, August 9, 1987

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney ($)
T1Larry Nelson United States70-72-73-72=287−1Playoff
Lanny Wadkins United States70-70-74-73=287
T3Scott Hoch United States74-74-71-69=288E58,750
D. A. Weibring United States73-72-67-76=288
T5Mark McCumber United States74-69-69-77=289+137,500
Don Pooley United States73-71-73-72=289
T7Ben Crenshaw United States72-70-74-74=290+227,500
Bobby Wadkins United States68-74-71-77=290
9Curtis Strange United States70-76-71-74=291+322,500
T10Seve Ballesteros Spain72-70-72-78=292+417,000
David Frost South Africa75-70-71-76=292
Tom Kite United States72-77-71-72=292
Nick Price Zimbabwe76-71-70-75=292

Source:[1][11]

Scorecard
Birdie Bogey Double bogey

Final round

Hole 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 101112131415161718
Par445345344454443435
Nelson−1E−1−2−2−2−2−2−2−2−2−2−2−1−1E−1−1
Wadkins−3−1−2−3−3−3−3−2−1−1−2EEE−1−1−1−1

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par
Source:[2]

Playoff

The sudden-death playoff began on the par-4 10th hole, where both missed the green. Nelson chipped to six feet (1.8 m) and Wadkins to four. First to putt, Nelson saved par but Wadkins missed his attempt to extend the playoff.[2]

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney ($)
1Larry Nelson United States4E150,000
2Lanny Wadkins United Statesx+190,000

References
  1. "Tournament Info for: 1987 PGA Championship". PGA.com. Retrieved September 19, 2012.
  2. "Wadkins' poor putt gives Nelson victory". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. August 10, 1987. p. 1-part 2.
  3. Boswell, Thomas (August 10, 1987). "Nelson beats heat, pressure, Wadkins". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. (Washington Post). p. 1B.
  4. Diaz, Jaime (August 17, 1987). "Cool customer in a hot PGA". Sports Illustrated. p. 28.
  5. Boswell, Thomas (August 9, 1987). "McCumber, Weibring tied for PGA lead". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. (Washington Post). p. 1C.
  6. Boswell, Thomas (August 9, 1987). "The heat isn't as bad as PGA's profit motive". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. (Washington Post). p. 7C.
  7. Hackenberg, Dave (August 10, 1987). "Steady Nelson survives". Toledo Blade. Ohio. p. 24.
  8. "Nelson joins U.S. Ryder Cup team". Toledo Blade. Ohio. August 10, 1987. p. 26.
  9. Glick, Shav (August 7, 1987). "A rough first day at the PGA". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. (Washington Post). p. 1C.
  10. Glick, Shav (August 8, 1987). "A Wadkins shares lead with Floyd". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. (Washington Post). p. 1C.
  11. "1987 PGA Championship". databasegolf.com. Retrieved August 19, 2013.
Preceded by
1987 Open Championship		 Major Championships Succeeded by
1988 Masters

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.