1997 PGA Championship

The 1997 PGA Championship was the 79th PGA Championship, held August 14–17 at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York, a suburb northeast of New York City. Davis Love III won his only major championship, five strokes ahead of runner-up Justin Leonard, winner of the 1997 Open Championship.[2][3]

1997 PGA Championship
Tournament information
DatesAugust 14–17, 1997
LocationMamaroneck, New York
Course(s)Winged Foot Golf Club,
West Course
Organized byPGA of America
Tour(s)PGA Tour
Statistics
Par70
Length6,987 yards (6,389 m)
Field150 players, 77 after cut[1]
Cut146 (+6)
Prize fund$2.6 million
Winner's share$470,000
Champion
Davis Love III
269 (−11)
Winged Foot Golf Club
Location in the United States

The last few holes on Sunday were played in a steady rain. However, when Love reached the final green with the tournament wrapped up, the sun peaked through the clouds and a rainbow appeared in the sky. Many took it as a symbol of Love finally winning his first major after several close calls and of his late father, a PGA professional, approvingly looking down from above.

Love's performance is remembered as one of the best in modern major championship history. Only two players finished within 10 shots of him. The sports analytics expert Bill Barnwell statistically identified the victory as the second most dominant win of the modern era (1960–2011), only behind Tiger Woods' 15-shot triumph at the 2000 U.S. Open.[4]

This was the first PGA Championship at the West Course and the fifth major; it previously hosted four U.S. Opens (1929, 1959, 1974, and 1984), which returned in 2006. The tournament was televised by TBS Sports and CBS Sports.

Course layout

West Course

HoleNameYardsParHoleNameYardsPar
1Genesis446410Pulpit1903
2Elm411411Billows3964
3Pinnacle216312Cape5405
4Sound View460413White Mule2123
5Long Lane515514Shamrock4324
6El324415Pyramid4234
7Babe-in-the-Woods161316Hells Bells4574
8Arena442417Well-Well4494
9Meadow467418Revelations4484
Out3,44235In3,54535
Source:[5]Total6,98770

Lengths of the course for previous majors:

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, August 14, 1997

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
T1John Daly United States66−4
Davis Love III United States
3Robert Allenby Australia67−3
T4Paul Azinger United States68−2
Tom Kite United States
Justin Leonard United States
Shigeki Maruyama Japan
Greg Norman Australia
Chris Perry United States
Paul Stankowski United States
Bob Tway United States

Second round

Friday, August 15, 1997

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Lee Janzen United States69-67=136−4
2Davis Love III United States66-71=137−3
T3Phil Blackmar United States70-68=138−2
Fred Couples United States71-67=138
Justin Leonard United States68-70=138
Jeff Maggert United States69-69=138
Shigeki Maruyama Japan68-70=138
Phil Mickelson United States69-69=138
Costantino Rocca Italy69-69=138
T10John Daly United States66-73=139−1
Greg Norman Australia68-71=139
Chris Perry United States68-71=139
Vijay Singh Fiji73-66=139
Paul Stankowski United States68-71=139

Third round

Saturday, August 16, 1997

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
T1Justin Leonard United States68-70-65=203−7
Davis Love III United States66-71-66=203
T3Lee Janzen United States69-67-74=210E
Tom Kite United States68-71-71=210
T5Fred Couples United States71-67-73=211+1
David Duval United States70-70-71=211
Scott Hoch United States71-72-68=211
Jeff Maggert United States69-69-73=211
Phil Mickelson United States69-69-73=211
Tiger Woods United States70-70-71=211

Final round

Sunday, August 17, 1997

PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney ($)
1Davis Love III United States66-71-66-66=269−11470,000
2Justin Leonard United States68-70-65-71=274−6280,000
3Jeff Maggert United States69-69-73-65=276−4175,000
4Lee Janzen United States69-67-74-69=279−1125,000
5Tom Kite United States68-71-71-70=280E105,000
T6Phil Blackmar United States70-68-74-69=281+185,000
Jim Furyk United States69-72-72-68=281
Scott Hoch United States71-72-68-70=281
9Tom Byrum United States69-73-70-70=282+270,000
T10Tom Lehman United States69-72-72-70=283+360,000
Scott McCarron United States74-71-67-71=283
Joey Sindelar United States72-71-71-69=283

Source:[6]

References

  1. "Tournament Info for: 1997 PGA Championship". PGA of America. Retrieved July 28, 2012.
  2. Diaz, Jaime (August 25, 1997). "At long last, Love". Sports Illustrated. p. 28.
  3. Parascenzo, Marino (August 18, 1997). "Color this one special". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. B1.
  4. Barnwell, Bill (June 24, 2011). "Relative Dominance". Grantland. Retrieved December 7, 2019.
  5. D'Amato, Gary (August 14, 1997). "1997 PGA Championship: course". Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. p. 6C.
  6. "1997 PGA Championship". databasegolf.com. Retrieved July 28, 2012.
Preceded by
1997 Open Championship
Major Championships Succeeded by
1998 Masters

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