1978 PGA Championship: John Mahaffey wins at Oakmont Country Club

John Mahaffey won the 1978 PGA Championship at Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pennsylvania with 276 (−8), beating Jerry Pate and Tom Watson in a playoff.

Updated October 23, 2026

See 1978 in Wanamaker Avenue, the PGA Championship room, or every year on the PGA Championship winners list.

Dates: August 3, 1978 to August 6, 1978
Course: Oakmont Country Club, Oakmont, Pennsylvania
Edition: 60th PGA Championship
Format: stroke play
Par: 71 · 6,989 yards
Field: 149
Made the cut: 72 (cut at 148)
Purse: $300,240 · winner's share $50,000
Champion: John Mahaffey · age 30 · United States · born Kerrville, Texas
Champion's title: 1st PGA Championship
Winning score: 75-67-68-66 = 276 (−8)
Runners-up: Jerry Pate, Tom Watson
54-hole leader: Tom Watson (203) · John Mahaffey was 7 strokes back
Playoff: sudden death (three players); beat Jerry Pate; Tom Watson; Mahaffey 4-3; Pate 4-4; Watson 4-4; 2nd extra hole (hole number unknown)
Low club professional: DeWitt Weaver (300)

Winner and runners-up

Pos.	Player	R1	R2	R3	R4	Total	To par
1	John Mahaffey	75	67	68	66	276	−8
T2	Jerry Pate	72	70	66	68	276	−8
T2	Tom Watson	67	69	67	73	276	−8

What happened at the 1978 PGA Championship

Jerry Pate lipped out a four-foot par putt on the 72nd hole that would have won outright at Oakmont.

John Mahaffey, seven behind Tom Watson entering the final round, shot 66 and won the three-way sudden death with a 12-foot birdie on the second extra hole.

How this was built

Every value is shown as recorded in GNN's PGA Championship data. A value no source confirmed is left out; nothing is estimated. Where sources disagree, the organizer's own record is used.

Data: pga.json (the PGA Championship room's data: Tables 1A–1H).

1978 PGA Championship: John Mahaffey wins at Oakmont Country Club

Winner and runners-up

What happened at the 1978 PGA Championship

How this was built

Sources