1979 PGA Championship: David Graham wins at Oakland Hills Country Club (South Course)
David Graham won the 1979 PGA Championship at Oakland Hills Country Club (South Course) in Bloomfield Township, Michigan with 272 (−8), beating Ben Crenshaw in a playoff.
Updated October 23, 2026
See 1979 in Wanamaker Avenue, the PGA Championship room, or every year on the PGA Championship winners list.
- Dates
- August 2, 1979 to August 5, 1979
- Course
- Oakland Hills Country Club (South Course), Bloomfield Township, Michigan
- Edition
- 61st PGA Championship
- Format
- stroke play
- Par
- 70 · 7,014 yards
- Field
- 150
- Made the cut
- 74 (cut at 146)
- Purse
- $350,600 · winner's share $60,000
- Champion
- David Graham · age 33 · Australia · born Melbourne (Windsor), Victoria, Australia
- Champion's title
- 1st PGA Championship
- Winning score
- 69-68-70-65 = 272 (−8)
- Runner-up
- Ben Crenshaw
- 54-hole leader
- Rex Caldwell (203) · David Graham was 4 strokes back
- Playoff
- sudden death; beat Ben Crenshaw; Graham 4-4-2; Crenshaw 4-4-unknown; 3rd extra hole (hole number unknown)
- Low club professional
- Jim Masserio and Lynn Janson (tie) (287)
Winner and runner-up
| Pos. | Player | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | David Graham | 69 | 68 | 70 | 65 | 272 | −8 |
| 2 | Ben Crenshaw | 69 | 67 | 69 | 67 | 272 | −8 |
What happened at the 1979 PGA Championship
Leading by two on the 72nd hole, David Graham made double bogey, which turned a likely 63 into a 65 and forced a playoff.
In the playoff Graham holed par and birdie putts on the first two extra holes, then won with a birdie on the third. Sam Snead, 67, made his last major cut.
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).