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John Mahaffey

United States · born , Kerrville, Texas, USA

1major championship

Summary

  • First major 1978 PGA Championship
  • Ryder Cup 1 Cups · 1-2-0 · 1 points (33.3%)
  • Runner-up in majors 1 time

Wins

  1. 1978 PGA Championship Oakmont Country Club · 276 (-8) · won a playoff against Jerry Pate and Tom Watson

Near misses

  1. 1975 U.S. Open Medinah C.C. · runner-up to Lou Graham · playoff: 18 holes, 71–73
  2. 1975 The Open Carnoustie Golf Links (Championship Course) · finished T10 · 284 (-4)

Ryder Cup

1 Cups, 3 matches: 1 won, 2 lost, 0 halved, 1 points. Foursomes 0-1-0, four-ball 0-1-0, singles 1-0-0.

  1. 1979 The Greenbrier (Greenbrier Course) USA · USA won 17–11 · 1-2-0, 1 point · automatic

Rivals

Beat him

Beaten in finals and playoffs

Ryder Cup partners

Ryder Cup opponents

Next in the chain: Lou Graham's rivals →

Moments

  1. 1978 PGA Championship Jerry Pate lipped out a four-foot par putt on the 72nd hole that would have won outright at Oakmont.
  2. 1978 PGA Championship 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.

Records and firsts

  1. 1978 PGA Championship largest final-round comeback · 7 (1978; 2022) (John Mahaffey; Justin Thomas)
  2. 1978 PGA Championship largest first-round deficit overcome · 8 (1978; 1989; 2011) (John Mahaffey; Payne Stewart; Keegan Bradley)

Results by championship

    Best day

    1978 PGA Championship

    Oakmont Country Club, Oakmont, Pennsylvania · 276 (-8) · won a playoff against Jerry Pate and Tom Watson (Mahaffey 4-3; Pate 4-4; Watson 4-4)

    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.

    Chosen by rule: his most recent major win. Year page: 1978.

    Career line, 1975–1979

    PGA Championship
    1978 PGA Championship: won
    U.S. Open
    1975 U.S. Open: runner-up to Lou Graham
    The Open
    1975 The Open: finished T10
    Ryder Cup
    1979 Ryder Cup (USA): 1-2-0
    197619781980

    4 results. Hover or tap a mark; click it for the year.

    • Major win
    • Runner-up
    • Top 10
    • Ryder Cup, USA

    John Mahaffey was born on May 9, 1948, in Kerrville, Texas, USA. Mahaffey won one major championship: the 1978 PGA Championship. Mahaffey played in 1 Ryder Cup for USA (1979), winning 1, losing 2 and halving 0 of 3 matches for 1 point.

    See John Mahaffey in our rooms: U.S. Open, The Open, Greatest Golfer by State and Every Ground.

    Cards you pull this visit stack here. Tap one to go back to it.

    The record

    Wins in the majors (1)

    1. 1978 PGA Championship Oakmont Country Club, Oakmont, Pennsylvania · 276 (-8) · won a playoff against Jerry Pate and Tom Watson (Mahaffey 4-3; Pate 4-4; Watson 4-4)

    Near misses

    Top-10 finishes are listed for The Open, the one championship with a full top 10 every year.

    1. 1975 U.S. Open Medinah C.C. · runner-up to Lou Graham · playoff: 18 holes, 71–73
    2. 1975 The Open Carnoustie Golf Links (Championship Course) · finished T10 · 284 (-4)

    U.S. Open top-10 finishes in his career: 2 (GNN U.S. Open room data).

    Ryder Cup

    Mahaffey played 1 Ryder Cups for USA: 3 matches, 1 won, 2 lost, 0 halved, 1 points (33.3% of those available). By format: foursomes 0-1-0, four-ball 0-1-0, singles 1-0-0 (won-lost-halved).

    1. 1979 The Greenbrier (Greenbrier Course) USA · USA won 17–11 · 1-2-0, 1 point · automatic

    Partners, with matches played together: Hale Irwin (1), Lee Elder (1).

    Records and firsts

    Rows from our record tables that name this player, worded as the tables word them.

    1. 1978 PGA Championship largest final-round comeback · 7 (1978; 2022) (John Mahaffey; Justin Thomas)
    2. 1978 PGA Championship largest first-round deficit overcome · 8 (1978; 1989; 2011) (John Mahaffey; Payne Stewart; Keegan Bradley)

    Sources

    Every fact on this page comes from Golf Network News data sets compiled in October 2026 (Masters, PGA Championship, The Open, U.S. Women's Open, Ryder Cup, PGA Tour 2024–2026, major host sites, Champions Dinner menus, and the U.S. Open and state rooms). These are the sources those rows cite.

    1. where2golf
    2. Golf Compendium PGA Tour career wins
    3. Golf Compendium winners list
    4. WP: List of American Ryder Cup golfers
    5. Golf Compendium 1978
    6. PGA of America 2012 media guide
    7. The Golf News Net history table (2026)
    8. Today's Golfer purse history
    9. PGA of America 1978 leaderboard
    10. Golf Digest Middle East prize-money history
    11. Golf Compendium playoff results
    12. The Golf News Net biggest comeback
    13. Golf Compendium biggest comebacks
    14. PGA of America 2013 media guide, p. 52
    15. PGA of America 2012 media guide, p. 148
    16. R&A 1975
    17. GC: 1979 ryder cup
    18. Wikipedia: 1979 Ryder Cup
    19. PGA of America, five things from 2022
    20. PGA of America biggest comebacks