The high point of Lanny Wadkins’ hall of fame career came at the PGA Championship at Pebble Beach in 1977 when he clinched his first and only major title.
Lanny Wadkins went into the final round of the 1977 PGA Championship six shots off the lead. However, no one could better the 70 he posted on Sunday to take the clubhouse lead at Pebble Beach.
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Gene Littler had led after each of the first three rounds in California. However, five bogeys in a run of six holes on the back nine on the last day meant that he had his work cut out just to tie with Wadkins.
Ultimately, three pars to finish were enough to ensure that he joined Wadkins on six under par. With that, both men began to mentally prepare for an 18-hole playoff the following day.
The problem was that the PGA of America had made a change that year and decided to introduce a sudden death playoff that would be played on Sunday.
The 1977 PGA Championship became the first major championship to be decided in a sudden death major
It was particularly an issue for Wadkins. According to Pebble Beach’s own website, the American was halfway through a beer when he learned that he would have to go back out that evening for the first sudden death playoff in men’s major championship history.
Jack Nicklaus, meanwhile, reached the 17th tee tied for the lead. Nicklaus’ record in the majors in the 1970s was sensational. He had also won the PGA Championship four times by that stage in his career.
However, Nicklaus finished with a bogey and a par to fall one shot short of joining Littler and Wadkins.
Wadkins got up and down on the third additional hole to seal his victory. It turns out that his win also earned him an automatic spot on that year’s Ryder Cup team.
He won all three of his matches at Royal Lytham & St Annes as Team USA won 12.5-7.5. It would be the final time the US did not face Europe in the event.
Tom Watson finished inside the top 10 despite borrowing a set of irons before his first round
There was some controversy leading into the 1977 PGA Championship.
A number of players learned that their irons were deemed to be non-conforming. In fact, Tom Watson found out that he would not be able to use his set in the hours before his first round.
Remarkably, Watson approached the putting green on Thursday asking if anyone had any set that he could use. In the end, Roger Maltbie provided him with a spare set.
If there was any doubt over Watson’s ability – he had already won The Masters and The Open Championship in 1977 – he put that to bed with an incredible performance across the week.
He was tied for second after a 68 in the first round. Maltbie was two shots further back in a tie for eighth.
Watson – who had already won at Pebble Beach earlier in the year – would not drop out of the top 10 all week and finished tied for sixth.
Cruelly, Watson never completed the Career Grand Slam with the PGA Championship proving to be the only major he would fail to win.
He must have wondered for some time what would have happened had he been able to use his own clubs that week.
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