1997 PGA Championship

1997 PGA Championship
Tournament information
Dates	August 14–17, 1997
Location	Mamaroneck, New York
Course(s)	Winged Foot Golf Club,; West Course
Organized by	PGA of America
Tour(s)	PGA Tour
Statistics
Par	70
Length	6,987 yards (6,389 m)
Field	150 players, 77 after cut
Cut	146 (+6)
Prize fund	$2.6 million
Winner's share	$470,000
Champion
	Davis Love III
	269 (−11)
	← 1996 1998 →

Winged Foot Golf Club

Location in the United States

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]

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

Hole	Name	Yards	Par	Hole	Name	Yards	Par
1	Genesis	446	4	10	Pulpit	190	3
2	Elm	411	4	11	Billows	396	4
3	Pinnacle	216	3	12	Cape	540	5
4	Sound View	460	4	13	White Mule	212	3
5	Long Lane	515	5	14	Shamrock	432	4
6	El	324	4	15	Pyramid	423	4
7	Babe-in-the-Woods	161	3	16	Hells Bells	457	4
8	Arena	442	4	17	Well-Well	449	4
9	Meadow	467	4	18	Revelations	448	4
Out		3,442	35	In		3,545	35
Source:^[5]				Total		6,987	70

Lengths of the course for previous majors:

1984 U.S. Open: 6,930 yards (6,340 m), par 70
1974 U.S. Open: 6,961 yards (6,365 m), par 70
1959 U.S. Open: 6,873 yards (6,285 m), par 70
1929 U.S. Open: 6,786 yards (6,205 m), par 72

Round summaries[]

First round[]

Thursday, August 14, 1997

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
T1	John Daly	United States	66	−4
T1	Davis Love III	United States	66	−4
3	Robert Allenby	Australia	67	−3
T4	Paul Azinger	United States	68	−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

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
1	Lee Janzen	United States	69-67=136	−4
2	Davis Love III	United States	66-71=137	−3
T3	Phil Blackmar	United States	70-68=138	−2
	Fred Couples	United States	71-67=138
	Justin Leonard	United States	68-70=138
	Jeff Maggert	United States	69-69=138
	Shigeki Maruyama	Japan	68-70=138
	Phil Mickelson	United States	69-69=138
	Costantino Rocca	Italy	69-69=138
T10	John Daly	United States	66-73=139	−1
	Greg Norman	Australia	68-71=139
	Chris Perry	United States	68-71=139
	Vijay Singh	Fiji	73-66=139
	Paul Stankowski	United States	68-71=139

Third round[]

Saturday, August 16, 1997

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
T1	Justin Leonard	United States	68-70-65=203	−7
T1	Davis Love III	United States	66-71-66=203	−7
T3	Lee Janzen	United States	69-67-74=210	E
T3	Tom Kite	United States	68-71-71=210	E
T5	Fred Couples	United States	71-67-73=211	+1
	David Duval	United States	70-70-71=211
	Scott Hoch	United States	71-72-68=211
	Jeff Maggert	United States	69-69-73=211
	Phil Mickelson	United States	69-69-73=211
	Tiger Woods	United States	70-70-71=211

Final round[]

Sunday, August 17, 1997

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par	Money ($)
1	Davis Love III	United States	66-71-66-66=269	−11	470,000
2	Justin Leonard	United States	68-70-65-71=274	−6	280,000
3	Jeff Maggert	United States	69-69-73-65=276	−4	175,000
4	Lee Janzen	United States	69-67-74-69=279	−1	125,000
5	Tom Kite	United States	68-71-71-70=280	E	105,000
T6	Phil Blackmar	United States	70-68-74-69=281	+1	85,000
	Jim Furyk	United States	69-72-72-68=281
	Scott Hoch	United States	71-72-68-70=281
9	Tom Byrum	United States	69-73-70-70=282	+2	70,000
T10	Tom Lehman	United States	69-72-72-70=283	+3	60,000
	Scott McCarron	United States	74-71-67-71=283
	Joey Sindelar	United States	72-71-71-69=283

Source:^[6]

References[]

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

External links[]

Preceded by 1997 Open Championship	Major Championships	Succeeded by 1998 Masters

Coordinates: 40°57′29″N 73°45′14″W�� / 40.958°N 73.754°W / 40.958; -73.754

[pgamedia97-1] "Tournament Info for: 1997 PGA Championship". PGA of America. Retrieved July 28, 2012.

[siag97-2] Diaz, Jaime (August 25, 1997). "At long last, Love". Sports Illustrated. p. 28.

[ppg97pgard4-3] 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.

[97pgadb-6] "1997 PGA Championship". databasegolf.com. Retrieved July 28, 2012.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

v t PGA Championships
1916 1917 1918 1919
1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939
1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949
1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
2020 2021