Completed Edition
1977 PGA Championship
Lanny Wadkins and Gene Littler finished the 1977 PGA Championship at Pebble Beach tied on 282. They went straight back onto the course for the championship’s first sudden-death playoff, with the title settled on the third extra hole.32
The Playoff Started That Evening
Littler had led from the first round. His 67, 69 and 70 totaled 206, six better than Wadkins’s 212. Littler closed with 76 while Wadkins shot 70, making up the entire difference. A birdie at eighteen brought Wadkins into the tie; Jack Nicklaus finished one stroke outside it.31
In a recollection preserved by Pebble Beach, Wadkins said he had started a beer while waiting to learn whether Littler would birdie the last and win. Then came the reminder that a playoff would begin immediately. The PGA had replaced its previous eighteen-hole playoff with sudden death that year.1
Both men parred the first extra hole and birdied the second. At the third they both missed the green. Wadkins got down in two for par; Littler made bogey. The championship was over that evening, without another full round on Monday.12
Sources for this story 3 references
Competition places
Venues
Recorded outcomes
Results
- Won by Lanny Wadkins282Decided by playoffPGA official Championship result
- Runner-up Gene Littler282Decided by playoffPGA official Championship finalist record