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]

1997 PGA Championship
Tournament information
DatesAugust 14–17, 1997
LocationMamaroneck, New York, U.S.
40°57′29″N 73°45′14″W / 40.958°N 73.754°W / 40.958; -73.754
Course(s)Winged Foot Golf Club,
West Course
Organized byPGA of America
Tour(s)PGA Tour
Statistics
Par70
Length6,987 yards (6,389 m)
Field150 players,
77 after cut[1]
Cut146 (+6)
Prize fund$2.6 million
Winner's share$470,000
Champion
United States Davis Love III
269 (−11)
Location map
Winged Foot GC is located in the United States
Winged Foot GC
Winged Foot GC
Location in the United States
Winged Foot GC is located in New York
Winged Foot GC
Winged Foot GC
Location in New York
← 1996
1998 →

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 peeked 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 later returned in 2006 and 2020. The tournament was televised by TBS Sports and CBS Sports.

Course layout

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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:

Round summaries

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First round

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Thursday, August 14, 1997

Place Player Score To par
T1   John Daly 66 −4
  Davis Love III
3   Robert Allenby 67 −3
T4   Paul Azinger 68 −2
  Tom Kite
  Justin Leonard
  Shigeki Maruyama
  Greg Norman
  Chris Perry
  Paul Stankowski
  Bob Tway

Second round

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Friday, August 15, 1997

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

Third round

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Saturday, August 16, 1997

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

Final round

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Sunday, August 17, 1997

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

Source:[6]

References

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  1. ^ "Tournament Info for: 1997 PGA Championship". PGA of America. Retrieved July 28, 2012.
  2. ^ Diaz, Jaime (August 25, 1997). "At long last, Love". Sports Illustrated. p. 28. Archived from the original on August 20, 2012.
  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.
  6. ^ "1997 PGA Championship". databasegolf.com. Retrieved July 28, 2012.
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