1981 PGA Championship
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The 1981 PGA Championship was the 63rd PGA Championship, held August 6–9 at Atlanta Athletic Club in Duluth, Georgia, a suburb northeast of Atlanta. Larry Nelson won the first of his three major titles, four strokes ahead of runner-up Fuzzy Zoeller.
Lee Trevino, 1974 champion, did not sign his scorecard after an opening round 74 and was disqualified after turning himself in. Bob Murphy led after each of the first two rounds, but was 8-over on the weekend and finished ten strokes back in 18th place. After a second consecutive 66 on Saturday, Nelson held the 54-hole lead, four strokes ahead of Zoeller
Tom Watson was the PGA Tour money list leader in August 1981, but missed the cut by a stroke.
It was the second major held at the Highlands Course, which hosted the U.S. Open in 1976. The PGA Championship returned in 2001 and 2011.
Course layout
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yards | 456 | 458 | 469 | 210 | 546 | 445 | 185 | 422 | 419 | 3,610 | 374 | 470 | 510 | 390 | 415 | 215 | 410 | 213 | 463 | 3,460 | 7,070 |
| Par | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 35 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 35 | 70 |
Round summaries
First round
Thursday, August 6, 1981
Source:
Second round
Friday, August 7, 1981
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States Bob Murphy | 66-69=135 | −5 |
| T2 | United States Bob Eastwood | 67-69=136 | −4 |
| United States Larry Nelson | 70-66=136 | ||
| United States Dan Pohl | 69-67=136 | ||
| 5 | United States Andy North | 69-68=137 | −3 |
| T6 | United States Vance Heafner | 68-70=138 | −2 |
| United States Tom Kite | 71-67=138 | ||
| United States Fuzzy Zoeller | 70-68=138 | ||
| T9 | United States Gil Morgan | 70-69=139 | −1 |
| United States Jack Nicklaus | 71-68=139 | ||
| United States Jerry Pate | 71-68=139 |
Source:
Third round
Saturday, August 8, 1981
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States Larry Nelson | 70-66-66=202 | −8 |
| 2 | United States Fuzzy Zoeller | 70-68-68=206 | −4 |
| T3 | United States Tom Kite | 71-67-69=207 | −3 |
| United States Andy North | 69-68-70=207 | ||
| T5 | United States Bob Eastwood | 67-69-72=208 | −2 |
| United States Vance Heafner | 68-70-70=208 | ||
| United States Bob Murphy | 66-69-73=208 | ||
| Australia Greg Norman | 73-67-68=208 | ||
| T9 | Japan Isao Aoki | 75-68-66=209 | −1 |
| United States Jerry Pate | 71-68-70=209 | ||
| United States Dan Pohl | 69-67-73=209 |
Source:
Final round
Sunday, August 9, 1981
| Place | Player | Score | To par | Money ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States Larry Nelson | 70-66-66-71=273 | −7 | 60,000 |
| 2 | United States Fuzzy Zoeller | 70-68-68-71=277 | −3 | 40,000 |
| 3 | United States Dan Pohl | 69-67-73-69=278 | −2 | 25,000 |
| T4 | Japan Isao Aoki | 75-68-66-70=279 | −1 | 13,146 |
| United States Keith Fergus | 71-71-69-68=279 | |||
| United States Bob Gilder | 74-69-70-66=279 | |||
| United States Tom Kite | 71-67-69-72=279 | |||
| United States Bruce Lietzke | 70-70-71-68=279 | |||
| United States Jack Nicklaus | 71-68-71-69=279 | |||
| Australia Greg Norman | 73-67-68-71=279 |
Source:
External links
- – 1981 PGA Championship