An Epic Duel for the Wanamaker
As the second major of the season gets underway, let us open the archives and relive one of the more dramatic championships in our history, when the PGA Championship made its lone stop at Pebble Beach Golf Links.
The year was 1977, at the time Pebble Beach had hosted one major championship that being the 1972 U.S. Open won by Jack Nicklaus who famously rattled the 17th flagstick with a 1-iron and later remarked that it was a shot he could likely never hit again. Having also won the 1961 U.S. Amateur, the Golden Bear entered the week with a Pebble Beach pedigree unlike any other.
Nicklaus cruised through the first three rounds, carding consecutive sub-par rounds to find himself in second place headed into championship Sunday with his sights set on the 54-hole leader, Gene Littler who grabbed the lead after round one and not relinquished it. Entering Sunday with a four-shot advantage, the week appeared to belong to Littler but over the course of the afternoon, as this place had a knack for, a dramatic chase for the trophy would unfold.
Littler had the victory in his sights turning in a methodical one-under opening nine but the remainder of the round proved to be anything but steady as he carded five bogeys over a six-hole stretch, before steadying the ship with three closing pars. Meanwhile, tied for the lead headed into the final two holes, his playing partner Nicklaus was unable to replicate his success on the 17th from five years earlier, carding a bogey that would ultimately leave him one shot off the pace. All the while, Lanny Wadkins who began the day six shots behind watched the leaders from the clubhouse after finishing his round with a closing birdie to post six-under par and the clubhouse lead.
When the dust settled, it was Littler and Wadkins who headed to a sudden death playoff, a format the championship moved away from in 2000 to a three-hole aggregate. And three holes is exactly how many the two would need to decide the championship.
A 20-foot par putt on the first by Wadkins extended the playoff to the par-5 second where both players tapped in for birdie. Then, on the 75th hole of the championship a five-footer for par clinched the come from behind win for Wadkins and produced one of the iconic photos in Pebble Beach’s history.
Since then, five U.S. Opens, more than any other course over that time span, have been contested here in addition to the first U.S. Women’s Open in 2023. With eight major championships on the schedule over the next 19 years plenty of drama lies ahead but to this date, the 1977 PGA Championship remains the only major to be decided in a playoff here, and one of the most memorable weeks in Pebble Beach’s storied history.