1987 PGA Championship Highlight Film

1987 PGA Championship Highlight Film

1980 oill Jack Nicholas made PGA history when he captured his fifth PGA Crown tying Walder Hagen’s 53 yearold record 1981 Atlanta Athletic Club Larry Nelson won his first major championship in his own backyard with a rock solid finish down the stretch 1984 sh Creek Lee trino won a shootout with Gary Player and Lanny Watkins to capture his second PGA title [Music] 1986 in veress Bob TW ignited the galy and his career with a bunker shot heard round the [Applause] world 1987 the stars came back to the PGA Championship a championship which came home to the PGA National Golf Club in Palm Beach Gardens Florida a 1987 professional golfers association [Music] Championship picturesque PGA National Golf Club in Palm Beach Gardens Florida the site of the 1987 PGA Championship a championship that was captured not only on film but in the hearts of all involved in 1987 the PGA was conducted in the warm first week of August and the presence of the South Florida sun was felt throughout the championship but the the sun was not the only warming Factor the home of the professional golfers association of America is at the PGA National Golf Club the warmth and friendliness of hosting a party in your own backyard was evident all week of course when your guests are the world’s best golfers and the occasion is the 69th PGA Championship you know the outcome will be a success the PGA Championship is a unique event it’s a golf tournament run by golf Professionals for golf professional but the benefactor always seems to be the fans the fans of the West Palm Beach area were ready for the players and the championship anticipation for the week’s events were high because the participants in the PGA are part of golf’s Elite the elite of a game that has much to offer to the players and to the fans a tradition at the PGA is the annual pass Champions Clinic where the fans and players gather on Wednesday to begin the week’s event yall go to the range and men will pick out of Dyers the first shot will be a driver just the opposite all the pros start off with their short shots and like I got a sandwich just a few shots to get loosened up to work on your Tempo a little bit just to get your arms loosened up there’s a little shank there in case you want to know all you want to do is shift enough weight so that you can pick this foot up okay it’s not a real big move all you want to do is swing back real good back Swing Swing forward enough so you can pick your right foot up the past champions demonstrated their ability while sharing with the enthusiastic fans their secrets of the game as round one approached it was still unresolved if another chair would be added or would one of these Champions add another title how about that huh as the sun rose over PGA National Thursday everyone was preparing for the start of the competition good morning ladies and gentlemen welcome to this the 69th PGA Championship the here morning Serenity was shattered as the biggest names in golf Ted off play began from the first and 10th T’s in anticipation of the thunderstorms that never came some former PGA Champions were off early 1984 champ yubert green and 1977 Champion Lanny Watkins but the big story of the morning was the group representing the last three decades of golf 37-year-old Tom Watson has been PGA Player of the Year six times but the PGA Championship has eluded him at 47 Jack was trying to add another to his 20 major championship titles and 57-year-old Arnold Palmer the King has attained nearly everything golf has to offer except the PGA Championship the Legends were off with thousands in their weight anxiously waiting to see what history would be written both Jack and Arie posted respectable scores but only Tom Watson would finish among the leaders at 200 under [Music] those leaders included Lanny Watkins also at 200 David Edwards started on 10 and posted three birdies coming in to finish with a 3 under 68 Germany’s Bernard lard despite finishing with two Bogies still posted a competitive two under adding an additional foreign flavor to the championship was Tommy Nakajima who gained entry through the Sony world golf rankings a computer-based system that rates the relative performance of the world’s top 200 [Music] [Applause] golfers Larry Nelson the 1981 PGA Champion put himself in position for an encore performance with a string of birdies on the front side but later that morning all eyes turned to winless veteran Bobby Watkins Watkins after a strong blast of the home hole carded the lowest score among the early finishers his four under 68 would stand on top of the leaderboard throughout the afternoon this morning the playing conditions were were really perfect the wind didn’t picked up to the last my last three or four holes and basically it really kind of helped me on 16 and 18 so that was uh it was a good break for me not everyone found a break when the afternoon winds further dried out the already hard greens buddy Gardner was in good shape at 200 until a triple bogey at 16 shattered his hopes for a share of the early [Music] lead while Bobby Watkins was the hero of a morning that saw 15 players under par Raymond Floyd was the only player who could better par in the afternoon coming to 18 Raymond knew what had to be done he was the only player beating the increasingly difficult afternoon course his wedge was on Target and his score was among the [Music] leaders well I feel confident now after coming out and playing a good round and uh I’ve certainly put myself in a capable position uh there’s still a whole lot of golf to be played uh so I mean the first laps done and I and I fared well and I’m looking now forward to going back tomorrow the leader board was complete for Thursday’s first round three pass Champions were within two shots of the lead one of whom was chasing his kid brother from College Park Maryland Fred bunk but at the PGA Championship a club professional like Fred Funk has the opportunity to join the ranks of the world’s best players a three underpar 69 gave the University of Maryland golf coach the chance to surround himself with the top names in the game a position all Club professionals dream about it’s a great thrill for me as a club professional to be able to participate in so prestigious event as the PGA Championship and I would sincerely like to see some Club professional win it Mike S philippo as a representative of all all PGA professionals working at their local clubs my responsibilities are to run the golf program here at the club that includes various uh duties ranging from giving the instruction teaching people how to play the game uh running the tournament program that we have here maintaining the Pro Shop uh selling the equipment and uh supplying the all the golf apparel for the members here at the club the chance for Club professionals to compete at the PGA Championship comes with hard work and dedication I qualified through the national Club professional championship in uh California last fall we play the club professionals from throughout the country competed in their national championship and the top 40 were fortunate enough to qualify to play in this year’s PGA Championship Club professional Mike San Filippo is an unfamiliar name to golf fans but he had as much fun as any competitor at PGA National which is what the PGA Championship is all about a championship run by Professionals for professionals is the motto of the brain trust that ensures the success of all PGA championships located on the grounds of this year’s Host Club the headquarters of the PGA of America is filled with trophies and artifacts that reflect golf’s Rich history the PGA was established in 1916 to elevate standards of the golf profession and to create a champion ship for its members the association is governed by a board of directors made up of full-time golf professionals a staff of more than 70 men and women carry out the day-to-day business of serving its 15,000 members and apprentices who represent golf in America the world’s largest Sports organization the PGA recognizes excellence and the winners of the PGA Championship are honored as men who have proven their [Music] skills one of those past champions Ray Floyd was staying cool in the Florida heat he was conserving his energy to generate some Firepower of his own starting on the backside Raymond came to the par 317th even for the day his t- shot to two feet ignited the aggressiveness in Raymond Floyd Ray continued to keep his drives in the Short Grass avoiding the thick rough it enabled him to notch four birdies on the [Music] day ladies and gentlemen Raymond Floyd’s just completed the first two rounds of this championship at 400 par my attitude’s good I know it’s going to be tough uh I’ve got to beat the golf course I’ve got to beat the the weather I’ve got to beat the elements and I’ve got to beat 149 other people one of those people was Tim Simpson two overpar after six holes it was time to change directions he went five under par over the last five holes to keep his hopes alive this is going to be the kind of tournament I was telling some of the PGA officials uh this morning where a guy could be six or seven shots back the last day and win this tournament because you’re going to see some backing up coming down the stretch Sunday there was no backing up for Lanny Watkins he started the day at two under and looking up at brother Bobby [Music] but as the second round progressed Lany used a hot blade to move ahead of his sibling and into a tie for the lead with longtime friend Raymond Floyd PGA has been a good tourament for me in fact the last two majors that Raymond’s won I’ve been second to him so I think it’s time to reverse that Trend a trend that semi by Aeros reversed was making bogus his Fierce competitive nature brought about an opportunity to make up some shots [Applause] [Music] four birdies on the backside move sevy into a tie for second with Tim Simpson one behind the leaders Bobby Watkins benefited from playing his first round Thursday morning his momentum continued into the second round but the course again played tougher in the afternoon as the greens dried and became bumpy Thursday’s early starters were unable to increase their advantage on Friday afternoon Jeff sluman the runner up at the 87 TPC proved that that showing in Jacksonville was no [Music] fluk Jeff found himself just one shot off the pace heading into the weekend the name Watkins was still a top the leaderboard but now it was Lanny deadlock with Raymond Floyd for top honors [Music] two rounds were complete and the field was cut to 70 and tie a higher than normal score of 151 gave New Life to some who expected an early departure 151 one of the players Surviving the Cut was Arnold pler Arie playing in his 33rd PGA Championship would have his army stationed at PGA National for two more days Club professional Mike Sam philippo would have to wait for next year as he finished above the number but seven Club Pros were able to continue including Jim Woodward who would capture low honors for Club professionals this year while the residents of PGA National were waking up Saturday morning the golf course was already being groomed for another spectacular day as is the case every day the grounds crew was on site early keeping the champions course in Champion [Music] conditioning them up today pain little bit about the same amount to bring it up little bit [Music] with all the preparations for the third round taken care of it was time for those watching the day’s festivities to enter and find the best spot for viewing the action action highlighted by Saturday’s leaders making birdies right out of the shoe Lanny Watkins tied with Ray Floyd at 4 under made the first move of the day his birdie at first hole propelled him into sole possession of the lead and must have made enough noise to distract seevi Bastas at number two missing the Fairway and trying to play From the unforgiving Rough led sevie to a bogey five but a bogy would not stop the charge of The Dashing Spaniard he provided the gallery with an example of why a slight fter would only fuel the fire of his will to win his fifth major [Applause] championship Lanny who was also looking to add another major to his credits went straight for the pin as well the charging Watkins was now six under after playing three and he was two shots ahead of the field but while Lanny seemed to be separating himself from the pack seevi almost turned his burning desire into an inferno with his t-shot at the fourth but the fourth hole fought back sevi missed the Putt and when Lanny came to the fourth a moment later he made bogy unable to get it up and down his lead was now one shot Floyd who began the day tied with Lanny challenged the pin placement at the par 4 f a birdie three coupled with lanny’s second straight bogey gave Floyd top billing and the day’s first lead change sevy continued his charge at the 492 yd par 56 reaching the green and two he made birdie and remained only one shot off the pace Floyd found trouble at number seven trying to negotiate a delicate chip out of the tenacious rough the result was a double bogy five that gave the championship its third leader of the day sevie bosteros sevie turned to the backside in search of more birdies the par 41th was quite generous as his lead grew to two but just ahead were two men on the Move native flid and Mark McCumber used his downhome knowledge to tame the harsh Bermuda greens da weying was making the most spectacular move of the day a birdie at the par 31 15 brought him to 5 under one behind sevy meanwhile sevie was paying the price for finding the rough [Music] again a bogey five at the par 412 dropped sevy into a tie for the lead with da no one could overcome the Champions Course with any consistency at 16 da maintained a share of the lead by holding a slick 5-ft par putt the up and down brought a sigh of relief relief was on sevy’s mind while he looked for his t- shot at the 15 finding the ball in the hazard he had to explode from the deep rough and he was fortunate to get it on the green SEI short game had been put to the test he proved once again his ability to find light in the darkest of moments at 18 DA’s birdie would not fall but he finished the day tied for the lead with a course record 67 immediately his sights were set on Sunday you know I’m going to try to put that front nine as good as I can play and uh and I’m trying I’d love to get to to a couple shot lead I’d love to whatever but I’m that’s not going to change much I don’t think you can you can attack this golf course I I think you just have to play it seevi was trying to execute DA’s philosophy but at 16 his t- shot was too far into the hazard to save this time I think right here in this corner I think I don’t know what do you think the problem is every time I was hitting an item from the te I was missing the Fairway so like the first and the second hle and uh and I missed the uh 16 also so I I missed four fway three of them with an item so maybe it’s not good to play an item from the team Mark McCumber hit a perfect Drive at 18 I felt it was kind of one of those fun situations I had a you know it’s not every day you get a chance to do this and uh I’m playing good and I felt like the odds were in my favor and I really hit a very good three-wood right at the hole right on the button to the front of the green Mark chose not to just play the course his nature was to attack the par five his birdie completed a third round 69 and tied him with DA for the lead I will be very excited tomorrow but it’s a great thing to feel I’d rather be excited tomorrow than if sh today and going off at 10 tomorrow nobody really cares but my family it’s going to be a lot of fun tomorrow after the double bogey at 16 sevy regrouped at the par 31 17th with some spectaculars of his own ad dece pushed him back to three under one behind the leaders reaching for a birdie of the home hole was his next challenge but sev’s courage and going for the green and two proved to be fool hearty as he lost his chance for a share of the third round lead it’s part of the game uh you know it happens to everybody and happens to me on the last three holes and uh hopefully I make all my mistakes today instead of tomorrow and that will be nice Raymond Floyd also had his share of mistakes Saturday but found some consolation at the 17 a birdie 2 brought an upward move that continued at 18 he was playing for a second PGA title and for a chance to win back the Ryder Cup in 87 I’ve put myself where Destiny in my own hands and I have control of that and I certainly want to make this rder Cup team so I would hope that I can go out and and give a representative round tomorrow it’s certainly something that I’m looking forward to moving day was complete and the leader board was filled with familiar names trying to capture the championship and the automatic spot on the Ryder Cup team there was one day and a lot of work left well you do have to treat it like a work week but uh the reality is it’s a PGA and the reality it’s it’s a major championship uh otherwise all you folks wouldn’t be here the media was out in full force cameras were in the air and on the ground The Press Room was active all week as writers passed on the words of their own and those that Inspire them completing the scene with the photographers working as long and hard as the golfers to capture the action Professionals of their trade with fine to Nikon equipment ever present to capture the excitement in their viewfinder and pass it on to the eyes of the [Music] world as the final round began all were aware of yesterday’s headlines but it was unknown who would be on top of the page when the day was complete it’s kind of a test of survival with today the way the course played in the wind it was an emotional roller coaster today which I expected to me what would golf is is all about is is decisions for those who were in contention on Sunday surviving was the first order of the day it was a day to try and take charge of the course instead of letting the course get control Larry Nelson seemed to be surviving early and he was paying attention to the rest of the field I knew that sevy wasn’t playing very well I knew that Raymond wasn’t playing very well but I knew that da was playing decent and Mark was playing decent for seevi and Raymond Sunday at the PGA was an unpleasant experience Ray Floyd had Bogies on the first two holes and combined with a double bogey at seven he would struggle home with an 80 for sevy it looked as though he was going to reignite he started the day two shots off the pace he cut his deficit in half with a birdie at one at the third hole sevie found that all his troubles were not behind him he hit his fourth shot Into the Bunker and from there ended up in the water as he had the previous day 7 continued to drown his chances this time with a triple bogey eight he went down for the last time Lal so got two Club L the wind shifted directions from the previous three days changing the characteristics of the golf course and of course the rough was one day thicker than that of the previous day as it has all week the course played very hard today uh the wind blew a little harder and uh more importantly the wind swirled a lot I mean you’re playing a golf course for three rounds when the BL wind is blowing consistently from One Direction and you walk out on Sunday and it’s 180° opposite when we teed off than what it was the first three days it makes it a little more difficult combining the wind with the already tight Fairways it was hard enough to find your ball let alone play it out of the thick rough golfers were left searching for the answer to the weekl long question of how to deal with the rough the players were left asking for sympathy from the course and their ball [Music] those who were able to handle or even survive the devastating rough were few and far between Bobby Watkins was another victim of PGA National on Sunday he shot a four overp par 40 in the front nine and was unable to recover Mark McCumber found an early Groove he got to five under for the tournament to take the lead after five holes two shots in front of Lanny Watkins who was having a roller coaster round through five holes a double bogey at two was offset by birdies at three and [Applause] four Larry Nelson had also picked up a stroke to par on the day the P Champion was now only two shots behind and on the edge of catching McCumber but McCumber lead was quickly swallowed up by the course five over and four holes he was even par after nine [Music] the movement on the leader board was in reverse the leaders were backing up all but Larry Nelson that is his steady play on the front nine resulted in the only outward subpar round da was at the 10th and he caught the course off guard it yielded an uncharacteristic friendly [Music] [Applause] bounce he was able to capitalize on his good fortune and gain the [Applause] lead at 11 Lanny Watkins drilled a solid birdie putt to go two under playing one hole behind Lanny was Mark McCumber trying to recover from his downslide on the front nine following a birdie at 11 he engineered a two- shot swing with his playing partner da wyvern McCumber made birdie a 12 and regained a tie with Nelson and Watkins da lost his top spot and began a tough bogey streak he would bogey 12 13 and 14 and then it was too late for him to recover it was a day of of being a little bit uh uh you know a foot a few inches away because I after not missing the Fairway yesterday I think I must have had in The Fringe rough uh multiple times and you just can’t make birdies you just can’t play all that rough and uh I beat it around the best I I could and U and that’s what you have to go away from uh when you play around like this here I shot 76 if I go away thinking well I shot 76 I had a chance to win I lost by one uh but I played pretty well I I hit a lot of good shots golf’s a game of inches it’s it’s hard to take emotionally when that happens mcumber was now at 14 he made bogey on the previous hole and stood inches away from the green but his chip was in the perfect length he moved back to two under again tied for the lead Lanny playing just in front of Mark knew from the Roar that he had to make something happen his six iron to the 157 yd par three again exemplified the game of inches his shot avoided the rough and snuggled to birdie range but Lanny to had backed up previously he double bogey the 12 and was running out of time at the 15th he was able to convert the birdie that moved him to one under he was tied with Nelson both one shot behind McCumber McCumber roller coaster ride continued aogi at 15 dropped him back to one under and into a three-way tie for first place with McCumber Nelson and Watkins Vine for the lead and getting all of the gallery’s attention Scott H emerged from the pack he started the day seven shots back with 15 players in front of him on Sunday he hit every Fairway and every Green but he couldn’t get the putts to fall coming in at 18 he was one under for the tournament and somehow you knew two under should be good enough to win and even a par would certainly give him the upper hand as scores were going only one way up he finished a remarkable round at 69 even par for the tournament but he failed in his attempt to hijack the PGA Championship in the final round tragically hope free puted the [Music] 18th the three leaders were spread over the last three groups furthest along was Larry Nelson who had left himself a tough six-footer for par at 16 the incredible movement of the leaders made it difficult for Nelson to know exactly where he stood but he knew a bogey could only hurt him but at 17 he used a ball Mark as a guide found the line and regained the stroke he had left back at 16 where Lanny was playing his approach still tied for the lead his two iron missed the hazard but left him an impossible shot from the wiry rough I thought it was the buck hit the shots and went up there was just shorten the heavy stuff and played a miraculous pitch to about 18 in to save par who was I wouldn’t want to go back there with a whole bucket of balls and try to do that again ahead at the par 518th Nelson was finishing his round a 20ft birdie put was for so possession of first place but his ball sat on the edge of the cup Mr St steady finished at one under the leader in the clubhouse co-leaders Watkins and McCumber were still out on the course in the last group McCumber was unable to copy lanny’s amazing up and down he lost a crucial shot to Nelson and Watkins with a bogey at the 16 as Lanny played his third to the 18th he knew he needed birdie to finish ahead of Nelson a wedge to 25 ft gave Larry some breathing room and Lanny some goof to [Applause] complete naturally Lanny charged as birdie putt for the victory but in doing so he left himself in danger of three putting and not even tying Nelson for the lead when the par putut fell Lanny assured himself of a tie with Nelson the only player left with a chance to win was McCumber but he needed a birdie at 18 just a tie I wanted to get it the way that I felt was the best that I could get it I didn’t want to have to make a playoff if I wanted to have a chance to win on the last hole and if I didn’t have that I wanted to have a two- putt to tie that’s straight but it’s not long enough right direction wrong leg you better make birdie here you’re not kidding I better go on go on and do it then a good drive left Mark 252 yd away from the hole [Applause] here’s my thoughts I could have laid up and had a short iron to the green but I felt like I would have hated to lay up and hit a short iron 30 ft away in that swirling wind and not have a real good chance for birdie then I thought of hitting three-wood and I felt that the three-wood had no chance of getting to the green I could maybe get in the bunkers or left and I went at the green with the driver the lie was a little bit marginal but I felt like if I a at the bunkers I was going to block it back on line even when I first hit I thought it would be okay I didn’t think it was going to be in the water [Music] and from there uh you know that kind of took me out of it even though to be honestly I said to my cad on my last shot if I can hold this for in the playoff and it must have come awfully [Music] close there were two survivors after 72 holes the only players who could better par were face to face in a playoff the attention moved to the 10th T there would not be a new face of a champion it was two past champions and two friends of different traits Lanny Watkins and Larry Nelson would go head-to-head to decide the 1987 PGA Championship Lanny won the coin toss to tea off first and he characteristically wasted no time the playoff had begun a dramatic test of strategy for both players I hit forward off the T on 10 right down the middle of the Fairway hit a good shot on this type of golf course I almost think you’re an advantage to hit first if you hit a good shot U and the 10th hole is so important to hit it in the Fairway and Lanny Drew uh number one so he at first hit it right down the middle of the Fairway as he usually does and now it’s my turn and hit my three-wood I hit my three-wood a little bit further than Lanny did um down the left side of Fairway and he at first because he was away he had first again probably if I had do over again I hit nine iron instead of an eight iron I tried a little eight iron and I hit it and the wind never moved it I hit it right where I was looking which is just about 15 ft right of the hole the wind off the right and it just didn’t touch it might have been because when I hit a smooth one it stay below the wind and um Larry did just the opposite I thought maybe he was in the bunker I couldn’t tell and the bunker has been very easy to play out of all week so I knew that you know I had to still had to hit the green and I hit a pretty good shot but apparently the wind took it a little more than I thought and were a little bit more downwind than I thought it was you couldn’t hardly judge it from down in the Fairway my ball took one hop at the back of the green went over through the green and then uh he chipped ball wound up in the high rough about pin High uh and know played a pretty good pitch shot to about 6 feet his was probably a little easier than mine because he was chipping it uphill into the grain a little bit and I was chipping it downhill down grain and I hit mine a little further past the hole than he did so it was his Advantage again and then I made that P which is made be one of the greatest putts in my career U that short little putt there I was just trying to hit a solid putt at the right Edge and I put it on the top side and uh might have pushed a little bit I’m extremely happy because I feel like that U I won one of the greatest championships on one of the most difficult golf courses against one of the hardest fields that uh that I can imagine well Larry’s you know quiet and very unassuming but uh he’s a hell of a competitor and you know he’s a kind ofy that when he gets in the hunt he’s awfully hard to shake uh he mainly because he is such a good ball Striker when his game is on you know he just drives it in Fairway after Fairway and hits every iron shot right at the flag I mean he’s when his game is on he’s as good iron player as I’ve ever seen Larry’s name was on top of the final standings and imprinted on the one maker trophy for a second time [Music] Larry Nelson’s first PGA Championship victory was in his own backyard his second was at the home of the professional golfers Association of America [Music] [Applause] [Music] la [Music]