The 1990 PGA Championship was the 72nd PGA Championship, held August 9–12 at Shoal Creek Golf and Country Club in Birmingham, Alabama. Wayne Grady won his only major championship, three strokes ahead of runner-up Fred Couples.[2][3][4]

1990 PGA Championship
Tournament information
DatesAugust 9–12, 1990
LocationBirmingham, Alabama
33°26′17″N 86°36′43″W / 33.438°N 86.612°W / 33.438; -86.612
Course(s)Shoal Creek Golf
and Country Club
Organized byPGA of America
Tour(s)PGA Tour
Statistics
Par72
Length7,145 yards (6,533 m)
Field152 players, 74 after cut[1]
Cut151 (+7)
Prize fund$1.35 million
Winner's share$225,000
Champion
Australia Wayne Grady
282 (−6)
Location map
1990 PGA Championship is located in the United States
1990 PGA Championship
Location in the United States
1990 PGA Championship is located in Alabama
1990 PGA Championship
Location in Alabama
← 1989
1991 →

In the final round, Couples led by a stroke after a birdie at the 12th hole, but then had four consecutive bogeys, while Grady shot par for the rest of the round. Defending champion Payne Stewart was in the final pairing with Grady, but was two-over par on the front nine. On the par-5 11th hole, he put his third shot into the water and fell from contention with a triple bogey.[2][4]

Grady became the third Australian-born player to win the PGA Championship, preceded by Jim Ferrier in 1947 and David Graham in 1979. It was Grady's second and final win on the PGA Tour.[4]

Concerns about racial discrimination in the club's membership caused many sponsors to pull their network television advertising, including IBM. This was the final year that ABC carried the broadcast, replaced by CBS in 1991.[5]

Controversy

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Leading up to the tournament, Shoal Creek founder Hall Thompson doubled down on the club's policy of excluding African-Americans from membership. Various groups threatened to protest the event and sponsors pulled out, and the PGA considered moving the tournament away from Shoal Creek. In the end, a local African-American executive accepted an invitation to become an honorary member and the tournament was held as planned.[6]

Venue

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This was the second PGA Championship at Shoal Creek, which hosted six years earlier in 1984. Opened in 1977, the course was designed by Jack Nicklaus; it was the venue for the Regions Tradition, a senior major championship, from 2011 through 2015, and the U.S. Women's Open in 2018.

Course layout

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Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Out 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 In Total
Yards 410 417 516 456 190 540 448 173 437 3,587 421 516 451 195 379 405 215 530 446 3,558 7,145
Par 4 4 5 4 3 5 4 3 4 36 4 5 4 3 4 4 3 5 4 36 72
Source:[7][8]

Previous course lengths for major championships

Round summaries

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First round

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Thursday, August 9, 1990

Place Player Score To par
1   Bobby Wadkins 68 −4
T2   Fred Couples 69 −3
  Mark O'Meara
T4   Billy Mayfair 70 −2
  Scott Verplank
T6   Chip Beck 71 −1
  Nick Faldo
  Robert Gamez
  Mike Hulbert
  Steve Pate
  Mike Reid
  Tim Simpson
  Payne Stewart
  Brian Tennyson
  Stan Utley

Second round

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Friday, August 10, 1990

Place Player Score To par
1   Wayne Grady 72-67=139 −5
T2   Fred Couples 69-71=140 −4
  Larry Mize 72-68=140
T4   Chip Beck 71-70=141 −3
  Billy Mayfair 70-71=141
T6   Payne Stewart 71-72=143 −1
  Stan Utley 71-72=143
  Bobby Wadkins 68-75=143
  Fuzzy Zoeller 72-71=143
T10   Ben Crenshaw 74-70=144 E
  John Huston 72-72=144
  Davis Love III 72-72=144
  Loren Roberts 73-71=144
  Tim Simpson 71-73=144

Third round

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Saturday, August 11, 1990

Place Player Score To par
1   Wayne Grady 72-67-72=211 −5
T2   Fred Couples 69-71-73=213 −3
  Payne Stewart 71-72-70=213
T4   Gil Morgan 77-72-65=214 −2
  Loren Roberts 73-71-70=214
T6   Billy Mayfair 70-71-75=216 E
  Larry Mize 72-68-76=216
8   Steve Pate 71-75-71=217 +1
9   Bill Britton 72-74-72=218 +2
T10   Chip Beck 71-70-78=219 +3
  Bob Boyd 74-74-71=219
  David Frost 76-74-69=219
  Hale Irwin 77-72-70=219
  Tim Simpson 71-73-75=219
  Brian Tennyson 71-77-71=219
  Scott Verplank 70-76-73=219
  Ian Woosnam 74-75-70=219
  Fuzzy Zoeller 72-71-76=219

Final round

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Sunday, August 12, 1990

Place Player Score To par Money ($)
1   Wayne Grady 72-67-72-71=282 −6 225,000
2   Fred Couples 69-71-73-72=285 −3 135,000
3   Gil Morgan 77-72-65-72=286 −2 90,000
4   Bill Britton 72-74-72-71=289 +1 73,500
T5   Chip Beck 71-70-78-71=290 +2 51,667
  Billy Mayfair 70-71-75-74=290
  Loren Roberts 73-71-70-76=290
T8   Mark McNulty 74-72-75-71=292 +4 34,375
  Don Pooley 75-74-71-72=292
  Tim Simpson 71-73-75-73=292
  Payne Stewart 71-72-70-79=292
Source:[3][9]

Scorecard

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Hole  1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Par 4 4 5 4 3 5 4 3 4 4 5 4 3 4 4 3 5 4
  Grady −6 −5 −6 −7 −7 −7 −7 −7 −6 −7 −7 −6 −6 −6 −6 −6 −6 −6
  Couples −3 −3 −4 −4 −4 −5 −5 −5 −5 −5 −6 −7 −6 −5 −4 −3 −3 −3
  Morgan −3 −3 −3 −2 −2 −3 −4 −4 −4 −5 −5 −5 −3 −3 −3 −2 −2 −2
  Stewart −3 −2 −2 −2 −1 −2 −2 −2 −1 −1 +2 +2 +2 +3 +4 +4 +4 +4

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

Birdie Bogey Double bogey Triple bogey+
Source:[10]

References

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  1. ^ "Tournament Info for: 1990 PGA Championship". PGA.com. Retrieved July 28, 2012.
  2. ^ a b Garrity, John (August 20, 1990). "Grade A". Sports Illustrated. p. 20. Archived from the original on January 19, 2013.
  3. ^ a b Jenkins, Sally (August 13, 1990). "Grady staggers home in PGA with a victory". Eugene Register-Guard. (Washington Post). p. 1C.
  4. ^ a b c Parascenzo, Marino (August 13, 1990). "Aussie Grady wins PGA, sheds also-ran label". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 15.
  5. ^ Parascenzo, Marino (August 13, 1990). "Sponsors' exits may cost ABC $2 million". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 21.
  6. ^ Diaz, Jaime (August 1, 1990). "Shoal Creek Club Agrees To Begin Admitting Blacks". The New York Times. Retrieved September 14, 2012.
  7. ^ "Scoreboard, Golf: PGA Hole-by-hole". Tuscaloosa News. August 8, 1990. p. 2B.
  8. ^ "Scoreboard, Golf: PGA Par and Yardage". Tuscaloosa News. August 9, 1990. p. 2C.
  9. ^ "1990 PGA Championship". databasegolf.com. Retrieved August 17, 2013.
  10. ^ "PGA Leaderboard". Tuscaloosa News. (photo). August 13, 1990. p. 4B.
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