Nothing Compares to Major Playoff Pressure

Sudden-death. Eighteen holes. Three holes. Four holes. Regardless of the format, nothing compares to the crushing pressure of having to survive a playoff to win a major championship.

Roger Graves, PGA Championship Journal

If you own a doctorate degree in PGA Championship trivia, you undoubtedly recognize what golden greats of yesteryear Gene Sarazen, Paul Runyan, Denny Shute, Henry Picard and Vic Ghezzi have in common with Vijay Singh, Tiger Woods, Mark Brooks, Steve Elkington, Paul Azinger, Larry Nelson, David Graham, John Mahaffey and Lanny Wadkins. And don't state the obvious -- that all are PGA Championship winners and have their names inscribed on the Wanamaker Trophy.

If you need a hint, ring the buzzer and identify the historical PGA Championship thread that stitches together Bob May, Kenny Perry, Colin Montgomerie, Greg Norman, Ben Crenshaw, Jerry Pate, Tom Watson, Gene Littler, Chris DiMarco and Justin Leonard. OK, those final two names gave it away, didn't they? As you undoubtedly surmised, that first group of golf's "major" marquee names not only won the PGA Championship, but did so in playoffs. They all worked overtime to win the Wanamaker Trophy.

And the second list of names? Those, perhaps forgotten with the passage of time, are PGA Championship contestants who tied for the Championship through 72 holes but were defeated in playoffs.

They are the PGA Championship's fallen runners-up.

For sheer drama and great golf theater, there is no substitute for a playoff, especially with the coveted Wanamaker Trophy and the game's fourth major championship of each calendar at stake.

The PGA Championship has provided the histrionic backdrop for 16 playoffs during its 86 previous passion plays. Five playoffs came during the PGA Championship's match-play era between 1916 and 1957, meaning the traditional 36-hole final match was extended to determine a Champion.

Match play was the format that delivered PGA Championships to the aforementioned Sarazen, Runyan, Shute, Picard and Ghezzi. But they had to play extra holes to emblazon their names on the coveted Wanamaker Trophy, with Picard and Ghezzi both beating Byron Nelson in overtime to annex the 1939 and 1941 PGA Championships, respectively.

When the PGA Championship adopted a stroke-play format in 1958, an 18-hole playoff was embraced to settle ties after 72 holes. Two such playoffs were necessary, with Jerry Barber (67) outlasting Don January (68) to win the 1961 PGA Championship, and January (69) avenging his playoff loss six years previous by defeating Don Massengale (71) in 1967 at Columbine Country Club in Denver, Colo.

Sudden-Death Format Adopted

The PGA of America Board of Directors replaced the 18-hole playoff with a sudden-death format in 1977, becoming the first of the four major championships to embrace the "sudden victory" philosophy (the Masters followed suit in 1979). Interestingly, the first year the new playoff format was ratified it was used immediately. Lanny Wadkins defeated Gene Littler on the third hole of sudden death at Pebble Beach Golf Links to annex the 1977 PGA Championship, only to find himself on the losing side of sudden death in 1987 when Larry Nelson beat Wadkins on the first playoff hole to win the 1987 PGA Championship at PGA National Golf Club in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

"I always thought sudden death was a good playoff system back when I was a player," says Wadkins, now a CBS golf analyst who handles color commentary on telecasts of the PGA Championship. "I've been on both sides of the sudden-death playoff fence and I can tell you it's a lot more fun to win than to lose.

"Sudden death was better than coming back the next day and playing 18 more holes. I mean, you have the crowd there and they're all excited, so why not determine a Champion right then? You lose that crowd enthusiasm and you can lose your rhythm as a player if you have to come back the next day."

That said, with the British Open switching from an 18-hole playoff to a same-day four-hole aggregate playoff system, The PGA voted to adopt a three-hole aggregate playoff in 2000. Tiger Woods and Bob May, whose junior golf records Woods had shattered while growing up in Southern California, initiated the new three-hole playoff format with one of the most electrical playoffs in major championship history in 2000. While both played masterfully down the stretch, Woods birdied the final two holes of regulation and birdied the first playoff hole (the 16th) to edge May by a single stroke at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky.

Woods also became the first player to secure back-to-back PGA Championships since Denny Shute in 1936-1937 and the first competitor since Ben Hogan in 1953 to win three major titles in one year.

Woods remains the only player to successfully defend his PGA Championship since the tournament moved to stroke play in 1958.

"Wow, that's got to be one of the best duels in major championships," noted Woods after his dramatic victory. "Granted, there have been some great ones, but I think this one goes up there. Every time I made a putt, Bob made a putt. And every time he made a putt, I was able to answer.

"That shows you how exciting a threehole playoff can be. When you're talking about a major championship, I don't think you should let one good shot or one good hole determine who wins. I like the three-hole playoff. It's just right."

Three-Hole Playoff's Popularity

The pressure-pounding theatrics of a three-hole playoff unfolded again last year when Vijay Singh birdied the first playoff hole (No. 10) and went on to outlast Justin Leonard and Chris DiMarco to win the 2004 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits.

"When you have two or three players tied after 72 holes in a major championship, they deserve three or four holes to break that tie," says Wadkins.

"From a television perspective, it's great because you're rewarding those viewers who have been watching all day with a final result rather than asking them to come back tomorrow to watch an 18- hole playoff."

Wadkins makes a good point. Two of the highest-rated PGA Championship telecasts were the 2000 three-hole playoff between Woods and May, and last year's three-man, three-hole aggregate shootout between Singh, Leonard and DiMarco that extended into prime time in the Eastern and Central time zones.

"For a major championship, I like the three- or four-hole playoff format," says Singh, the 2004 PGA Champion who birdied the first playoff hole and would have won his second PGA Championship more quickly had sudden death been the format at Whistling Straits.

"As long as there is plenty of daylight to play three or four holes, that is the fairest way. As a player, you might be mentally and physically tired after a long day, but it's still better to play three holes after you've played all week for the Championship than to possibly lose it with one bad swing. Three holes is much better."

Since the PGA Championship has embraced virtually every type of playoff system utilized in competitive golf during its 86-year run, the 16 "overtime" scenarios have produced a medley of magical, memorable moments. Here is a look back at more than eight decades of PGA Championship playoffs, beginning with the most recent:

2004: Vijay Singh defeats Justin Leonard and Chris DiMarco at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wis.

Singh, the fabulous Fijian who went on to become the PGA Player of the Year, fails to record a single birdie during a closing round of 76 to fall into a three-way playoff with Leonard and DiMarco at 8- under-par. But Singh birdies the first playoff hole, No. 10 at Whistling Straits, and routinely finishes par-par to best Leonard and DiMarco by one shot in the second three-hole aggregate playoff in PGA Championship history. The triumph is Singh's second PGA Championship and his third major title.

2000: Tiger Woods defeats Bob May at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky.

Hailed as one of the epic playoffs in major-championship history, a 24-year-old Woods must summon all of his considerable magic to finally tiptoe past 31-year-old Bob May, whose records Tiger shattered with aplomb while playing junior golf in Southern California.

Playing head-to-head throughout the closing 18 holes, Woods and May both authored bogey-less 31s on the back nine of regulation in a classic case of whateveryou- can-do-I-can-do-better golf. Woods had made it a goal to surpass May's mountain of junior records while growing up, but this was the first time the two Southern California legends had played alongside each other because of the seven-year age difference. May, whose only previous victory of note was the British Masters on the European Tour, popped in a pressure-packed 15-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole to finish a brilliant 66 and put Woods in a "must-make" situation. Woods answered with a five-foot birdie of his own and a final-round 67, which left the combatants deadlocked with a PGA Championship record of 18-under-par 270, enabling Woods to hold or share the scoring records in all four majors.

"Unbelievable back nine for both of us," marveled May. "Neither of us wanted to lose and we did everything possible to make sure we didn't. You won't see any better golf than that in a major championship."

The ensuing three-hole playoff was just as gripping. Like two champion thoroughbreds running for the roses down the stretch at nearby Churchill Downs, Woods and May matched each other almost shot for shot in the playoff.

On the first playoff hole, the par-4 16th at Valhalla, Woods rocketed a 7-iron approach from 196 yards that stopped 25 feet right of the hole. May's second shot from the rough came up 60 yards short of the flag in the right rough, but he nearly holed his third shot, the ball stopping six inches short for a tap-in par. Woods then curled his 25-foot birdie putt into the heart of the hole and saluted the feat with an emphatic finger point. More important, he led the three-hole aggregate playoff by one stroke.

Then, the 2000 PGA Championship playoff took on a Twilight Zone aura. On the 17th hole, the second playoff hole, Woods sailed his tee shot way right into the deep rough. May responded by planting his drive in the left rough, rolling through a bunker. May's second shot then landed in a greenside bunker, but Woods had to invent a shot to get his ball anywhere near the green on his second.

He punched an 8-iron from 108 yards that bounced off a cart path and rolled through the green. Woods then putted from off the green to six feet left of the hole. May's bunker shot, meantime, rolled to four feet. But with a Woods miss likely leaving the playoff squared, he holed his par-saving putt and May followed suit.

On the par-5 18th hole at Valhalla, the third and final playoff hole, Woods was again errant off the tee. He pulled his 3-wood tee ball left, the ball striking a sycamore tree and bouncing off a cart path and rolling backward. But May couldn't capitalize. He also hooked his tee shot left and hit his second shot through the fairway and into the right rough. Woods' second shot, a punch 6- iron, landed in the left rough and left him a 154-yard third shot to the green, which came up short and bounced into a bunker.

May managed to put his approach shot on the green about 40 feet from the flag and was seemingly in position to tie Woods and force additional playoff holes.

But Woods, a magician from the sand, blasted to within one foot and tapped in for his par. May then nearly holed his 40-foot birdie putt, with the bold attempt sliding just below the hole. When he tapped in for par, Woods had the one-stroke playoff victory. But he knew he had been in a battle.

"This has to be one of the all-time head-to-head duels," insisted Woods, who had destroyed the 2000 field in the U.S. Open (winning by 15 shots) and the British Open (winning by eight). "We never backed off from one another. Birdie for birdie, shot for shot, we were going right at each other. That's as good as it gets for 21 holes."

Said May: "It's definitely something I'll tell my grandchildren about in 20 years. If I had been able to win, it would have been a dream come true. I'll hold my head high because I played about the best I could. I held my own with the best player in the world. This is something I'll always remember."

THE SUDDEN-DEATH ERA

1996: Mark Brooks defeats Kenny Perry at Valhalla Golf Club

As is often the case, much of the drama surrounding Brooks' first major championship victory unfolded at the 72nd hole. Like they say, you can't win a playoff if you don't qualify for the playoff, and Brooks knew he needed a birdie at the final hole to earn an invitation to sudden death opposite Kentucky sentimental favorite Kenny Perry.

The 35-year-old Brooks had already won twice on the PGA Tour in 1996 when he came to the par-5 18th hole at Valhalla, and his experience helped. With Perry already in the clubhouse with a closing 68 and 277 total, Brooks put his second shot in a greenside bunker, but remarkably splashed out to within two feet and made the short birdie putt to put an exclamation point on a closing round of 70 and a spot in the playoff.

"I wouldn't want to hit that bunker shot again," Brooks said. "And I wouldn't want to have to make the putt again, either. That may have looked like a two- or three-foot putt to you, but it looked like a 15-footer to me. I knew I had to make it to get into the playoff, but I tried not to overthink about it. I didn't want paralysis by analysis."

Brooks already had shot down one favorite son. His playing partner, Kentuckian Russ Cochran, was the leader coming into the final round before self-destructing.

Now Brooks had another in his sights. As Perry nervously watched in the CBS-TV tower, Brooks birdied the final hole, signed his scorecard, and was chomping at the bit to begin the playoff.

Perry hadn't swung a club in 40 minutes and was hoping a playoff wouldn't be necessary to give him his first major title.

"I probably stayed up in the TV tower too long watching them play," Perry said.

"I learned a good lesson. I probably should have stuck to what I was doing. I should have gone down to the range and gotten away from everybody, just hit some balls and try to get ready for the playoff. I was caught up in the moment with all the people. So I learned a good lesson; it's a hard one."

The players returned to the 18th tee and for Perry, it became a re-enactment of the crime. He pulled his tee shot into the rough, as he had in regulation en route to a bogey-6 when a par would have given him the Championship outright. He also hit his second shot into the rough, as he had in regulation. And when his third shot sailed into the rough left of the green, Brooks was in the driver's seat.

The Texan split the fairway with his drive and rifled a 229-yard 3-wood uphill and onto the green, where he two-putted for birdie and the victory. After Perry missed a chip for par, Brooks calmly made his four-footer for birdie to become another in a long line of players who have made the PGA Championship their first major.

"I felt comfortable in the playoff, since I had just come off the golf course," said Brooks, from Fort Worth, Texas. "It's great to win a major, especially in a playoff, but I don't think it will change my life a whole lot. This is a memorable deal for me, but I'll just keep playing."

1995: Steve Elkington defeats Colin Montgomerie at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif.

How far behind is too far behind with 18 holes to play in a major championship? Steve Elkington, 32, began the final round of the 77th PGA Championship six shots to the rear of third-round leader Ernie Els and entertained no visions of a playoff for the game's final major of the calendar year. But "Elk," a 32-year-old Australian living in Houston who is allergic to grass among other outdoor flora, shot a closing 64 to journey from six shots back and then defeated hard-luck Scotsman Colin Montgomerie with a birdie on the first playoff hole to claim his first major title.

The 72-hole totals of 17-under-par 267 returned by Elkington and Montgomerie tied the lowest score at the time on U.S. soil in a major championship.

"I played the round of my life, then made the putt of my life in the playoff," said Elkington, speaking of his 25-foot birdie putt at the 18th hole, the first playoff hole, at Riviera. Montgomerie then had a chance to match Elkington's birdie, but his 20-foot birdie attempt missed on the right side.

"I needed one more birdie to go in," noted Montgomerie, who dramatically birdied the final three holes in regulation at Riviera to shoot a final-round 65 in pursuit of his first victory of any kind in the U.S. and his first major title. "At the start of the day, I didn't think I had much of a chance, but by the end of the day I really thought this might be my day. The playoff was relatively simple -- we both had birdie putts. Steve made and I missed. In sudden death, that's that."

1993: Paul Azinger defeats Greg Norman at Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio

The 75th PGA Championship boiled down to Azinger, the best player to never win a major at the time, against The Great White Shark, the best player never to win a major in the United States.

Norman's record of being beaten by the miraculous play of others on the 72nd hole or in a playoff included Bob Tway holing a shot from a greenside bunker at Inverness Golf Club (this same course) in 1986 to deprive Norman of the PGA Championship.

This time, Norman's loss was self-inflicted.

He three-putted the second hole of sudden death from 25 feet for bogey while Azinger cautiously two-putted from eight feet for par. That gave Azinger the Championship after both players finished regulation play at 272, one shot clear of Nick Faldo and two ahead of eventual two-time PGA Champion Vijay Singh, who fashioned a course-record and PGA-record 63 in the second round at Inverness.

"There are a lot of ways for a golf tournament to end. I felt empathy for Greg," said Azinger, referring to Norman's four-foot putt for par that would have sent the playoff to a third hole. "I didn't expect him to miss that second putt. He congratulated me. He was very congenial. I could tell it was from the heart, but I know he was disappointed. This means the world to me. This makes all those hours of practice worthwhile."

"I can handle adversity pretty well," said Norman, who, like Azinger, shot four rounds in the 60s to gain entry to the playoff. "It always hurts when you come so close, especially in a major championship like this. But I'll be all right once I get home."

1987: Larry Nelson defeats Lanny Wadkins at PGA National Golf Club in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

With the temperature reaching 97 degrees with 84 percent humidity, the final round of the 69th PGA Championship was a hot affair with a hot "survivalist" finish. Amazingly, a final round of even-par 72 allowed Larry Nelson to come from three shots off the pace and qualify for the playoff, as only two players shot in the 60s on Sunday. Wadkins, who shot a closing 73, and Nelson qualified for the playoff with the highest scores in PGA Championship history for 72 holes at 1-under-par 287.

Wadkins was something of a sentimental favorite in the playoff, since he had won the 1977 PGA Championship in a playoff and because he became an instant American hero at the Champions Course at PGA National in 1983 when he hit a sand wedge approach to one foot on the 18th hole of his singles match to carry the Americans to victory in the Ryder Cup. That helped the U.S. team avoid becoming the first Americans in Ryder Cup history to lose on home soil.

This time, Wadkins was walking down the 10th fairway on a sweltering August day in a playoff with Nelson at PGA National. Wadkins' 8-iron approach to the par-4 10th missed the green. But Nelson also missed the green with his second shot, and pitched to within four feet. Wadkins wedged to six feet, but missed the par-saving putt. When Nelson put his par-saver in the center of the hole, he had won his third major championship (the 1981 PGA Championship and 1983 U.S. Open were Nelson's first two majors).

"That's the hottest I've ever been on a golf course," said the steamy Nelson.

"I'm glad that playoff didn't go any further. I think we were both just about out of steam. It was probably fitting that a par won the playoff, because par was a good score out here all week. The way the rough was and with the greens a little sparse on the grass, it was hard to make a lot of putts and par was a good score."

For the 39-year-old Nelson, a former Army infantry sergeant and team leader who walked point through the rice paddies of Vietnam, the victory was the most satisfying of a career that started late. He didn't learn to play golf until 1969 at age 18, and he joined the PGA Tour in 1974 with modest success.

"I had started thinking that maybe I had gotten my last win," said Nelson after his second PGA Championship. "They say the first one is the most important, but I think the last one is. It shows me I can still be competitive when I can beat a player the caliber of Lanny Wadkins to win a major championship under these conditions.

"Winning the '83 U.S. Open was nice, but there's always something special about your first major and your last, and the PGA Championship is both."

1979: David Graham defeats Ben Crenshaw at Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

This sudden-death playoff became one of the great putting contests in PGA Championship annals after David Graham fired a closing 65 and Ben Crenshaw sculpted a final-round 67 to overtake third-round leader Rex Caldwell.

Crenshaw had actually started packing his golf bag since Graham had a two-stroke lead coming up the 72nd hole on Sunday.

A par at 18 would give Graham a closing 63. Even a bogey would give him the win.

"I knew I was playing the best golf of my life," Graham noted. "I couldn't do a thing wrong." That is, until the 18th hole when he couldn't do anything right. "I didn't realize what I was doing until the 15th tee," said Graham. "On my backswing there, I said to myself, 'My God, where am I?' Then I woke up in a playoff."

That's because Graham inexplicably took double-bogey at the 18th hole, when he hit his second shot over the green, chipped back short, pitched on and twoputted for a 6.

"I shouldn't have been in the playoff," said Crenshaw. But what a playoff putting contest it turned out to be. Crenshaw parred the first playoff hole, but Graham needed a 25-foot putt to match him. He made it. The two moved on to the par-5 second.

Graham needed a 10-footer for birdie to stay alive there. He made it again. A deep breath, a hint of a smile and it was on to the third extra hole. A six-foot putt for a birdie-2 then gave Graham the Championship he deserved.

"I don't like second worth a damn," said Crenshaw, who would go another five years before finally winning his first major, the 1984 Masters. "But I was lucky to get as far as I did. David shot a 65 on the last day of a major -- with a double bogey. Incredible."

1978: John Mahaffey defeats Tom Watson and Jerry Pate at Oakmont (Pa.) Country Club

Even eventual Champion John Mahaffey will tell you this was Tom Watson's Championship, the PGA Championship he never won to enable him to complete the career Grand Slam.

Mahaffey trailed Watson by seven shots with 14 holes to play and was five behind with nine holes left in the final round.

That's when Mahaffey earned the nickname "The Comeback Kid" after completing the biggest come-from-behind victory in PGA Championship history.

When Watson made a three-foot eagle putt at the par-5 ninth hole, the tournament seemed to be his for the taking with a five-shot advantage. But then fate united with misfortune to steal Watson's momentum. At the 10th hole, Watson hit a perfect drive but his ball landed in a sandy divot. He doublebogeyed the hole while Mahaffey birdied, and the race was on.

"All my momentum was lost," Watson said of his misfortune on the 10th hole.

"You don't usually see something quirky like that turn around a major championship, but that really got to me and then I started pressing. When you press, you don't make any putts."

The trio was tied after a combination of Mahaffey birdies on the 10th and 11th holes, and a Pate birdie and Watson bogey on the 13th hole. Pate eventually came to the 18th hole on Sunday with a one-shot lead, but his four-foot par putt to win the Championship missed, setting the stage for the first three-way playoff in PGA Championship history.

When Watson's train wreck was over, he had struggled in with a final-round 73, while Mahaffey posted a closing 66 and Pate carded a highly competent 68 to leave the three playoff qualifiers at 8- under 276, ironically the same 8-underpar figure that saw Vijay Singh, Chris DiMarco and Justin Leonard move into a three-man playoff in 2004 at Whistling Straits.

The playoff began and concluded dramatically. Pate narrowly missed a good birdie opportunity on the first playoff hole, and all three advanced with pars.

On the par-4 second playoff hole, Watson's 30-foot birdie putt entertained thoughts of diving in but narrowly missed.

Then, Mahaffey culminated his PGA Championship record comeback with a dramatic 12-foot birdie putt on the second extra hole. The major triumph was a career comeback for Mahaffey, who had injured his hands in the 1976 PGA Championship and twice squandered leads in the U.S. Open. He had won only $9,847 in 1978 prior to the PGA Championship, and knew his PGA Championship title would rejuvenate his career.

"I know Tom (Watson) all but had his hands on the handle of the (Wanamaker) trophy, but this proves why you keep playing until the bitter end," said Mahaffey. "To say this means a lot to me is an understatement.

"This hasn't been much of a year for me until now, but this is the type of win that will give me the confidence to start playing well again. I'm not sure I gave myself a lot of hope with 14 or 15 holes to play, but that's why you always finish and see what happens."

1977: Lanny Wadkins defeats Gene Littler at Pebble Beach (Calif.) Golf Links

Lanny Wadkins wrote his own fairytale ending to what would have been one of the most heart-rendering comeback stories in major-championship golf if Gene "The Machine" Littler had not allowed a four-stroke lead to slip away in the final round. Littler, who overcame cancer surgery earlier in the 1970s to return to competitive golf, looked like he would add a PGA Championship to his 1961 U.S. Open title after shooting rounds of 67-69-70 at drought-stricken Pebble Beach to build a four-shot advantage over Jack Nicklaus, who was trying to add the PGA Championship to the U.S. Open victory he earned in 1972 at Pebble.

In the final round of the '77 PGA Championship, Littler expanded his lead to six shots over Nicklaus and Wadkins after 63 holes, but then the wheels came off. "I just ran out of gas and the Machine started leaking oil on the final nine," admitted a fatigued Littler, who bogeyed the 10th hole, three-putted the 12th for another bogey, and bogeyed the next three holes to give Wadkins an opening.

Lanny made up most of his ground with pars, but finally made his only birdie of the final regulation round on the par-5 18th hole. Nicklaus, meanwhile, fell from contention with a bogey at the scenic par-3 17th hole, where he nearly made an ace in 1972 to clinch his U.S. Open triumph.

Littler steadied himself enough to par the final three holes of regulation to join Wadkins in the sudden-death playoff, which began at the par-4 first hole. Just when it appeared Littler, 20 years older than Wadkins, was prepared to win on the first playoff hole, Wadkins curled in a tricky 20-foot putt to save par and halve the hole.

"I was stunned he made that one," said Littler, who had played Pebble Beach hundreds of times in the California State Amateur and other professional events throughout his career. "He (Wadkins) couldn't make that twisting putt again with 40 balls."

After each player routinely birdied the par-5 second hole, Littler missed the green with his approach at the par-4 third hole. He pitched to within 12 feet, but missed the par-saving putt. Wadkins then accurately negotiated his six-footer to save par, win the playoff, and secure the only major championship of his career.

"You never forget your first major," says Wadkins, "and that was special to be able to beat a player the caliber of Gene Littler on a golf course like Pebble Beach. At the time, I thought there would be a lot more opportunities to win majors. I'm glad I won that playoff because 10 years later (when he lost to Larry Nelson at PGA National in a PGA playoff) I wasn't as lucky."

THE 18-HOLE PLAYOFF ERA

1967: Don January defeats Don Massengale at Columbine Country Club in Littleton, Colo.

It seemed ironic that two Dons from the Texas lowlands would find themselves in an 18-hole playoff in the mile-high, rarefied air of a Denver suburb with the PGA Championship at stake. It was also fitting that the man with the wintery name, January, would prevail in a part of the country known for its winter sports.

After falling in an 18-hole playoff to Jerry Barber in the PGA Championship six years earlier, January made amends with four birdies on the back nine en route to a 3-under-par 69 and a two-shot victory over Massengale's 71 at Columbine. The victory represented a "major" breakthrough for January, who is known as "Bones" by his colleagues in professional golf. He entered the playoff with an 0-3 record in career playoffs and the 1967 PGA Championship was the Senior PGA Tour co-founder's only major championship of a long and honorable career.

January started the final round four shots back, but finished birdie-birdie-parbirdie- par to fire a final-round 68 and finish at 281. Massengale was even better in the closing round, recording seven birdies on his way to a 66 that punched his playoff ticket at 281.

1961: Jerry Barber defeats Don January at Olympia Fields (Ill.) Country Club

At 5-foot-3, 135 pounds and 45 years old, you might say "wee" Jerry Barber was a modern-day David against the Goliath Don January, who stood 6-foot-2 and was 31 when the two met in the first 18-hole playoff in PGA Championship history outside Chicago. When experts spoke of Barber's "short" game, they weren't speaking of his height, however, and January knew he had his hands full with the short-game master at Olympia Fields.

"With Jerry (Barber), it never mattered how far you hit it or how many greens you hit in regulation," observed January. "Jerry could get it up and down from the men's grill if he had to. We used to call him Houdini. He was that good."

Indeed, the smallish Barber trailed January by four shots with three holes to play in regulation when he sank putts of 20 feet for birdie, 40 feet for a par, and 60 feet for birdie on the last three holes for a final-round 70 to catch January at 277. In the 18-hole playoff the following day, Barber trailed January by two strokes on two occasions, but rallied with three birdies on the back nine to finish with a 67. This earned him a one-shot victory over the steady January, who carded a solid 68 in the playoff but went home with second place.

THE MATCH PLAY ERA

1941: Vic Ghezzi defeats Byron Nelson at Cherry Hills Country Club in Denver, Colo.

In the fifth and final match to extend beyond the scheduled 36 holes during the match-play era of The PGA Championship, Ghezzi sent Nelson to his second PGA playoff loss on the second playoff hole in a bizarre finish. Ghezzi had a four-footer to win the match on the 36th hole, but missed to send the 24th PGA Championship to extra holes. At the 37th hole, Ghezzi had another golden opportunity to win the match, but missed a 10-footer for birdie. Finally, on the 38th hole, both players missed the green with their second shots and chipped up to within three feet. They were so close that even the referee couldn't determine who was away. So they flipped a coin. Nelson won the toss, but surprisingly missed his three-foot putt. Ghezzi, obviously nervous, almost missed his three-footer also, but the ball slithered in the side door for a 1-up victory on the 38th hole, writing yet another unusual chapter to the lore and legend of playoffs in the PGA Championship.

1939: Henry Picard defeats Byron Nelson at Pomonok Country Club in Flushing, N.Y.

Picard took an interesting route to victory over "Lord" Byron on the first extra hole. After squaring the match with a four-foot birdie putt on the 36th hole, Picard's tee shot on the first playoff hole came to rest underneath a motion-picture truck. Once the truck was moved, Picard's ball was imbedded, so he was allowed a free drop. He then pitched to within 10 feet of the cup, but Nelson pitched to within five feet of the hole and it appeared the match would move to the 38th hole. However, after Picard made his birdie putt, Nelson inexplicably missed his five-foot attempt and Picard was the Champion.

1937: Denny Shute defeats Harold McSpaden at Pittsburgh Field Club in Aspinwall, Pa.

"Jug" McSpaden seemed to have upset the defending PGA Champion on the 36th hole of the final match. After his tee shot struck a spectator and bounced into the fairway instead of the deep rough, McSpaden hit his approach four feet from the flagstick. Shute had hit his second shot some 50 feet from the hole and putted about three feet short. As McSpaden took his stance, cameras grinded away and McSpaden backed away and said, "Please give me the chance I've been fighting for all week." Once quiet was restored, McSpaden missed his short birdie putt and the match went to extra holes.

On the 37th hole, the first playoff hole, McSpaden was still apparently rattled by his miss on the final hole of regulation that would have given him the Championship. He missed a 10-footer for par and when Shute made his four-footer for par, he became the fifth PGA Champion to win back-to-back titles. It was a feat that would endure for 63 years before Tiger Woods' victory in the 2000 PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky.

1934: Paul Runyan defeats Craig Wood at the Park Club of Buffalo in Williamsville, N.Y.

The short-hitting Runyan, a wizard with the putter, outlasted his former instructor and one of the longest hitters of his era in professional golf, Craig Wood, by sinking an eight-foot par putt on the second extra hole with his aluminumheaded putter. The prodigious-hitting Wood just missed a match-winning eagle putt on the 37th hole, the first playoff hole, and Runyan stayed alive by chipping to within two feet for a birdie of his own.

1923: Gene Sarazen defeats Walter Hagen at Pelham Golf Club in Pelham Manor, N.Y.

In what is called golf's greatest head-tohead match of the PGA Championship match-play era (1916-1957), Sarazen squandered a three-hole lead in the 36- hole final before executing something of a trick shot to gun down Hagen on the second extra hole.

After Hagen birdied the 29th hole and won the 34th and 35th holes to square the match, both players parred the 36th hole to send the match into overtime. The first playoff hole was halved, but the match nearly ended with tee shots on the second hole when Sarazen hit his drive into heavy rough just a few feet from an out-ofbounds fence.

With a crowd gathered around him, Sarazen boldly predicted that "I'll put this one up so close to the hole that it will break Walter's heart." The Squire then struck what is described as "one of the most magnificent shots ever made in championship golf." His shot from the rough near the fence dropped short of the hole and came to rest two feet away from a certain birdie.

Stunned by the miraculous recovery shot, Hagen flubbed his second shot into a greenside bunker, then nearly holed his difficult bunker attempt. Sarazen tapped in his birdie to win his second consecutive PGA Championship and the first in PGA Championship history to go to extra holes to determine a Champion.