1996 PGA Championship

The 1996 PGA Championship was the 78th PGA Championship, held August 8–11 at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky. Mark Brooks won his only major championship with a birdie at the first hole of a sudden-death playoff with Kentucky native Kenny Perry.^[2][3][4][5] Defending champion Steve Elkington was a stroke out of the playoff, in a tie for third. It was the second consecutive and final sudden-death playoff at the PGA Championship, which changed to a three-hole aggregate format, first used in 2000 at Valhalla.

1996 PGA Championship

Tournament information
Dates	August 8–11, 1996
Location	Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
Course(s)	Valhalla Golf Club
Organized by	PGA of America
Tour(s)	PGA Tour European Tour
Statistics
Par	72
Length	7,144 yards (6,532 m)
Field	150 players, 81 after cut[1]
Cut	145 (+1)
Prize fund	$2.4 million
Winner's share	$430,000
Champion
Mark Brooks
277 (−11), playoff
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Valhalla
Golf Club

Location in the United States

It was the second major played in Kentucky and the first in 44 years; the PGA Championship, a match play event through 1957, was played in Louisville in 1952 at Big Spring Country Club. The championship returned to Valhalla just four years later in 2000, and again in 2014 after hosting the Ryder Cup in 2008.

Course designer and five-time champion Jack Nicklaus missed the cut by a single stroke at age 56. He also missed the cut by one stroke in 2000 at age 60, his final appearance in the PGA Championship.

Course layout

Main article: Valhalla Golf Club

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Out	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	In	Total
Yards	425	515	199	355	460	415	605	165	415	3,554	565	165	470	350	208	410	450	432	540	3,590	7,144
Par	4	5	3	4	4	4	5	3	4	36	5	3	4	4	3	4	4	4	5	36	72

Source:^[6]

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, August 8, 1996
Friday, August 9, 1996

Kenny Perry shot a first round 66 (−6) to take the lead, finishing in the dark. Weather delayed play for nearly four hours and sixty players completed their first rounds on Friday morning.^[7]

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Kenny Perry	66	−6
T2	Steve Elkington	67	−5
	Phil Mickelson
T4	Mark Brooks	68	−4
	Russ Cochran
	Joel Edwards
	Lee Janzen
	Greg Norman
	Nick Price
	Ian Woosnam

Second round

Friday, August 9, 1996

Phil Mickelson, age 26, played 24 holes on Friday and carded consecutive rounds of 67 to take a three stroke lead at 134 (−10).^[8][9]

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Phil Mickelson	67-67=134	−10
2	Justin Leonard	71-66=137	−7
T3	Mark Brooks	68-70=138	−6
	Kenny Perry	66-72=138
	Vijay Singh	69-69=138
T6	Lee Janzen	68-71=139	−5
	Nick Price	68-71=139
T8	Mike Brisky	71-69=140	−4
	Russ Cochran	68-72=140
	David Edwards	69-71=140
	Brad Faxon	72-68=140
	Jim Furyk	70-70=140
	Greg Norman	68-72=140
	Jesper Parnevik	73-67=140
	Tommy Tolles	69-71=140
	Tom Watson	69-71=140
	Ian Woosnam	68-72=140

Third round

Saturday, August 10, 1996

Kentucky native Russ Cochran shot a course record 65 (−7) to take the 54-hole lead, two strokes ahead of Mark Brooks and Vijay Singh. Brooks eagled the par-4 15th, holing out from the fairway.^[10] Seeking his first major title, Mickelson fell three strokes back after a 74 (+2).

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Russ Cochran	68-72-65=205	−11
T2	Mark Brooks	68-70-69=207	−9
	Vijay Singh	69-69-69=207
T4	Steve Elkington	67-74-67=208	−8
	Phil Mickelson	67-67-74=208
	Nick Price	68-71-69=208
T7	Mike Brisky	71-69-69=209	−7
	Justin Leonard	71-66-72=209
	Greg Norman	68-72-69=209
	Jesper Parnevik	73-67-69=209
	Kenny Perry	66-72-71=209

Source:^[10]

Final round

Sunday, August 11, 1996

Native sons of Kentucky had different results on Sunday as Cochran shot 77 (+5) in the final pairing and faded while Perry had a 68 (−4) and waited as the clubhouse leader at 277 (−11). Playing with Cochran, Brooks birdied the par-5 final hole to force a playoff. Perry bogeyed the same hole after a hooked tee shot and was in the television booth with CBS-TV, not hitting balls.^[11] The second shot of defending champion Steve Elkington found a greenside bunker; he had a 10-foot (3 m) birdie putt to join the playoff, but could not convert. Tolles had a long eagle putt to tie but missed, while Singh also needed a birdie to join the playoff but made bogey to finish 2 behind.

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
T1	Mark Brooks	68-70-69-70=277	−11	Playoff
	Kenny Perry	66-72-71-68=277
T3	Steve Elkington	67-74-67-70=278	−10	140,000
	Tommy Tolles	69-71-71-67=278
T5	Justin Leonard	71-66-72-70=279	−9	86,667
	Jesper Parnevik	73-67-69-70=279
	Vijay Singh	69-69-69-72=279
T8	Lee Janzen	68-71-71-70=280	−8	57,500
	Per-Ulrik Johansson	73-72-66-69=280
	Phil Mickelson	67-67-74-72=280
	Larry Mize	71-70-69-70=280
	Frank Nobilo	69-72-71-68=280
	Nick Price	68-71-69-72=280

Source:^{[1][2][3][12]}

Scorecard

Birdie

Bogey

Final round

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
Par	4	5	3	4	4	4	5	3	4	5	3	4	4	3	4	4	4	5
Brooks	−9	−10	−9	−9	−9	−10	−11	−12	−12	−12	−11	−10	−10	−9	−10	−10	−10	−11
Perry	−7	−7	−7	−7	−7	−7	−7	−8	−9	−9	−10	−10	−11	−12	−12	−12	−12	−11

Source:^[13]

Playoff

The sudden-death playoff began on the 540-yard (494 m) 18th hole; the par-5 was the course's second-easiest hole on Sunday.^[11] Brooks reached the green in two and birdied while Perry's tee shot again found the rough on the left and his fourth was a chip that did not reach the green,^[14] ending the playoff.^[1][2] It was Brooks' second birdie at the hole in twenty minutes; in regulation he hit his third shot from the greenside sand to within four feet (1.3 m).^[3]

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
1	Mark Brooks	4	−1	430,000
2	Kenny Perry	x	−	260,000

Source:^[1][3]