1970 PGA Championship Winner and Scores
Winner: Dave Stockton, 279
Where it was played: Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tournament dates: August 13-16, 1970
Leader after first round: Jack Nicklaus and Johnny Miller, 68
Leader after second round: Dave Stockton and Larry Hinson, 140
Leader after third round: Dave Stockton, 206
What Happened at the 1970 PGA Championship
Dave Stockton had never won a major championship before this tournament. Arnold Palmer had won plenty of them, but had never won the PGA Championship. In the end, it was Stockton who went home happy.Palmer, 40 years old at the time, had seven major championship wins, although none since 1964. He had won The Masters, the U.S. Open and the British Open — but not the PGA Championship. He wanted this major badly to complete the career grand slam. Palmer had already finished second twice in the PGA Championship. Unfortunately for him, he finished second once again in the 1970 PGA Championship. This was the last time Palmer finished in the Top 10 in a PGA Championship.
For Stockton, his win here was was only the fourth of his PGA Tour career. He was the co-leader after the second round, but took hold of the tournament with a third-round 66. Palmer fired a 69 in the third round, but fell to five strokes behind the leader.
Palmer played with Stockton in the final round, and Stockton showed the nerves of chasing his biggest win with an up-and-down 73. Stockton was most in danger when he put a ball in the water on the 13th hole, but a brilliant recovery shot allowed him to save bogey. Palmer outplayed Stockton in the final round, 70 to 73, but it wasn't enough to catch him.
Tying Palmer for second was Bob Murphy, who started the final round nine strokes behind Stockton but fired a 66. The defending champion, Raymond Floyd, was in second place, three back of Stockton, heading into the final round. But he scored 75 in Round 4 and dropped into a tie for eighth.
1970 PGA Championship Final Scores
| Dave Stockton | 70-70-66-73—279 |
| Arnold Palmer | 70-72-69-70—281 |
| Bob Murphy | 71-73-71-66—281 |
| Gene Littler | 72-71-69-70—282 |
| Larry Hinson | 69-71-74-68—282 |
| Bruce Crampton | 73-75-68-67—283 |
| Jack Nicklaus | 68-76-73-66—283 |
| Raymond Floyd | 71-73-65-75—284 |
| Dick Lotz | 72-70-75-67—284 |
| Mason Rudolph | 71-70-73-71—285 |
| Billy Maxwell | 72-71-73-69—285 |
| Don January | 73-71-73-69—286 |
| Gary Player | 74-68-74-70—286 |
| Sam Snead | 70-75-68-73—286 |
| Johnny Miller | 68-77-70-71—286 |
| Mike Hill | 71-70-74-73—288 |
| Al Geiberger | 72-74-71-71—288 |
| Billy Casper | 72-70-74-73—289 |
| Dan Sikes Jr. | 74-70-75-70—289 |
| Bruce Devlin | 75-70-71-73—289 |
| Al Mengert | 76-72-70-71—289 |
| Bob Stanton | 71-74-72-73—290 |
| Kermit Zarley | 73-74-73-70—290 |
| Bert Yancey | 74-69-75-72—290 |
| Lou Graham | 75-68-74-73—290 |
| Bob Charles | 74-73-72-72—291 |
| Terry Dill | 72-71-75-73—291 |
| Bobby Nichols | 71-76-72-72—291 |
| Julius Boros | 72-71-72-76—291 |
| Lee Trevino | 72-77-77-65—291 |
| Jim Wiechers | 72-75-73-72—292 |
| Bob Menne | 73-72-75-72—292 |
| Homero Blancas | 70-74-72-76—292 |
| Hale Irwin | 72-69-76-75—292 |
| Howie Johnson | 71-72-76-74—293 |
| Bobby Mitchell | 72-76-76-69—293 |
| Rod Funseth | 76-70-74-73—293 |
| Dave Marr | 76-71-74-72—293 |
| Bob E. Smith | 77-73-72-71—293 |
| Charles Coody | 69-79-73-72—293 |
| Doug Sanders | 75-74-71-74—294 |
| Orville Moody | 75-72-75-72—294 |
| Jacky Cupit | 70-77-75-72—294 |
| Bob Lunn | 74-69-70-81—294 |
| Jack Burke Jr. | 74-74-74-73—295 |
| Tommy Aaron | 71-74-75-75—295 |
| Larry Ziegler | 71-73-79-72—295 |
| Bert Greene | 73-73-74-76—296 |
| Phil Rodgers | 74-74-76-72—296 |
| Hugh Royer Jr. | 76-74-73-73—296 |
| Bill Collins | 72-71-77-76—296 |
| Bob Stone | 73-77-75-71—296 |
| Jerry Steelsmith | 73-72-78-73—296 |
| Ross Coon | 74-73-74-76—297 |
| Jimmy Wright | 74-74-76-74—298 |
| Jim O'Hern | 75-74-73-76—298 |
| Deane Beman | 76-72-74-76—298 |
| Frank Beard | 73-73-77-75—298 |
| Gibby Gilbert | 73-74-77-74—298 |
| George Knudson | 77-73-74-74—298 |
| Tommy Jacobs | 77-70-75-77—299 |
| George Archer | 77-71-75-76—299 |
| Bob Rosburg | 72-75-74-81—302 |
| Dick Bury | 75-74-77-78—304 |
| Gordon Jones | 75-75-78-77—305 |
| Joe Jimenez | 75-73-80-77—305 |
| Tommy Aycock | 75-73-82-75—305 |
| Dave Hill | 76-74-79-77—306 |
| Bob Hold | 76-74-81-75—306 |
| Richard Crawford | 74-76-80-79—309 |
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1969 PGA Championship - 1971 PGA Championship
