The 1980 PGA Championship was the 62nd PGA Championship, held August 7–10 at the East Course of Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, New York. Jack Nicklaus won his fifth PGA Championship, seven strokes ahead of runner-up Andy Bean. The victory tied Nicklaus with Walter Hagen, who won five PGA titles in match play competition in the 1920s.

It was the 17th of 18 major titles for the 40-year-old Nicklaus, and his second of the year: he won the U.S. Open two months earlier. The previous season in 1979 had been Nicklaus' worst, with no tour wins for the first time in his career. His next and final major title came nearly six years later, at the Masters in 1986.

After 36 holes, Nicklaus was at 139 (−1), a stroke behind leader Gil Morgan. Nicklaus fired a 66 (−4) on Saturday to move to 205 (−5) and a three-shot lead over Lon Hinkle heading into the final round, with Morgan three more back at 211 in third. Nicklaus was as low as six-under for the round through fourteen holes, but struggled on the last four, and alternated bogeys with scrambling pars. Sunday was less eventful as Hinkle and Morgan fell back and Nicklaus carded a one-under 69 for a runaway win, uncommon for a major.

Since changing to stroke play in 1958, the largest victory margin at the PGA Championship had been four strokes, in 1966 and 1973, the latter also won by Nicklaus. His seven stroke margin in 1980 remained the record until 2012, when Rory McIlroy won by eight.

Nicklaus became the third to win both the U.S. Open and PGA Championship in the same year, joining Gene Sarazen (1922) and Ben Hogan (1948). Tiger Woods later won both in 2000, part of his "Tiger Slam, and Brooks Koepka also accomplished this feat in 2018.

This was the third major championship at the East Course, which previously hosted the U.S. Open in 1956 and 1968, when Nicklaus was the runner-up to Lee Trevino. The U.S. Open later returned in 1989 and the PGA Championship in 2003, 2013, and 2023. The course also hosted the Ryder Cup in 1995.

Course layout Hole123456789Out101112131415161718InTotalYards4474102065704191754324304253,5144321953745963251784404584523,4506,964Par443543444354345434443570

Round summaries First round Thursday, August 7, 1980 PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Craig Stadler 67 −3T2 Gil Morgan 68 −2 Bob Murphy Curtis Strange Howard Twitty Bobby WalzelT7 Ben Crenshaw 69 −1 David Graham Hale IrwinT10 George Archer 70 E Lee Elder Raymond Floyd Bob Gilder Morris Hatalsky Lon Hinkle Hale Irwin Johnny Miller Tōru Nakamura Jack Nicklaus Jack Renner Source:

Second round Friday, August 8, 1980 PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Gil Morgan 68-70=138 −22 Lon Hinkle 70-69=139 −1 Jack Nicklaus 70-69=1394 Curtis Strange 68-72=140 E5 Johnny Miller 70-71=141 +1T6 Dave Eichelberger 72-70=142 +2 Gary Koch 71-71=142 Artie McNickle 71-71=142 Andy North 72-70=142 Bill Rogers 71-71=142 Craig Stadler 67-75=142 Howard Twitty 68-74=142 Source:

Third round Saturday, August 9, 1980 PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Jack Nicklaus 70-69-66=205 −52 Lon Hinkle 70-69-69=208 −2T3 Andy Bean 72-71-68=211 +1 Gil Morgan 68-70-73=211T5 Terry Diehl 72-72-68=212 +2 Curtis Strange 68-72-72=2127 Howard Twitty 68-74-71=213 +38 Bill Rogers 71-71-72=214 +4T9 Andy North 72-70-73=215 +5 Jerry Pate 72-73-70=215 Bobby Walzel 68-76-71=216 Source:

Final round Sunday, August 10, 1980 PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)1 Jack Nicklaus 70-69-66-69=274 −6 60,0002 Andy Bean 72-71-68-70=281 +1 40,000T3 Lon Hinkle 70-69-69-75=283 +3 22,500 Gil Morgan 68-70-73-72=283T5 Curtis Strange 68-72-72-72=284 +4 14,500 Howard Twitty 68-74-71-71=2847 Lee Trevino 74-71-71-69=285 +5 11,000T8 Bill Rogers 71-71-72-72=286 +6 8,500 Bobby Walzel 68-76-71-71=286T10 Terry Diehl 72-72-68-76=288 +8 6,000 Peter Jacobsen 71-73-74-70=288 Jerry Pate 72-73-70-73=288 Tom Watson 75-74-72-67=288 Tom Weiskopf 71-73-72-72=288 Source:

References

External links PGA.com – 1980 PGA Championship