1990 PGA Championship

Tournament information
Dates	August 9–12, 1990
Location	Birmingham, 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 by	PGA of America
Tour(s)	PGA Tour
Statistics
Par	72
Length	7,145 yards (6,533 m)
Field	152 players, 74 after cut[1]
Cut	151 (+7)
Prize fund	$1.35 million
Winner's share	$225,000
Champion
Wayne Grady
282 (−6)
Location Map
Location in the United States Show map of the United States Location in Alabama Show map of Alabama

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]

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

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

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.

Round summaries

First round

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

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

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

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

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

External links

• PGA.com – 1990 PGA Championship
• Yahoo! Sports: 1990 PGA Championship leaderboard