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An Exceptional Florida Golf Resort -- Home To The PGA's Most Historic Moments
Since opening its greens in 1981, the PGA National Resort & Spa has hosted some of golf's most memorable moments. Below are some
of our favorites, culled from years of unforgettable shots and spectacular victories.
"The Champ's Debut" 44th Senior PGA Championship (Jan. 19 to Jan. 22, 1982) - The Senior PGA Championship was played for the first
time on the PGA National Resort's difficult Champion Course. Don January was the only player to match par over 72 holes. His 288
total was 18 strokes higher than his previous winning performance three years earlier. Former Senior PGA Champion Julius Boros,
despite a 75 in the final round, was runner-up, one stroke behind.
"A Divot to Remember" The Ryder Cup Matches (Oct. 14 to Oct. 16, 1983) - The 25th Ryder Cup Matches were anything but a repeat of
past dominion by the U.S. In fact, this edition, staged at the Champion Course, served as a transition to a new era of compelling
drama in the sport. With both the American and European sides in an 8-8 deadlock after two days of competition, the remaining 12
singles matches were intense and featured some of event's most memorable shotmaking. Spain's Seve Ballesteros secured a halve with
Fuzzy Zoeller when he struck a 240-yard 3-wood from a bunker on the 18th hole. The ball landed on the fringe of the green from
where he chipped and saved par. Witnesses called the shot one of the greatest recovery performances in golf.
Later, American Lanny Wadkins fell three down with seven to play against Spain's Jose Maria Canizares. Wadkins trimmed the margin
to one heading into the 18th hole, a par-5 dogleg left into the wind. Wadkins was encouraged when Canizares' approach came up
short of the green. Wadkins then hit a 60-yard pitching wedge approach to within a foot of the hole for a tap-in birdie to halve
the match. So overcome with joy was U.S. Captain Jack Nicklaus that he marched to the spot where Wadkins hit his shot and bent
down and kissed the ground. The U.S. then watched as Tom Watson bogeyed the 17th hole but closed out Bernard Gallacher … who
missed a 4.5-foot bogey putt, in a 2 and 1 decision.
"A Week the Army Won't Forget" 45th Senior PGA Championship (Jan. 19 to Jan. 22, 1984) - Arnold Palmer has given his adoring
"army" of fans many warm memories. But few compare to his second Senior PGA Championship. Palmer fired a course- and
tournament-record 9-under-par 63, under ideal conditions, in the second round. He never relinquished the lead, despite a 79 in a
third round played under high wind and rare 40-degree temperatures. Palmer finished with a 6-under-par 282, two strokes better
than defending Champion Don January.
"Wire-to-Wire for Peter" 46th Senior PGA Championship (Dec. 6 to Dec. 9, 1984) - Australian Peter Thomson, a five-time British
Open champion, made his first appearance in the Senior PGA Championship and claimed his largest paycheck with a $40,000 winner's
share. Thomson never gave up the lead after an opening 67, and won with a 2-under-par 286 to defeat two-time Champion Don January
by two strokes. The triumph ignited Thomson to a remarkable 1985 season in which he won an all-time Champions Tour-record nine
championships, earning $386,724.
1986 "Not Your Average Player" - Back spasms forced two-time Champion Arnold Palmer to withdraw from the 47th Senior PGA
Championship, while defending Champion Peter Thomson stayed home in Australia. This set the stage for South African Gary Player to
become the second foreign-born champion, scoring his second victory in three starts since turning 50 years old nearly three months
earlier. Player's 72-hole total of 7-under-par 281 was worth a two-stroke victory over Lee Elder. Player's performance was also
special in that the entire field averaged 78 strokes on the Champion Course.
1987 "A Timely Purchase" - Trailing third-round leader Dale Douglass by six strokes and upset over a round of 76, Chi Chi
Rodriquez preceded his round by purchasing a new set of clubs from the PGA National Golf Club. The result: a 5-under-par 67 to
give the popular native Puerto Rican a one-stroke victory. Rodriguez later credited his longtime mentor, former Senior PGA
Champion Pete Cooper, for his victory. Cooper, who missed the second round, followed Rodriguez in the gallery and earlier offered
a putting lesson.
"In the Heat of the Day" 69th PGA Championship (Aug. 6 to Aug. 9, 1987) - Larry Nelson won his second PGA Championship, this under
extremely humid conditions. He finished his 72-hole tour of the Champion Course with an even-par 72 for a 1-under-par 287. This
forced a playoff with Lanny Wadkins, the 1977 PGA Champion. Nelson needed only a par-4 on the first extra hole to become the 15th
multiple winner of the season's final major championship.
1988 "Another Major for Player" - Gary Player, one of only four players to win golf's modern Grand Slam, earned his second Senior
PGA Championship and fourth major title in senior golf. Player's final-round 2-under-par 70 gave him a 72-hole total of
4-under-par 284 and a three stroke triumph over defending Champion Chi Chi Rodriguez.
1989 "A Bigger Plum for Lowry" - Larry Mowry, "king" of the mini-tour circuit with 106 victories, snared one of senior golf's
biggest prizes by winning the 50th Senior PGA Championship. The 52-year-old Lowry turned in a third-round 65, the lowest round of
the tournament, and then struggled home with a 73 to hold off Al Geiberger and 1981 Senior Champion Miller Barber by one stroke.
1990 "Gary's Charming Third" - Gary Player became the fourth player in Senior PGA Championship history to win three or more
championships … defeating one of the strongest fields ever assembled in the country's oldest senior professional event. Player
highlighted his brilliant play with a front nine 29 in the third round, on his way to a 65. That round featured an eagle on the
third hole, a double bogey on the 14th, and seven birdies. He finished 72 holes with a 7-under-par 281 -- a two-stroke victory
over former Champion Chi Chi Rodriguez and four-stroke win over Jack Nicklaus and Lee Trevino. Player's third Championship placed
him in the record book with Sam Snead, Eddie Williams, and Al Watrous.
1991 "The Glare of the Bear" - Jack Nicklaus became the seventh wire-to-wire champion in Senior PGA Championship and earned his
fourth victory in six senior events. Nicklaus opened with a pair of 66s, then cruised to a 17-under-par 271 total and a six-stroke
triumph over Bruce Crampton. It was the fifth time Crampton had finished as a runner-up in a major championship - each time to
Nicklaus.
1992 "A Red-Hot Merry Mex" - Lee Trevino won his first Senior PGA Championship in dramatic fashion … making par-saving putts on
the final two holes to finish at 10-under-par 278 and holding off Mike Hill by one stroke. Trevino earned his 38th career victory
and became the 10th player to have won the PGA Championship and PGA Senior Championship.
1993 "A Championship to Cherish" - Tom Wargo became the first PGA club professional since 1979 to win one of senior golf's major
championships. He accomplished this feat in a memorable extra-hole duel. Wargo, who didn't take up golf until the age of 25, was
tied by Bruce Crampton and 72 holes at 13-under-par 275. He defeated Crampton in a two-hole playoff, highlighted by a spectacular
save for par from a greenside bunker on the 16th hole of the Champion Course. Crampton followed by sending his tee shot from the
par-3 17th hole into the water. Wargo's tee shot found the middle of the green, from which he two-putted for victory.
1994 "Bear Trap Swallows Floyd, Trevino Emerges Unscathed" - Raymond Floyd, once revered as one of the game's all-time top
front-runners, squandered a four-stroke lead on the final nine holes of the Champion Course. Playing partner Lee Trevino cashed in
on Floyd's misadventure into the closing four-hole stretch nicknamed "The Bear Trap." Floyd knocked two balls into the water,
posted a quadruple bogey on the 164-yard 15th hole, hit a 7-iron into the pond, and came out with a double bogey on the par-3
17th. Trevino walked away with his second Senior PGA Championship in three years.
1995 "Floyd Finds Redemption" - In a bid for his first Senior PGA Championship, Raymond Floyd became the 11th player in history to
win both a PGA Seniors' Championship and a PGA Championship by avenging his 1994 final-round collapse. Floyd built a two-stroke
lead on Jim Colbert after three rounds and made two front-nine birdies in the final round before stringing together 14 consecutive
pars and a five-stroke victory margin over John Paul Cain, Larry Gilbert, and two-time champion Lee Trevino. Floyd punctuated his
10th career victory as a senior professional by hitting 61 of 72 greens in regulation, the most of any player in the 56th Senior
PGA Championship.
1996 "Hale Foils the Bear Trap" - Two weeks after he let a three-stroke lead evaporate in the desert, losing the Tradition, Hale
Irwin found sweet redemption among the swaying palms of the PGA National Golf Club - winning the 57th Senior PGA Championship. A
three-time U.S. Open champion, Irwin withstood a shaky 74 in the second round, built his lead to four strokes heading into "The
Bear Trap," and deflected the challenges of Japan's Isao Aoki and Argentina's Vincente Fernandez. Irwin's defining moment of the
championship was a tee shot on the treacherous par-3 15th hole. His ball landed 35 feet from the flagstick but was dry. He cruised
home for a 71, his first major championship as a senior player.
1997 "Hale Leaves his Imprint" - After winning his first Senior PGA Championship in 1996, Hale Irwin was disappointed he couldn't
keep the momentum alive the remainder of the year. In 1997 Irwin arrived with designs on a greater year. He posted a methodical
4-under-par 68 on his way to a 12-stroke victory and a second consecutive title during the 58th Senior PGA Championship. It was
the largest victory margin for any Champions Tour professional and the second-highest margin in Senior PGA Championship history.
That season, Irwin would tie the Senior PGA Tour record with nine victories, become golf's first $2 million season money-winner,
and be named Senior PGA Tour Player of the Year.
1998 "Another Hale Storm" - As if he had something to prove to his peers, Hale Irwin captured a third major Senior PGA
Championship by a seven-stroke margin. Irwin's final-round 2-under-par 70 and 13-under-par 275 total for 72 holes made him the
second player to win three consecutive Senior PGA Championships. In fact, Irwin became the first player since 1956 to win three
consecutive major championships on any tour.
1999 "Former Hockey Player Scores a Major Goal" - Allen Doyle - who played college hockey in Vermont and didn't declare himself a
golfer until 1995 - finished with a final-round record 8-under-par 64 to win the 60th Senior PGA Championship. The 6-foot-3,
210-pound Doyle became the 18th player to win the Senior PGA Championship in his first attempt. He overpowered the Champion
Course in the final round … a performance that included an eagle chip-in on the par-5 10th hole and a 186-yard 3-iron approach to
the 16th that left him with a one-foot birdie putt.
2000 "Tewell-Time at PGA National" - In only his 12th start as a professional, Doug Tewell may have found his lost touch. Tewell
- who believed he had what it took to win on the over-50 circuit - was a model of consistency during a Senior PGA Championship
that ran anywhere but to form. Despite seven weather interruptions that extended the Championship by several days, Tewell shined.
The former Oklahoma State standout took the lead with a birdie on the second hole of the second round (a round of 66 that took
two-and-a-half days to complete) and held the lead the final 34 holes. Tewell became the 19th player in history to win the Senior
PGA Championship on his first attempt.
Click here for more about our Palm Beach Golf Resort.
Boasting a world-class European spa, five championship courses, and seven spectacular restaurants, PGA National Resort & Spa is
more than just a golfer's paradise. It's a stunning retreat that provides leisure and business travelers with experiences both
exciting and memorable.
Book one of our Florida golf resort packages online today for preferred rates.
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