# 1981 PGA Championship

The 1981 PGA Championship was the 63rd PGA Championship, held August 6–9 at Atlanta Athletic Club in Duluth, Georgia, a suburb northeast of Atlanta. Larry Nelson won the first of his three major titles, four strokes ahead of runner-up Fuzzy Zoeller.
Lee Trevino, 1974 champion, did not sign his scorecard after an opening round 74 and was disqualified after turning himself in. Bob Murphy led after each of the first two rounds, but was 8-over on the weekend and finished ten strokes back in 18th place. After a second consecutive 66 on Saturday, Nelson held the 54-hole lead, four strokes ahead of Zoeller
Tom Watson was the PGA Tour money list leader in August 1981, but missed the cut by a stroke.
It was the second major held at the Highlands Course, which hosted the U.S. Open in 1976. The PGA Championship returned in 2001 and 2011.

## Course layout

| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
| Yards | 456 | 458 | 469 | 210 | 546 | 445 | 185 | 422 | 419 | 3,610 | 374 | 470 | 510 | 390 | 415 | 215 | 410 | 213 | 463 | 3,460 | 7,070 |
| Par | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 35 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 35 | 70 |

## Round summaries
### First round

Thursday, August 6, 1981
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
| 1 | Bob Murphy | 66 | −4 |
| T2 | Bob Eastwood | 67 | −3 |
| T2 | Mark Lye | 67 | −3 |
| T4 | Rex Caldwell | 68 | −2 |
| T4 | Vance Heafner | 68 | −2 |
| T4 | Andy North | 68 | −2 |
| T7 | Charles Coody | 69 | −1 |
| T7 | Lon Hinkle | 69 | −1 |
| T7 | Roger Maltbie | 69 | −1 |
| T7 | Dan Pohl | 69 | −1 |
| T7 | Ron Streck | 69 | −1 |
Source:

### Second round

Friday, August 7, 1981
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
| 1 | Bob Murphy | 66-69=135 | −5 |
| T2 | Bob Eastwood | 67-69=136 | −4 |
| T2 | Larry Nelson | 70-66=136 | −4 |
| T2 | Dan Pohl | 69-67=136 | −4 |
| 5 | Andy North | 69-68=137 | −3 |
| T6 | Vance Heafner | 68-70=138 | −2 |
| T6 | Tom Kite | 71-67=138 | −2 |
| T6 | Fuzzy Zoeller | 70-68=138 | −2 |
| T9 | Gil Morgan | 70-69=139 | −1 |
| T9 | Jack Nicklaus | 71-68=139 | −1 |
| T9 | Jerry Pate | 71-68=139 | −1 |
Source:

### Third round

Saturday, August 8, 1981
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
| 1 | Larry Nelson | 70-66-66=202 | −8 |
| 2 | Fuzzy Zoeller | 70-68-68=206 | −4 |
| T3 | Tom Kite | 71-67-69=207 | −3 |
| T3 | Andy North | 69-68-70=207 | −3 |
| T5 | Bob Eastwood | 67-69-72=208 | −2 |
| T5 | Vance Heafner | 68-70-70=208 | −2 |
| T5 | Bob Murphy | 66-69-73=208 | −2 |
| T5 | Greg Norman | 73-67-68=208 | −2 |
| T9 | Isao Aoki | 75-68-66=209 | −1 |
| T9 | Jerry Pate | 71-68-70=209 | −1 |
| T9 | Dan Pohl | 69-67-73=209 | −1 |
Source:

### Final round

Sunday, August 9, 1981
| Place | Player | Score | To par | Money ($) |
| 1 | Larry Nelson | 70-66-66-71=273 | −7 | 60,000 |
| 2 | Fuzzy Zoeller | 70-68-68-71=277 | −3 | 40,000 |
| 3 | Dan Pohl | 69-67-73-69=278 | −2 | 25,000 |
| T4 | Isao Aoki | 75-68-66-70=279 | −1 | 13,146 |
| T4 | Keith Fergus | 71-71-69-68=279 | −1 | 13,146 |
| T4 | Bob Gilder | 74-69-70-66=279 | −1 | 13,146 |
| T4 | Tom Kite | 71-67-69-72=279 | −1 | 13,146 |
| T4 | Bruce Lietzke | 70-70-71-68=279 | −1 | 13,146 |
| T4 | Jack Nicklaus | 71-68-71-69=279 | −1 | 13,146 |
| T4 | Greg Norman | 73-67-68-71=279 | −1 | 13,146 |
Source: