PGA National Golf Club at BallenIsles) hosted the PGA Championship in 1971, won by Nicklaus in late February. It also was the site of eight consecutive Senior PGA Championships (1966–1973), and the original qualifying school tournaments for the PGA Tour. An earlier PGA National Golf Club (1944–1962) was on the western side of the state at Dunedin, northwest of Tampa. Designed by noted architect Donald Ross it opened in 1927 as a municipal course. Acquired by the PGA of America in 1944, the course was renamed and hosted the for eighteen consecutive years (1945–1962). The PGA of America moved its national offices from Chicago
1979 PGA Championship match play. It was the sixth major championship held on the South Course, which previously hosted the PGA Championship in 1972 and the U.S. Open in 1924, 1937, 1951, and 1961. It later hosted the U.S. Open in 1985 and 1996, the PGA Championship in 2008, and the Ryder Cup in 2004. This was the third consecutive playoff at the PGA Championship (and nearly the fourth, as the 1976 title was decided by the final putt on the 72nd green). Graham became the second Australian-born player to win the PGA Championship, preceded by Jim Ferrier in 1947. Jerry Pate and