50 years ago: Dave Stockton credits this unbelievable break for PGA win

Fifty years ago, Dave Stockton won the PGA Championship at Congressional Country Club in bell-bottom trousers and rocked some groovy sideburns as he holed a clutch 15-foot par putt to secure the title. No one was more surprised to be going home with the Wanamaker Trophy than the champion. “My first thought was I can’t believe I won it," Stockton recalled.

"My second thought was there must be 20 guys shooting themselves that they should’ve won this tournament and then the other thought that hit me is I’m going to be Ryder Cup captain someday. ” Stockton benefited from an incredible break that would no longer exist to help him. In the final round, Stockton played the first five holes in 3-over but severe thunderstorms in Bethesda, Maryland, a suburb northwest of Washington, D.

C. , halted play with the final group able to play just three holes on Sunday. Officials wiped out the partial scores and restarted the round fresh the following day.

Stockon, who had been among those advocating to continue amid the adverse conditions, played the first five holes when the tournament resumed under sunny skies on Monday in 2 under. It was a five-stroke swing. “If it hadn't rained Sunday, I don't think I would have been in the top 10 or even top 15," he claimed all these years later.