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

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, August 6, 1981 Source:

Second round

Friday, August 7, 1981 Source:

Third round

Saturday, August 8, 1981 Source:

Final round

Sunday, August 9, 1981 Source: