WThe 1978 Eisenhower Trophy took place 18 to 21 October at the Pacific Harbour Golf & Country Club in Navua, Viti Levu, Fiji. It was the 11th World Amateur Team Championship for the Eisenhower Trophy. The tournament was a 72-hole stroke play team event with 24 four-man teams. The best three scores for each round counted towards the team total.
WThe 1978 Espirito Santo Trophy took place 10–13 October at Pacific Harbour Golf & Country Club in Navua, Viti Levu, Fiji. It was the eighth women's golf World Amateur Team Championship for the Espirito Santo Trophy. The tournament was a 72-hole stroke play team event with 14 team entries, each with three players. The best two scores for each round counted towards the team total.
WThe 1978 Masters Tournament was the 42nd Masters Tournament, held April 6–9 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Gary Player overcame a 7-shot deficit going into the final round to win his third Masters and ninth major championship. Player, age 42, shot a record-tying 64 (−8) in the final round to win by one stroke. The runners-up were Rod Funseth, defending champion Tom Watson, and 54-hole leader Hubert Green, the reigning U.S. Open champion, who shot an even-par 72.
WThe 1978 NCAA Division I Golf Championship was the 40th annual NCAA-sanctioned golf tournament to determine the individual and team national champions of men's collegiate golf at the University Division level in the United States.
WThe 1978 Open Championship was the 107th Open Championship, held 12–15 July over the Old Course at St Andrews, Fife, Scotland. Jack Nicklaus won his third and final Open championship, two strokes ahead of runners-up Ben Crenshaw, Raymond Floyd, Tom Kite, and Simon Owen. It was the fifteenth of his eighteen major championships and marked the completion of his third career grand slam.
WThe 1978 PGA Championship was the 60th PGA Championship, played August 3–6 at Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pennsylvania, a suburb northeast of Pittsburgh. John Mahaffey won his only major championship in a sudden-death playoff over Jerry Pate and Tom Watson.
WThe 1978 Tournament Players Championship was a golf tournament in Florida on the PGA Tour, held March 16–19 at Sawgrass Country Club in Ponte Vedra Beach, southeast of Jacksonville. The fifth Tournament Players Championship, it was the second at Sawgrass and Jack Nicklaus won his third TPC title at 289 (+1), one stroke ahead of runner-up Lou Graham. Both shot 75 (+3) in the windy final round and Nicklaus went without a birdie.
WThe 1978 U.S. Open was the 78th U.S. Open, held June 15–18 at Cherry Hills Country Club in Cherry Hills Village, Colorado, a suburb south of Denver. Andy North held on for a one-stroke victory over runners-up Dave Stockton and J. C. Snead to claim the first of his two U.S. Open titles.
WThe 1978 World Cup took place November 30 – December 3 at the Makai Golf Club in Hanalei in Kauaʻi County, Hawaii. It was the 26th World Cup event. The tournament was a 72-hole stroke play team event with 48 teams. Each team consisted of two players from a country. The combined score of each team determined the team results. The United States team of John Mahaffey and Andy North won by ten strokes over the Australian team of Wayne Grady and Greg Norman.