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1966 PGA Championship

FieldValue
name1966 PGA Championship
datesJuly 21–24, 1966
locationAkron, Ohio
courseFirestone Country Club
South Course
orgPGA of America
tourPGA Tour
par70
yardage7180 yd
field162 players, 77 after cut
cut151 (+11)
purse$149,360
winners_share$25,000
championUSA Al Geiberger
score280 (Even)
previous[1965](1965-pga-championship)
next[1967](1967-pga-championship)

South Course |USA |USA Ohio The 1966 PGA Championship was the 48th PGA Championship, played July 21–24 at the South Course of Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio. Al Geiberger won his only major championship, four strokes ahead of runner-up Dudley Wysong.

Sam Snead, age 54, was co-leader and leader after the first two days, but shot 75 in the third round on Saturday. Geiberger carded a two-under 68 to lead by four strokes over Wysong, who shot a 66. Both shot two-over 72 on Sunday as both bogeyed the first two holes. The lead shrank to two as Wysong birdied the third while Geiberger bogeyed the fourth, but then birdied the fifth and ninth holes to regain the four-stroke advantage.

The 1966 championship was originally scheduled to be held at Columbine Country Club in Columbine Valley, Colorado, a suburb south of Denver. A flash flood of the adjacent South Platte River in June 1965 caused significant damage to the course and forced a postponement. Firestone was scheduled to host in 1967, so the venues swapped years.

This was the second of three PGA Championships at the South Course, which previously hosted in 1960 and later in 1975. It is the current venue for the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, which began in 1976 as the "World Series of Golf" on the PGA Tour, preceded by the American Golf Classic, which debuted in 1961.

Course layout

Hole123456789Out101112131415161718InTotal
**Yards**400500450465230465225450465**3,650**405365180460410230625390465**3,530****7,180**
**Par**454434344**35**443443544**35****70**

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, July 21, 1966

PlacePlayerScoreTo par
T1USA Al Geiberger68−2
USA Sam Snead
T3USA Julius Boros69−1
USA Don January
USA Doug Sanders
6USA Jacky Cupit70E
T7USA Tommy Aaron71+1
USA Larry Beck
AUS Jim Ferrier
USA Jack Fleck
USA Walker Inman

Source:

Second round

Friday, July 22, 1966

PlacePlayerScoreTo par
1USA Sam Snead68-71=139−1
T2USA Al Geiberger68-72=140E
USA Don January69-71=140
4USA Julius Boros69-72=141+1
T5USA Tommy Aaron71-72=143+3
USA Jacky Cupit70-73=143
USA Billy Farrell73-70=143
ZAF Gary Player73-70=143
USA Doug Sanders69-74=143
10USA Dow Finsterwald74-70=144+4

Source:

Third round

Saturday, July 23, 1966

PlacePlayerScoreTo par
1USA Al Geiberger68-72-68=208−2
2USA Dudley Wysong74-72-66=212+2
T3USA Don January69-71-73=213+3
ZAF Gary Player73-70-70=213
T5USA Frank Beard73-72-69=214+4
USA Billy Farrell73-70-71=214
USA Sam Snead68-71-75=214
T8USA Julius Boros69-72-75=216+6
USA Billy Casper73-73-70=216
USA Jacky Cupit70-73-73=216

Source:

Final round

Sunday, July 24, 1966

PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)
1USA **Al Geiberger**68-72-68-72=280E25,000
2USA Dudley Wysong74-72-66-72=284+415,000
T3USA Billy Casper73-73-70-70=286+68,334
USA Gene Littler75-71-71-69=286
ZAF Gary Player73-70-70-73=286
T6USA Julius Boros69-72-75-71=287+75,000
USA Jacky Cupit70-73-73-71=287
USA Arnold Palmer75-73-71-68=287
USA Doug Sanders69-74-73-71=287
USA Sam Snead68-71-75-73=287

Source:

Lema and wife killed

Hours after the championship's conclusion on Sunday, Tony Lema and his wife Betty were among four fatalities in a chartered private plane crash near the Indiana-Illinois border. Lema, age 32, had finished tied for 34th and was heading west to a Monday tournament in the Chicago area. Both pilots of the twin-engine Beechcraft Bonanza were also killed as they attempted an emergency landing on a golf course in Lansing, Illinois, near the destination airport.

References

References

  1. "Tournament Info for: 1966 PGA Championship". PGA.com.
  2. Jenkins, Dan. (August 1, 1966). "A happy stroll for golf's smiling Gei".
  3. Mooshil, Joe. (July 25, 1966). "Geiberger's par-matching 280 captures PGA title at Akron Firestone". Youngstown Vindicator.
  4. (July 24, 1966). "Geiberger grabs lead from Sam". Eugene Register-Guard.
  5. (July 25, 1966). "Lema's death shocks golf world, we were like brothers, says Ken". Eugene Register-Guard.
  6. Wright, Alfred. (July 31, 1967). "Two Dons in quest of a title".
  7. (July 22, 1966). "Snead, Geiberger lead PGA with 68s". Milwaukee Sentinel.
  8. (July 23, 1966). "Swinging, not slamming Sammy holds PGA lead". Eugene Register-Guard.
  9. (July 24, 1966). "Geiberger grabs lead from Sam". Eugene Register-Guard.
  10. (July 26, 1966). "Lema plane crash probed". Milwaukee Sentinel.
  11. (July 26, 1966). "Lema crash probed by aviation group". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
  12. Fimrite, Ron. (July 31, 1995). "The Toast Of Golf".
  13. (July 26, 1966). "Muncie, Ind., crash probed". Eugene Register-Guard.
Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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