1966 PGA Championship


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 shrunk 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.

Past champions in the field

Made the cut

Missed the cut

Source:

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, July 21, 1966
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
T1Al Geiberger68−2
T1Sam Snead68−2
T3Julius Boros69−1
T3Don January69−1
T3Doug Sanders69−1
6Jacky Cupit70E
T7Tommy Aaron71+1
T7Larry Beck71+1
T7Jim Ferrier
71+1
T7Jack Fleck71+1
T7Walker Inman71+1

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Second round

Friday, July 22, 1966
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Sam Snead68-71=139−1
T2Al Geiberger68-72=140E
T2Don January69-71=140E
4Julius Boros69-72=141+1
T5Tommy Aaron71-72=143+3
T5Jacky Cupit70-73=143+3
T5Billy Farrell73-70=143+3
T5Gary Player73-70=143+3
T5Doug Sanders69-74=143+3
10Dow Finsterwald74-70=144+4

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Third round

Saturday, July 23, 1966
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Al Geiberger68-72-68=208−2
2Dudley Wysong74-72-66=212+2
T3Don January69-71-73=213+3
T3Gary Player73-70-70=213+3
T5Frank Beard73-72-69=214+4
T5Billy Farrell73-70-71=214+4
T5Sam Snead68-71-75=214+4
T8Julius Boros69-72-75=216+6
T8Billy Casper73-73-70=216+6
T8Jacky Cupit70-73-73=216+6

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Final round

Sunday, July 24, 1966
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney
1Al Geiberger68-72-68-72=280E25,000
2Dudley Wysong74-72-66-72=284+415,000
T3Billy Casper73-73-70-70=286+68,334
T3Gene Littler75-71-71-69=286+68,334
T3Gary Player73-70-70-73=286+68,334
T6Julius Boros69-72-75-71=287+75,000
T6Jacky Cupit70-73-73-71=287+75,000
T6Arnold Palmer75-73-71-68=287+75,000
T6Doug Sanders69-74-73-71=287+75,000
T6Sam Snead68-71-75-73=287+75,000

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.