1972 PGA Championship


The 1972 PGA Championship was the 54th PGA Championship, played August 3–6 at Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, a suburb northwest of Detroit. Gary Player won his second PGA Championship with a total of 281, two strokes ahead of runners-up Tommy Aaron and Jim Jamieson. It was the sixth of Player's nine major titles, but his first in over four years.
The PGA Championship returned to the month of August in 1972 after being played in late February in 1971 in Florida.
Defending champion Jack Nicklaus, winner of the year's Masters and U.S. Open and runner-up in the British Open, finished six strokes back in a tie for thirteenth place. He regained the title the following year.
It was the fifth major championship held on the South Course, which previously hosted the U.S. Open in 1924, 1937, 1951, and 1961. It later hosted the PGA Championship in 1979 and 2008, the U.S. Open in 1985 and 1996, and the Ryder Cup in 2004.

Past champions in the field

Made the cut

Missed the cut

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Round summaries

First round

Thursday, August 3, 1972
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
T1Buddy Allin68−2
T1Stan Thirsk68−2
T3Raymond Floyd69−1
T3Larry Gilbert69−1
T3Jerry Heard69−1
T3Jim Jamieson69−1
T3Arnold Palmer69−1
T8Richard Crawford70E
T8Rod Funseth70E
T8Johnny Miller70E
T8Dan Sikes70E
T8Sam Snead70E
T8Jim Wiechers70E

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Second round

Friday, August 4, 1972
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Jerry Heard69-70=139−1
T2Raymond Floyd69-71=140E
T2Hale Irwin71-69=140E
T4Gay Brewer71-70=141+1
T4Jim Jamieson69-72=141+1
T4Bob Smith69-72=141+1
T7Gary Player71-71=142+2
T7Dan Sikes70-72=142+2
T7Lanny Wadkins74-68=142+2
T10Billy Casper73-70=143+3
T10Phil Rodgers71-72=143+3
T10Art Wall Jr.72-71=143+3
T10Jim Wiechers70-73=143+3

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Third round

Saturday, August 5, 1972
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Gary Player71-71-67=209−1
2Billy Casper73-70-67=210E
T3Gay Brewer71-70-70=211+1
T3Jerry Heard69-70-72=211+1
T3Phil Rodgers71-72-68=211+1
T6Tommy Aaron71-71-70=212+2
T6Doug Sanders72-72-68=212+2
T6Jim Wiechers70-73-69=212+2
T6Larry Wise74-71-67=212+2
10Jim Jamieson69-72-72=213+3

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Final round

Sunday, August 6, 1972
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney
1Gary Player71-71-67-72=281+145,000
T2Tommy Aaron71-71-70-71=283+320,850
T2Jim Jamieson69-72-72-70=283+320,850
T4Billy Casper73-70-67-74=284+49,275
T4Raymond Floyd69-71-74-70=284+49,275
T4Sam Snead70-74-71-69=284+49,275
T7Gay Brewer71-70-70-74=285+56,383
T7Jerry Heard69-70-72-74=285+56,383
T7Phil Rodgers71-72-68-74=285+56,383
T7Doug Sanders72-72-68-73=285+56,383

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