1966 PGA Championship

1966 PGA Championship
Tournament information
Dates	July 21–24, 1966
Location	Akron, Ohio
Course(s)	Firestone Country Club South Course
Organized by	PGA of America
Tour(s)	PGA Tour
Statistics
Par	70
Length	7,180 yards (6,565 m)
Field	162 players, 76 after cut
Cut	151 (+11)
Prize fund	$149,360^[1]
Winner's share	$25,000
Champion
Al Geiberger
280 (Even)
«1965 1967»

Firestone CC

Location in the United States

Firestone CC

Location in 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.^[2]^[3]

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.^[4] 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.^[5]

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.^[6]

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

Player	Country	Year(s) won	R1	R2	R3	R4	Total	To par	Finish
Gary Player	South Africa	1962	73	70	70	73	286	+6	T3
Sam Snead	United States	1942, 1949, 1951	68	71	75	73	287	+7	T6
Dow Finsterwald	United States	1958	74	70	73	72	289	+9	T12
Jay Hebert	United States	1960	75	73	70	71	289	+9	T12
Dave Marr	United States	1965	75	75	68	73	291	+11	T18
Jack Nicklaus	United States	1963	75	71	75	71	292	+12	T22
Bob Rosburg	United States	1959	73	76	69	79	297	+17	T43
Jim Ferrier	Australia	1947	71	79	76	72	298	+18	T49
Lionel Hebert	United States	1957	75	74	75	77	301	+21	T64
Jack Burke, Jr.	United States	1956	75	76	79	72	302	+22	T66
Jerry Barber	United States	1961	73	78	84	WD

Missed the cut

Player	Country	Year(s) won	R1	R2	Total	To par
Chick Harbert	United States	1954	75	77	152	+12
Walter Burkemo	United States	1953	74	79	153	+13
Doug Ford	United States	1955	76	77	153	+13
Jim Turnesa	United States	1952	80	73	153	+13
Denny Shute	United States	1936, 1937	77	80	157	+17
Bobby Nichols	United States	1964	81	78	159	+19
Vic Ghezzi	United States	1941	74	WD

Source:^[1]

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, July 21, 1966

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
T1	Al Geiberger	United States	68	−2
T1	Sam Snead	United States	68	−2
T3	Julius Boros	United States	69	−1
	Don January	United States
	Doug Sanders	United States
6	Jacky Cupit	United States	70	E
T7	Tommy Aaron	United States	71	+1
	Larry Beck	United States
	Jim Ferrier	Australia United States
	Jack Fleck	United States
	Walker Inman	United States

Source:^[7]

Second round

Friday, July 22, 1966

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
1	Sam Snead	United States	68-71=139	−1
T2	Al Geiberger	United States	68-72=140	E
T2	Don January	United States	69-71=140	E
4	Julius Boros	United States	69-72=141	+1
T5	Tommy Aaron	United States	71-72=143	+3
	Jacky Cupit	United States	70-73=143
	Billy Farrell	United States	73-70=143
	Gary Player	South Africa	73-70=143
	Doug Sanders	United States	69-74=143
10	Dow Finsterwald	United States	74-70=144	+4

Source:^[8]

Third round

Saturday, July 23, 1966

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
1	Al Geiberger	United States	68-72-68=208	E
2	Dudley Wysong	United States	74-72-66=212	+2
T3	Don January	United States	69-71-73=213	+3
T3	Gary Player	South Africa	73-70-70=213	+3
T5	Frank Beard	United States	73-72-69=214	+4
	Billy Farrell	United States	73-70-71=214
	Sam Snead	United States	68-71-75=214
T8	Julius Boros	United States	69-72-75=216	+6
	Billy Casper	United States	73-73-70=216
	Jacky Cupit	United States	70-73-73=216

Source:^[9]

Final round

Sunday, July 24, 1966

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par	Money ($)
1	Al Geiberger	United States	68-72-68-72=280	E	25,000
2	Dudley Wysong	United States	74-72-66-72=284	+4	15,000
T3	Billy Casper	United States	73-73-70-70=286	+6	8,334
	Gene Littler	United States	75-71-71-69=286
	Gary Player	South Africa	73-70-70-73=286
T6	Julius Boros	United States	69-72-75-71=287	+7	5,000
	Jacky Cupit	United States	70-73-73-71=287
	Arnold Palmer	United States	75-73-71-68=287
	Doug Sanders	United States	69-74-73-71=287
	Sam Snead	United States	68-71-75-73=287

Source:^[3]

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.^[10]^[11]^[12]^[13]

References

1 2 "Tournament Info for: 1966 PGA Championship". PGA.com. Retrieved December 31, 2012.
↑ Jenkins, Dan (August 1, 1966). "A happy stroll for golf's smiling Gei". Sports Illustrated. p. 16.
1 2 Mooshil, Joe (July 25, 1966). "Geiberger's par-matching 280 captures PGA title at Akron Firestone". Youngstown Vindicator. Ohio. Associated Press. p. 20.
↑ "Geiberger grabs lead from Sam". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. Associated Press. July 24, 1966. p. 1B.
↑ "Lema's death shocks golf world, we were like brothers, says Ken". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. wire services. July 25, 1966. p. 2B.
↑ Wright, Alfred (July 31, 1967). "Two Dons in quest of a title". Sports Illustrated. p. 18.
↑ "Snead, Geiberger lead PGA with 68s". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. July 22, 1966. p. 2, part 2.
↑ "Swinging, not slamming Sammy holds PGA lead". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. Associated Press. July 23, 1966. p. 1B.
↑ "Geiberger grabs lead from Sam". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. Associated Press. July 24, 1966. p. 1B.
↑ "Lema plane crash probed". Milwaukee Sentinel. UPI. July 26, 1966. p. 2, part 2.
↑ "Lema crash probed by aviation group". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. July 26, 1966. p. 19.
↑ Fimrite, Ron (July 31, 1995). "The Toast Of Golf". Sports Illustrated: G14.
↑ "Muncie, Ind., crash probed". Eugene Register-Guard. wire reports. July 26, 1966. p. 3B.

External links

PGA Media Guide 2012
About.com: – 1966 PGA Championship
PGA.com – 1966 PGA Championship

Preceded by 1966 Open Championship	Major Championships	Succeeded by 1967 Masters

1966 Men's Major Golf Championships

The Masters U.S. Open The Open Championship PGA Championship

PGA Championships

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1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929

1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939

1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949

1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959

1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969

1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979

1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989

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Kraft Nabisco Championships

Other past events

Bob Hope Chrysler Classic (1999–2002, 2004–2006)
Buick Invitational (2005)
Nissan Open (2003–2006)
WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship (1999–2006)
John Deere Classic (2004–2006)
Memorial Tournament (1988–1998)
FedEx St. Jude Classic (1999–2003)
Compaq Classic (1999–2002)
The Barclays Classic (1999–2006)
Booz Allen Classic (2003–2006)
Buick Championship (2000-2002, 2006)
Deutsche Bank Championship (2003–2006)
WGC-American Express Championship (1999–2006)
Chrysler Classic of Greensboro (2003–2006)
Las Vegas Invitational (2001–2006)
Walt Disney World Golf Classic (1998–2006)
Tampa Bay Championship (2003–2006)
The Tour Championship (1991–2006)
Battle at the Bridges (1999–2005)
WGC-EMC World Cup (2000–2006)
Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge (1999–2008)
Skins Game (1991-2008)
Target World Challenge (2001–2006)

Key figures

Music composers	Barry White ("Love's Theme") Non Stop Music Bob Christianson

Television contract history
ABC's Wide World of Sports (1966-1996)
Golf on ESPN

Coordinates: 41°00′29″N 81°30′29″W / 41.008°N 81.508°W / 41.008; -81.508

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