1967 PGA Championship explained

1967 PGA Championship
Dates:July 20–24, 1967
Location:Columbine Valley, Colorado
Course:Columbine Country Club
Org:PGA of America
Tour:PGA Tour
Par:72
Yardage:[1]
Field:143 players, 75 after cut
Cut:151 (+7)
Purse:$148,200[2]
Winners Share:$25,000
Champion: Don January
Score:281 (−7), playoff
Previous:1966
Next:1968

The 1967 PGA Championship was the 49th PGA Championship, played July 20–24 at Columbine Country Club in Columbine Valley, Colorado, a suburb south of Denver. Don January won his only major title in an 18-hole playoff over Don Massengale (69–71).[3] Both had overtaken the leaders with low scores in the fourth round on Sunday.

Columbine was scheduled to host the championship in 1966, but flooding of the course by the South Platte River caused a postponement of a year. Firestone Country Club in Ohio, scheduled to host in 1967, swapped years with Columbine and was the site of the tournament in 1966.[4]

There was a possibility of a boycott of the championship by the top tournament players, due to grievances with the PGA of America. An understanding was achieved several weeks before and the top players entered.[5]

At the time, Columbine was the longest course in major championship history at . The elevation of the course is over 5300feet above sea level, additionally dry and fast conditions shortened its effective length. Tommy Aaron carded a course record 65 in the second round to take a four-stroke lead,[6] but a 76 on Saturday dropped him two back and he fell out of contention on Sunday with a 78. The 54-hole leader was Dan Sikes, the chairman of the tournament players committee,[7] who shot a final round 73 and finished a stroke out of the playoff, in a tie for third with Jack Nicklaus.[1]

This was the second and final 18-hole Monday playoff at the PGA Championship, formerly a match play event through 1957. The next playoff was ten years later in 1977 and the format was changed to sudden-death, immediately following the fourth round. It was later changed to a three-hole aggregate format, first used in 2000.

The Open Championship was played the previous week near Liverpool, England, one of five times in the 1960s that these two majors were played in consecutive weeks in July. The PGA Championship moved permanently to August in 1969, where it remained through 2018 (except 1971, when it was played in late February). In 2019, the tournament moved to the weekend before Memorial Day.

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, July 20, 1967

PlacePlayerScoreTo par
1 66−6
2 67 −5
T3 69 −3
Julius Boros
Davis Love Jr.
T7 70 −2
Rich Bassett
Bob Goalby
Don Massengale
Arnold Palmer
Mike Souchak

Second round

Friday, July 21, 1967

PlacePlayerScoreTo par
1 70-65=135 −9
T2 69-70=139 −5
66-73=139
69-70=139
5 70-71=141 −3
6 67-75=142 −2
T7 Bill Bisdorf 72-71=143 −1
74-69=143
71-72=143
72-71=143
70-73=143
73-70=143
Source:[6]

Third round

Saturday, July 22, 1967

PlacePlayerScoreTo par
1 69-70-70=209 −7
T2 70-65-76=211 −5
67-75-69=211
4 70-74-68=212−4
T5 73-71-69=213 −3
66-73-74=213
71-72-70=213
70-71-72=213
71-71-71=213
70-73-70=213
Source:[7]

Final round

Sunday, July 23, 1967

PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)
T1 71-72-70-68=281 −7 Playoff
70-75-70-66=281
T3 67-75-69-71=282 −6 9,000
69-70-70-73=282
T5 69-76-70-68=283 −5 6,500
73-71-69-70=283
T7 71-74-70-70=285 −3 4,750
69-70-76-70=285
70-74-68-73=285
73-72-71-69=285
Source:[1]

Playoff

Monday, July 24, 1967

PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)
align=center 1 Don January 36-33=69align=center −3align=center 25,000
align=center 236-35=71align=center −1align=center 15,000

Scorecard

Hole 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 101112131415161718
Par453444354 345544344
JanuaryEEE+1+1+1+1EE−1−1−2−2−3−4−4−3−3
MassengaleEEEE−1−1EEEEE−1−1−2−2−2−1−1
Double EagleEagle -->BirdieBogeyDouble bogeyTriple bogey+ -->
Source:[8]

External links

39.6°N -105.036°W

Notes and References

  1. News: Texans Massengale, January tie in down-to-wire PGA final round . Spokesman-Review. Associated Press . July 24, 1967 . 10.
  2. Web site: Tournament Info for: 1967 PGA Championship . PGA of America . July 14, 2012 . August 1, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120801154931/http://www.pgamediaguide.com/pgachampionship_detail.cfm?tournament_id=393&date=1967&tourn_name_id=2 . dead .
  3. News: January breaks playoff jinx to win PGA by two strokes . Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. July 25, 1967 .
  4. Two Dons In Quest Of A Title . . Wright . Alfred . July 31, 1967 . 18 . January 2, 2013.
  5. News: Pro golfers settle odds with PGA . Eugene Register-Guard. Associated Press . July 6, 1967 . 1C .
  6. News: Aaron erases course record . Eugene Register-Guard . Associated Press . July 22, 1967 . 1B .
  7. News: PGA rebel grabs lead . Eugene Register-Guard . Associated Press . July 23, 1967 . 1B .
  8. News: January Beats Massengale in PGA Playoff . . . Associated Press . July 25, 1967 . 16 . January 2, 2013.