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  • 21 Aug, 2019

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1963 PGA Championship

The 1963 PGA Championship was the 45th PGA Championship, played July 18–21 at the Blue Course of Dallas Athletic Club in Dallas, Texas. Jack Nicklaus won the first of his five PGA Championship titles, two strokes ahead of runner-up Dave Ragan. It was the second major win of the year for Nicklaus, and the third of his eighteen major titles.

Nicklaus entered the final round in third place, three shots behind 54-hole leader Bruce Crampton. He shot a three-under 68 while Crampton fell back to third with 74 (+3) in the Texas heat, with temperatures over 100 °F (38 °C). At the trophy presentation in the bright sunshine, Nicklaus grasped the very hot Wanamaker Trophy with the aid of a towel. The temperature in downtown Dallas on Sunday reached a high of 110 °F (43 °C).

With the victory, Nicklaus at age 23 joined Gene Sarazen, Byron Nelson, and Ben Hogan as the only winners of all three American majors: the Masters, U.S. Open and PGA Championship. Nicklaus completed the first of his three career grand slams three years later at Muirfield in 1966.

The Open Championship was played the previous week in northwest England at Lytham St Annes, one of five times in the 1960s that these two majors were played in consecutive weeks in July. Nicklaus bogeyed the last two holes at Lytham and finished a stroke out of the 36-hole Saturday playoff, won by Bob Charles. The PGA Championship moved permanently to August in 1969 (except 1971, when it was played in late February to avoid Florida's summer). After cool temperatures in Britain, the oppressive July heat in Dallas was difficult for many to adjust to.

Nicklaus won the Masters in April, the first of his six green jackets, marking only the third time that the Masters champion won the PGA Championship in the same calendar year. He was preceded by Sam Snead in 1949 (May) and Jack Burke Jr. in 1956. Through 2016, it has been accomplished only four times, twice by Nicklaus, most recently 49 years ago in August 1975.

On Wednesday, Nicklaus set a record in the long drive contest at over 341 yards (312 m); breaking the record set in 1952 by twelve yards (11 m).

Course layout

Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Out 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 In Total
Yards 521 407 356 573 206 396 229 445 402 3,535 474 428 543 206 459 424 216 341 420 3,511 7,046
Par 5 4 4 5 3 4 3 4 4 36 4 4 5 3 4 4 3 4 4 35 71

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, July 18, 1963

Place Player Score To par
1 United States Dick Hart 66 −5
T2 United States Julius Boros 69 −2
New Zealand Bob Charles
United States Shelley Mayfield
United States Jack Nicklaus
United States Mason Rudolph
T7 United States Charles Congdon 70 −1
Australia Bruce Crampton
United States Doug Ford
United States Bernie Haas
United States Tony Lema
United States Earl Stewart

Source:

Second round

Friday, July 19, 1963

Place Player Score To par
1 United States Dick Hart 66-72=138 −4
T2 United States Julius Boros 69-72=141 −1
United States Tony Lema 70-71=141
United States Shelley Mayfield 69-72=141
T5 Spain Manuel de la Torre 71-71=142 E
United States Doug Ford 70-72=142
United States Jack Nicklaus 69-73=142
T8 Australia Bruce Crampton 70-73=143 +1
United States Bill Johnston 71-72=143
United States Gene Littler 71-72=143
United States Doug Sanders 74-69=143

Source:

Third round

Saturday, July 20, 1963

Place Player Score To par
1 Australia Bruce Crampton 70-73-65=208 −5
2 United States Dow Finsterwald 72-72-66=210 −3
3 United States Jack Nicklaus 69-73-69=211 −2
4 United States Dave Ragan 75-70-67=212 −1
T5 United States Doug Ford 70-72-71=213 E
United States Billy Maxwell 73-71-69=213
United States Doug Sanders 74-69-70=213
T8 United States Julius Boros 69-72-73=214 +1
United States Al Geiberger 72-73-69=214
United States Dick Hart 66-72-76=214
United States Dave Hill 73-72-69=214
United States Sam Snead 71-73-70=214

Source:

Final round

Sunday, July 21, 1963

Place Player Score To par Money ($)
1 United States Jack Nicklaus 69-73-69-68=279 −5 13,000
2 United States Dave Ragan 75-70-67-69=281 −3 7,000
T3 Australia Bruce Crampton 70-73-65-74=282 −2 3,750
United States Dow Finsterwald 72-72-66-72=282
T5 United States Al Geiberger 72-73-69-70=284 E 3,125
United States Billy Maxwell 73-71-69-71=284
7 Australia Jim Ferrier 73-73-70-69=285 +1 2,750
T8 United States Gardner Dickinson 72-74-74-66=286 +2 2,090
United States Tommy Jacobs 74-72-70-70=286
United States Bill Johnston 71-72-72-71=286
South Africa Gary Player 74-75-67-70=286
United States Art Wall Jr. 73-76-66-71=286

Source:

References

  1. ^ "Crampton snatches PGA lead". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. July 21, 1963. p. 1B.
  2. ^ "Tournament Info for: 1963 PGA Championship". PGA.com. Archived from the original on August 1, 2012. Retrieved July 18, 2012.
  3. ^ Bartlett, Charles (July 22, 1963). "Nicklaus wins P.G.A. on 30-foot putt". Chicago Tribune. p. 1, sec. 3.
  4. ^ Petersen, Leo (July 22, 1963). "Birdie putt on 15th clinches PGA tourney victory for Nicklaus at Dallas". Youngstown Vindicator. (Ohio). UPI. p. 19.
  5. ^ Wright, Alfred (July 29, 1963). "Hottest man in a furnace". Sports Illustrated. p. 16.
  6. ^ Bartlett, Charles (July 21, 1963). "Crampton leads P.G.A. meet on 208". Chicago Tribune. p. 1, sec. 2.
  7. ^ "Nicklaus fires final round 68, wins PGA". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. July 22, 1963. p. 21.
  8. ^ "The making of a major". Golf. Retrieved April 13, 2017.
  9. ^ "Nicklaus wins PGA title". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. July 22, 1963. p. 3B.
  10. ^ Brown, Gwilym S. (July 22, 1963). "The Ham and the Knife". Sports Illustrated. pp. 10–11, 43–45.
  11. ^ "Nicklaus drive of 341 yards wins contest". Chicago Tribune. Associated Press. July 18, 1963. p. 5, sec. 3.
  12. ^ Bartlett, Charles (July 19, 1963). "Hinsdale gets ace, 66, P.G.A. lead". Chicago Tribune. p. 1, sec. 3.
  13. ^ "Hart takes early lead in PGA, shoots ace, 66". Palm Beach Post. Associated Press. July 19, 1963. p. 25.
  14. ^ "PGA Scores". Palm Beach Post. Associated Press. July 20, 1963. p. 14.

32°50′28″N 96°38′42″W / 32.841°N 96.645°W / 32.841; -96.645