1971 PGA Championship
Tournament information
DatesFebruary 25–28, 1971
LocationPalm Beach Gardens, Florida
Course(s)PGA National Golf Club,
(now BallenIsles
Country Club, East Course)[1]
Organized byPGA of America
Tour(s)PGA Tour
Statistics
Par72
Length7,096 yards (6,489 m)
Field144 players, 81 after cut[2]
Cut149 (+5)
Prize fund$202,440[2]
Winner's share$40,000
Champion
United States Jack Nicklaus
281 (−7)
← 1970
1972 →
PGA National is located in the United States
PGA National
PGA National
Location in the United States
PGA National is located in Florida
PGA National
PGA National
Location in Florida

The 1971 PGA Championship was the 53rd PGA Championship, played February 25–28 at the original PGA National Golf Club, presently known as BallenIsles Country Club (East Course)[2][3] in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

Jack Nicklaus won the second of his five PGA Championships, two strokes ahead of Billy Casper, the reigning Masters champion. Nicklaus led wire-to-wire,[4][5] and held a four-stroke lead over Gary Player after 54 holes, with Casper seven shots back.[6] The two were pre-tournament favorites, along with Arnold Palmer,[7] who shot an opening round 75 and finished at 289 (+1), eight strokes back.[8]

Nicklaus became the first in history to complete the modern career Grand Slam for a second time; two victories in each of the four major championships.[8] He completed his third career grand slam at the 1978 Open Championship.

The championship was played in February rather than August, due to anticipated oppressive summer weather in Florida. The rescheduling changed the PGA Championship from the fourth and final major of the calendar year to the first in 1971, and the 1970 and 1971 editions were consecutive majors. It returned to August in 1972 at Oakland Hills in Michigan.[9]

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, February 25, 1971

Place Player Score To par
1 United States Jack Nicklaus 69 −3
T2 New Zealand Bob Charles 70 −2
United States Bob Goalby
United States Bobby Mitchell
T5 United States Bradley Anderson 71 −1
United States Deane Beman
United States Julius Boros
United States Billy Casper
Australia Bruce Devlin
United States Larry Hinson
United States Johnny Miller
South Africa Gary Player
United States Sam Snead
United States Lee Trevino
United States Bert Yancey

Source:[4]

Second round

Friday, February 26, 1971

Place Player Score To par
1 United States Jack Nicklaus 69-69=138 −6
2 United States Miller Barber 72-68=140 −4
3 United States Gibby Gilbert 74-67=141 −3
T4 United States Gene Borek 72-70=142 −2
Australia Bruce Devlin 71-71=142
United States Lionel Hebert 72-70=142
United States Bob Lunn 72-70=142
United States Bob Murphy 74-68=142
United States Tom Weiskopf 72-70=142
United States Larry Ziegler 74-68=142

Source:[10]

Third round

Saturday, February 27, 1971

Place Player Score To par
1 United States Jack Nicklaus 69-69-70=208 −8
2 South Africa Gary Player 71-73-68=212 −4
3 United States Gibby Gilbert 74-67-72=213 −3
T4 United States Miller Barber 72-68-75=215 −1
United States Tommy Bolt 72-74-69=215
United States Gene Borek 72-70-73=215
United States Billy Casper 71-73-71=215
New Zealand Bob Charles 70-75-70=215
United States Bob Lunn 72-70-73=215
United States Bert Yancey 71-74-70=215

Source:[6]

Final leaderboard

Sunday, February 28, 1971

Place Player Score To par Money ($)
1 United States Jack Nicklaus 69-69-70-73=281 −7 40,000
2 United States Billy Casper 71-73-71-68=283 −5 22,800
3 United States Tommy Bolt 72-74-69-69=284 −4 14,200
T4 United States Miller Barber 72-68-75-70=285 −3 8,800
South Africa Gary Player 71-73-68-73=285
T6 United States Gibby Gilbert 74-67-72-73=286 −2 6,500
United States Dave Hill 74-71-71-70=286
United States Jim Jamieson 72-72-72-70=286
T9 United States Jerry Heard 73-71-72-71=287 −1 4,800
United States Bob Lunn 72-70-73-72=287
United States Fred Marti 72-71-74-70=287
United States Bob Rosburg 74-72-70-71=287

Source:[8][11]

References

  1. ^ "Golf". BallenIsles Country Club. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
  2. ^ a b c "Tournament Info for: 1971 PGA Championship". PGA of America. Archived from the original on August 9, 2012. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
  3. ^ "Club history". BallenIsles Country Club. Archived from the original on August 16, 2012. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
  4. ^ a b "Jack Nicklaus takes lead in PGA golf tournament". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. February 26, 1971. p. 19.
  5. ^ "Nicklaus takes 2-stroke lead in PGA". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. February 27, 1971. p. 12.
  6. ^ a b "Nicklaus runs four birds to increase his PGA lead". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. February 28, 1971. p. 15.
  7. ^ "Palmer, Nicklaus PGA co-favorites". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Idaho. Associated Press. February 25, 1971. p. 17.
  8. ^ a b c Loomis, Tom (March 1, 1971). "Jack the giant killer - 2nd PGA falls to Nicklaus". Toledo Blade. Ohio. p. 15.
  9. ^ Jenkins, Dan (March 8, 1971). "Dominance of the Smiling Bear". Sports Illustrated. p. 22. Retrieved August 12, 2011.
  10. ^ "Sports scoreboard: Golf". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. Associated Press. February 27, 1971. p. 3B.
  11. ^ "1971 PGA Championship". databasegolf.com. Retrieved August 23, 2013.

External links

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1971 Men's major golf championships
PGA Championships
PGA Tour on ABC
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