1965 PGA Championship

The 1965 PGA Championship was the 47th PGA Championship, played August 12–15 at Laurel Valley Golf Club in Ligonier, Pennsylvania, a suburb southeast of Pittsburgh. Dave Marr won his only major championship, two strokes ahead of runners-up Billy Casper and Jack Nicklaus.[2][3][4]

1965 PGA Championship

Tournament information
Dates	August 12–15, 1965
Location	Ligonier, Pennsylvania
Course(s)	Laurel Valley Golf Club
Organized by	PGA of America
Tour(s)	PGA Tour
Statistics
Par	71
Length	7,090 yards (6,483 m)
Field	165 players, 77 after cut
Cut	151 (+9)
Prize fund	$149,700[1]
Winner's share	$25,000
Champion
Dave Marr
280 (−4)

Laurel Valley Golf Club

Location in United States

Laurel Valley Golf Club

Location in Pennsylvania

Marr was the co-leader after 54 holes with Tommy Aaron, a stroke ahead of Gardner Dickinson and two shots ahead of major champions Nicklaus and Casper.[5] Aaron shot 78 and Dickinson 74 on Sunday, while Marr matched an even-par 71 with Nicklaus and Casper.[6]

Not far from his hometown of Latrobe, Laurel Valley was co-founded by Arnold Palmer in 1959,[7][8] who had another disappointing major in his home state and finished 14 strokes back, tied for 33rd.[9] Three years earlier, he lost an 18-hole playoff to Nicklaus in the U.S. Open at Oakmont near Pittsburgh, then finished tied for 17th five weeks later at the PGA Championship at Aronimink, outside Philadelphia. (Palmer won the other two majors of 1962, the Masters and the Open Championship, but never won the PGA Championship for a career grand slam.)

After the practice rounds, a 60-foot (18 m) fir tree was installed on the par-5 third hole to prevent corner-cutting from the tee to an adjacent fairway, over the objections of the club professional.[9][10][11][12]

This was the final PGA Championship appearance for two-time champion Ben Hogan, age 53, who tied for 15th place. After his near-fatal auto accident in early 1949, Hogan's legs could not withstand the grueling match play schedule and he did not play again in the championship until it became a stroke play event. He missed the 54-hole cut by a stroke in 1960 and tied for ninth place in 1964. Hogan won the title as a match play event in 1946 and 1948. Twenty former champions were in the field and twelve made the cut. Palmer was assessed a two-stroke penalty in both of the first two rounds and was at 147 (+5), ten shots back.[12]

A decade later, Laurel Valley hosted the Ryder Cup in 1975, the last Ryder Cup held in the U.S. without players from continental Europe.

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	440	400	540	431	216	505	375	238	455	3,600	412	535	433	397	190	375	448	230	470	3,490	7,090
Par	4	4	5	4	3	5	4	3	4	36	4	5	4	4	3	4	4	3	4	35	71

Source:[13]

Past champions in the field

Made the cut

Player	Country	Year(s) won	R1	R2	R3	R4	Total	To par	Finish
Jack Nicklaus	United States	1963	69	70	72	71	282	−2	T2
Sam Snead	United States	1942, 1949, 1951	68	75	70	72	285	+1	T6
Jack Burke, Jr.	United States	1956	75	71	72	69	287	+3	T8
Ben Hogan	United States	1946, 1948	72	75	70	72	289	+5	T15
Doug Ford	United States	1955	73	70	77	72	292	+8	T20
Gary Player	South Africa	1962	74	72	74	74	294	+10	T33
Walter Burkemo	United States	1953	72	77	73	73	295	+11	T41
Vic Ghezzi	United States	1941	73	77	74	74	298	+14	T49
Lionel Hebert	United States	1957	73	73	76	76	298	+14	T49
Jay Hebert	United States	1960	72	73	78	77	300	+16	T54
Bobby Nichols	United States	1964	74	75	77	74	300	+16	T54
Dow Finsterwald	United States	1958	73	78	77	75	303	+19	T63

Missed the cut

Player	Country	Year(s) won	R1	R2	Total	To par
Jim Ferrier	Australia	1947	79	73	152	+10
Chick Harbert	United States	1954	76	76	152	+10
Jim Turnesa	United States	1952	74	78	152	+10
Jerry Barber	United States	1961	76	77	153	+11
Henry Picard	United States	1939	75	81	156	+14
Bob Rosburg	United States	1959	78	79	157	+15
Denny Shute	United States	1936, 1937	82	81	163	+21
Paul Runyan	United States	1934, 1938	84	WD

Source:[1]

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, August 12, 1965

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
1	Tommy Aaron	United States	66	−5
T2	Gardner Dickinson	United States	67	−4
	Mason Rudolph	United States
T4	Bruce Devlin	Australia	68	−3
	Raymond Floyd	United States
	Sam Snead	United States
7	Jack Nicklaus	United States	69	−2
T8	Billy Casper	United States	70	−1
	Dave Marr	United States
	Mike Souchak	United States
	Wynsol Spencer	United States

Source:[14]

Second round

Friday, August 13, 1965

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
1	Tommy Aaron	United States	66-71=137	−5
T2	Dave Marr	United States	70-69=139	−3
	Jack Nicklaus	United States	69-70=139
4	Billy Casper	United States	70-70=140	−2
T5	Gardner Dickinson	United States	67-74=141	−1
	Raymond Floyd	United States	68-73=141
T7	Don Bies	United States	71-71=142	E
	R. H. Sikes	United States	71-71=142
	Mike Souchak	United States	70-72=142
T10	Bruce Devlin	Australia	68-75=143	+2
	Doug Ford	United States	73-70=143
	Mason Rudolph	United States	67-76=143
	Sam Snead	United States	68-75=143

Source:[12]

Third round

Saturday, August 14, 1965

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par
T1	Tommy Aaron	United States	66-71-72=209	−4
	Dave Marr	United States	70-69-70=209
3	Gardner Dickinson	United States	67-74-69=210	−3
T4	Billy Casper	United States	70-70-71=211	−2
	Jack Nicklaus	United States	69-70-72=211
T6	Raymond Floyd	United States	68-73-72=213	E
	R. H. Sikes	United States	71-71-71=213
	Sam Snead	United States	68-75-70=213
9	Bob McCallister	United States	76-68-70=214	+1
10	Bruce Devlin	Australia	68-75-72=215	+2

Source:[5]

Final round

Sunday, August 15, 1965

Place	Player	Country	Score	To par	Money ($)
1	Dave Marr	United States	70-69-70-71=280	−4	25,000
T2	Billy Casper	United States	70-70-71-71=282	−2	12,500
	Jack Nicklaus	United States	69-70-72-71=282
4	Bo Wininger	United States	73-72-72-66=283	−1	8,000
5	Gardner Dickinson	United States	67-74-69-74=284	E	7,000
T6	Bruce Devlin	Australia	68-75-72-70=285	+1	5,750
	Sam Snead	United States	68-75-70-72=285
T8	Tommy Aaron	United States	66-71-72-78=287	+3	4,040
	Jack Burke, Jr.	United States	75-71-72-69=287
	Jacky Cupit	United States	72-76-70-69=287
	Rod Funseth	United States	75-72-69-71=287
	Bob McCallister	United States	76-68-70-73=287

Source:[2][3]

Television

This was the first PGA Championship televised by the ABC network, which retained the broadcast rights through 1990, when it was succeeded by CBS.

References

1. "Tournament Info for: 1965 PGA Championship". PGA.com. Retrieved December 31, 2012.
2. Gundelfinger, Phil (August 16, 1965). "Dave Marr wins PGA with 280". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. pp. 1, 30. Retrieved January 2, 2013.
3. Kienzl, Ray (August 16, 1965). "Marr bulldogs way to PGA title". Pittsburgh Press. p. 28.
4. Wright, Alfred (August 23, 1965). "Diary of a career in turmoil". Sports Illustrated. p. 24.
5. "Dapper David ties tiring Tom as PGA leader". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. Associated Press. August 15, 1965. p. 3B.
6. "Confidence top prize". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. Associated Press. August 16, 1965. p. 3B.
7. Bires, Mike (July 9, 2004). "Big time: Laurel Valley stands out". Beaver County Times. Pennsylvania. p. C8.
8. Gundelfinger, Phil (August 12, 1965). "Jack Nicklaus PGA 'Pick' in Palmerland". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 28.
9. Parascenzo, Marino (June 23, 1989). "A place in the world of golf". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 23.
10. "Laurel Valley prexy discounts Erath move". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. August 14, 2016. p. 12.
11. "Tree grows, Laruel feud flares". Pittsburgh Press. UPI. August 15, 1965. p. 1, section 4.
12. "Aaron leads by 2; Palmer in rhubarb". Milwaukee Sentinel. UPI. August 14, 1965. p. 2, part 2.
13. "Laurel Valley". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. (yardages). August 12, 1965. p. 28.
14. "Aaron's 66 leads PGA". Milwaukee Sentinel. UPI. August 13, 1965. p. 2, part 2.

External links

• PGA Media Guide 2012
• About.com – 1965 PGA Championship
• PGA.com – 1965 PGA Championship