1966 PGA Championship Winner and Scores

The 1966 PGA Championship was the 48th edition of this major, staged by the PGA of America. And peanut butter played a key role for the winner.

Winner: Al Geiberger, 280

Where it was played: Firestone Country Club (South Course) in Akron, Ohio

Tournament dates: July 21-24, 1966

Leader after first round: Sam Snead and Al Geiberger, 68

Leader after second round: Sam Snead, 139

Leader after third round: Al Geiberger, 208

What Happened at the 1966 PGA Championship

Before he was "Mr. 59" — the nickname he earned by being the first golfer to shoot 59 in a PGA Tour round — Al Geiberger was "the Peanut Butter Kid" for his habit of munching on peanut butter sandwiches during tournaments to keep up his energy. This is where he picked up that nickname, his peanut butter habit becoming famous as he packed a pocket of his golf bag with them and munched his way to victory. Geiberger won his only major here by four strokes.

Geiberger shared the first-round lead with Sam Snead, and Snead, who was 54 years old, held the lead alone after two rounds. But Snead's scores ballooned on the weekend, while Geiberger put together two more solid rounds for the win. And following his win, Geiberger picked up a peanut butter manufacturer as one of his sponsors.

Scoring was tough at this tournament. The best score was posted by runner-up Dudley Wysong in the third round with a 66. In the second round, not a single player broke par — the only time in PGA Championship history a round was played without any under-par scores.

The 1966 PGA Championship is also notable as the final tournament played by Tony Lema. Lema was one of the bigger stars on Tour in the early to mid-1960s, winning 12 times from 1962-66, including the 1964 British Open. Nicknamed "Champagne Tony," he was a fan and media favorite. Lema and his wife left Firestone Country Club and flew to Illinois where Lema was scheduled to play an exhibition. The plane they were in crashed into a water hazard of a golf course after running out of fuel. All aboard were killed.

1966 PGA Championship Final Scores

Al Geiberger 68-72-68-72—280
Dudley Wysong 74-72-66-72—284
Billy Casper 73-73-70-70—286
Gene Littler 75-71-71-69—286
Gary Player 73-70-70-73—286
Julius Boros 69-72-75-71—287
Jacky Cupit 70-73-73-71—287
Arnold Palmer 75-73-71-68—287
Doug Sanders 69-74-73-71—287
Sam Snead 68-71-75-73—287
Frank Beard 73-72-69-74—288
Dow Finsterwald 74-70-73-72—289
Jay Hebert 75-73-70-71—289
Don January 69-71-73-76—289
Paul Harney 74-73-71-72—290
Bill Martindale73-75-70-72—290
Ken Venturi 74-75-69-72—290
Gardner Dickinson 74-72-73-72—291
Raymond Floyd 74-75-74-68—291
Dave Marr 75-75-68-73—291
Ernie Vossler 77-70-75-69—291
Tommy Aaron 71-72-75-74—292
Frank Boynton 73-74-73-72—292
Billy Farrell 73-70-71-78—292
Jack Nicklaus 75-71-75-71—292
Mason Rudolph 74-73-76-69—292
Gay Brewer 73-73-76-71—293
Butch Baird 73-74-73-74—294
Bruce Devlin 76-71-71-76—294
Ron Howell 76-71-75-72—294
Don Massengale 74-72-75-73—294
R.H. Sikes 75-72-73-74—294
Dan Sikes 72-76-74-72—294
Miller Barber 76-71-72-76—295
Buster Cupit 75-76-74-70—295
Tony Lema 78-71-72-74—295
Bill Bisdorf 76-72-76-72—296
Gene Borek 75-76-75-70—296
Chick Evans 73-75-74-74—296
Fred Haas Jr. 78-73-75-70—296
Babe Lichardus 72-75-73-76—296
Stan Thirsk 74-77-70-75—296
Manuel De La Torre 75-72-77-73—297
Bruce Crampton 74-73-74-76—297
Rod Funseth 73-74-74-76—297
Walker Inman 71-76-76-74—297
George Knudson 72-74-77-74—297
Bob Rosburg 73-76-69-79—297
Jim Ferrier 71-79-76-72—298
Jack Fleck 71-74-78-75—298
Ed Furgol 74-77-71-76—298
Bob Goalby 76-73-73-76—298
Bob Keller 72-76-72-78—298
Larry Laoretti 73-77-72-76—298
Al Mengert 72-77-76-73—298
Bob Shave 78-72-77-71—298
Bert Yancey 74-75-77-72—298
Al Chandler 76-73-71-79—299
Robert Erickson 79-71-74-75—299
Ed Griffiths 73-72-73-81—299
Bob McCallister 74-76-73-76—299
Bo Wininger 76-75-75-73—299
Joe Conrad 77-74-76-73—300
Errie Ball 77-74-78-72—301
Lionel Hebert 75-74-75-77—301
Jack Burke Jr. 75-76-79-72—302
Ed Kroll 75-75-74-78—302
Horace Moore 74-74-76-78—302
Ed Rubis 76-72-77-77—302
Bob Verwey 76-75-78-74—303
Wayne Yates 73-76-79-75—303
Larry Beck 71-79-78-76—304
Tom Weiskopf 75-73-80-76—304
Bill Blanton 78-72-80-76—306
James Riggins 76-70-82-79—307

Previous and next:
1965 PGA Championship - 1967 PGA Championship

Popular posts from this blog