1975 PGA Championship Winner and Scores
Winner: Jack Nicklaus, 276
Where it was played: Firestone Country Club (South Course) in Akron, Ohio
Tournament dates: August 7-10, 1975
Leader after first round: Mark Hayes, 67
Leader after second round: Bruce Crampton, 134
Leader after third round: Jack Nicklaus, 205
What Happened in the 1975 PGA Championship
Bruce Crampton was the 36-hole leader at the 1975 PGA Championship on the strength of his second-round 63. It was the first round of 63 ever carded in a PGA Championship, and just the second 63 posted in any major (Johnny Miller's closing 63 at Oakmont in the 1973 U.S. Open was the first).But it wasn't good enough to get Crampton the victory. Jack Nicklaus was lurking nearby, and in the third round Nicklaus shot 67 to Crampton's 75. That gave Nicklaus a 4-stroke lead over Crampton heading into the final round, and Nicklaus' 71 in Round 4 was good enough for a 2-stroke victory.
It was Nicklaus' second major title of the year, having earlier won the 1975 Masters. (That was just the fourth time any golfer won both The Masters and PGA Championship in the same calendar year.) It was also Nicklaus' fourth win in the PGA Championship, and his 14th major championship title overall. There were some golf wags at the time who counted Bobby Jones' wins in both amateur and professional majors to credit Jones with 13 major wins, while not crediting Nicklaus' two amateur major wins, as a way of keeping Jones ahead of Nicklaus on the all-time major wins chart. But with his 14th professional major title here, Nicklaus made that argument moot — he was No. 1 in majors no matter how you looked at it.
Nicklaus later won the 1980 PGA Championship to tie Walter Hagen's record of five wins in this event. Crampton tied a then-record in the 1975 PGA Championship, too, although not necessarily the kind you want. This was his fourth runner-up finish in a major — all four to Nicklaus — without a victory. At the time, Crampton shared the record for most seconds in majors without winning one.
1975 PGA Championship Final Scores
| Jack Nicklaus | 70-68-67-71—276 |
| Bruce Crampton | 71-63-75-69—278 |
| Tom Weiskopf | 70-71-70-68—279 |
| Andy North | 72-74-70-65—281 |
| Billy Casper | 69-72-72-70—283 |
| Hale Irwin | 72-65-73-73—283 |
| Dave Hill | 71-71-74-68—284 |
| Gene Littler | 76-71-66-71—284 |
| Tom Watson | 70-71-71-73—285 |
| Raymond Floyd | 70-73-72-71—286 |
| Don January | 72-70-71-73—286 |
| Bud Allin | 73-72-70-71—286 |
| Ben Crenshaw | 73-72-71-70—286 |
| David Graham | 72-70-70-74—286 |
| Leonard Thompson | 74-69-72-71—286 |
| John Schlee | 71-68-75-72—286 |
| Gil Morgan | 73-71-71-72—287 |
| Steve Melnyk | 71-72-74-70—287 |
| Mike Hill | 72-71-70-74—287 |
| Dale Douglass | 74-72-74-67—287 |
| Gibby Gilbert | 73-70-77-67—287 |
| Chi Chi Rodriguez | 73-72-74-69—288 |
| Mark Hayes | 67-71-75-75—288 |
| Ed Dougherty | 69-70-72-77—288 |
| Mac McLendon | 73-71-70-75—289 |
| Jerry Heard | 75-70-70-74—289 |
| Bob Murphy | 75-68-69-77—289 |
| John Mahaffey | 71-70-75-74—290 |
| J.C. Snead | 73-67-75-75—290 |
| Larry Hinson | 68-73-72-77—290 |
| Jim Colbert | 79-66-72-73—290 |
| Bob Wynn | 69-69-80-72—290 |
| Arnold Palmer | 73-72-73-73—291 |
| Gay Brewer | 74-74-71-72—291 |
| Bobby Nichols | 72-75-72-72—291 |
| Gary Player | 72-70-73-76—291 |
| Jimmy Powell | 73-68-76-74—291 |
| Tom Kite | 77-71-72-71—291 |
| Al Geiberger | 70-70-80-71—291 |
| Bob Stanton | 71-73-74-74—292 |
| Jerry McGee | 73-74-73-72—292 |
| Peter Oosterhuis | 74-72-72-74—292 |
| Tom Shaw | 75-72-71-74—292 |
| Bobby Cole | 71-74-71-76—292 |
| Butch Baird | 72-69-74-77—292 |
| Julius Boros | 71-73-78-70—292 |
| Mike Morley | 70-72-75-76—293 |
| Tom Jenkins | 72-75-73-74—294 |
| Charles Sifford | 74-72-75-73—294 |
| Jim Dent | 70-71-77-77—295 |
| Bruce Devlin | 70-73-75-77—295 |
| Art Wall Jr. | 70-74-74-77—295 |
| Forrest Fezler | 75-72-71-77—295 |
| Ed Sneed | 72-75-74-75—296 |
| George Johnson | 73-74-74-75—296 |
| Jimmy Wright | 73-74-76-73—296 |
| Eddie Pearce | 74-73-77-72—296 |
| Lou Graham | 73-71-74-78—296 |
| Fred Wampler | 69-74-80-73—296 |
| Roger Watson | 73-73-76-75—297 |
| Lee Trevino | 73-72-78-74—297 |
| Bob Benson | 68-77-80-72—297 |
| Victor Regalado | 74-69-74-80—297 |
| Maurie Ver Brugge | 72-68-84-73—297 |
| Ron Letellier | 76-72-75-75—298 |
| Homero Blancas | 72-76-78-72—298 |
| Dennis Meyer | 72-74-74-80—300 |
| Rolf Deming | 74-73-83-70—300 |
| Paul Moran | 79-69-78-76—302 |
| Al Chandler | 71-75-78-81—305 |
| Dow Finsterwald | 75-73-76-81—305 |
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