The 1952 PGA Championship was the 34th

PGA Championship The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. It is one of the four men's major championships ...

, held June 18–25 at

Big Spring Country Club Big Spring Country Club is a country club located in Louisville Metro. Prior to the 2003 city-county merger, the club's location was in an unincorporated part of Jefferson County, Kentucky, bordered by Louisville (old city) and St. Matthews. The c ...

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

Jim Turnesa James R. Turnesa (December 9, 1912 – August 27, 1971) was an American professional golfer and winner of the 1952 PGA Championship, beating Chick Harbert 1-up in the match-play final. He was one of seven famous golfing brothers; Phil (1896–19 ...

won the

match play Match play is a scoring system for golf in which a player, or team, earns a point for each hole in which they have bested their opponents; as opposed to stroke play, in which the total number of strokes is counted over one or more rounds of 18 h ...

championship, 1 up over

Chick Harbert Melvin R. "Chick" Harbert (February 20, 1915 – September 1, 1992) was an American professional golfer. Harbert won seven times on the PGA Tour, including one major championship, the 1954 PGA Championship, then a match play event. A three-tim ...

in the Wednesday final; the winner's share was $3,500 and the runner-up's was $1,500. It was Turnesa's only

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

title; he had lost the final in

1942 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Declaration by United Nations is signed by China, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, and 22 other nations, in wh ...

Sam Snead Samuel Jackson Snead (pronounced English_phonology">sni:d.html" ;"title="English_phonology.html" ;"title="nowiki/>English phonology">sni:d">English_phonology.html" ;"title="nowiki/>English phonology">sni:d May 27, 1912 – May 23, 2002) was an ...

. It was the second loss for Harbert in the final, he lost to

Jim Ferrier James Bennett Elliott Ferrier (24 February 1915 – 13 June 1986) was an Australian professional golfer from Manly, New South Wales. After compiling a fine record as an amateur golfer in Australia during the 1930s, he moved to the United States ...

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country in ...

, but won the title in his third finals appearance in

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

. Turnesa did not lead through the first 35 holes, but won on the final green when Harbert bogeyed. Turnesa displaced Snead as the oldest PGA champion to date, at 39 years and six months. He was later passed by

Jerry Barber Carl Jerome Barber (April 25, 1916 – September 23, 1994) was an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour. He had seven wins on tour, including a major title, the PGA Championship in 1961. Born in Woodson, Illinois, Barber was o ...

at 45 in

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

and

Julius Boros Julius Nicholas Boros (March 3, 1920 – May 28, 1994) was an American professional golfer noted for his effortless-looking swing and strong record on difficult golf courses, particularly at the U.S. Open. Early years Born in Fairfield, Connecti ...

in 1968 at age 48. Battling an ailing back, defending champion Snead lost in the first round to

Lew Worsham Lewis Elmer Worsham, Jr. (October 5, 1917 – October 19, 1990) was an American professional golfer, the U.S. Open champion Life and career Worsham was born on October 5, 1917, in Pittsylvania County, Virginia. He grew up in Long Island, Vi ...

, who had defeated him in a playoff five years earlier at the 1947 U.S. Open. Heavy rains washed out play on Saturday and the completion of the third round was delayed until Sunday, and very hot temperatures endured through the final rounds. The U.S. Open was played the preceding week, in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, won by Boros. He was not technically eligible to play in the PGA Championship, because the rules at the time stated that eligibility was after five years of PGA membership and Boros only had three. Following his win at the U.S. Open, Boros was invited to play by the PGA executive committee, but sensing resentment and dissension among some of the other participants, he withdrew prior to his start time of the two-day qualifier on Wednesday.

Dutch Harrison Ernest Joseph "Dutch" Harrison (March 29, 1910 – June 19, 1982) was an American professional golfer whose career spanned over four decades—one of the longest in the history of the PGA Tour. Born in Conway, Arkansas and nicknamed "The Arkansa ...

was the medalist in the stroke-play qualifying with a 136 (−8) to win $250, but lost in the first round to

Marty Furgol Martin A. Furgol (January 5, 1916 – November 23, 2005) was an American professional golfer. He won five times on the PGA Tour in the 1950s. He played on the 1955 Ryder Cup team. He was born in New York Mills, New York and died in Florida. Alth ...

. Turnesa's older brother

Joe Joe or JOE may refer to: Arts Film and television * ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle * ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage * ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971 * ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...

(1901–1991) was the runner-up in this championship a quarter century earlier in 1927, when

Walter Hagen Walter Charles Hagen (December 21, 1892 – October 6, 1969) was an American professional golfer and a major figure in golf in the first half of the 20th century. His tally of 11 professional majors is third behind Jack Nicklaus (18) and Tiger ...

won his fourth consecutive, 1 up, and fifth overall. This was the first major championship played in

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

. The PGA Championship returned to the state 44 years later in 1996, at

Valhalla Golf Club Valhalla Golf Club, located in Louisville, Kentucky, is a private golf club designed by Jack Nicklaus, opened in 1986. In 1992, Valhalla was selected to host the PGA Championship in the year 1996, one of golf's four majors. The following year ...

east of Louisville. Valhalla also hosted just four years later in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

and in 2014.

Format

The

format at the PGA Championship in 1952 called for 12 rounds (216 holes) in seven days: * Wednesday and Thursday – 36-hole

stroke play Stroke play, also known as medal play, is a scoring system in the sport of golf in which the total number of strokes is counted over one or more rounds of 18 holes. In stroke play, the winner is the player who has taken the fewest strokes over the ...

qualifier, 18 holes per day; **defending champion

and top 63 professionals advanced to match play * Friday – first two rounds, 18 holes each * Saturday – third round – 36 holes (delayed to Sunday) * Sunday – quarterfinals – 36 holes (delayed to Monday) * Monday – semifinals – 36 holes (delayed to Tuesday) * Tuesday – final – 36 holes (delayed to Wednesday) Heavy rains on Saturday postponed the third round until Sunday; the final was played on Wednesday, June 25.

Past champions in the field

Final results

''Wednesday, June 25, 1952''

Final eight bracket

Sources:

Final match scorecards

''Morning'' ''Afternoon'' Source:

References

External links

PGA Media Guide 2012
– 1952 PGA Championship {{coord, 38.232, -85.648, type:event, display=title PGA Championship Golf in Kentucky Sports competitions in Louisville, Kentucky