The 1966 PGA Championship was the 48th

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 ...

, played July 21–24 at the South Course of

Firestone Country Club Firestone Country Club is a private golf club in the United States, located in Akron, Ohio. It was a regular stop on the PGA Tour and has hosted the PGA Championship three times. It is the current home of the Bridgestone Senior Players Championshi ...

Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County, Ohio, Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 C ...

Al Geiberger Allen Lee Geiberger Sr. (born September 1, 1937) is an American former professional golfer. Professional career Geiberger turned pro in 1959 and joined the PGA Tour in 1960. Geiberger won 11 tournaments on the PGA Tour, the first being the 1962 ...

won his only major championship, four strokes ahead of runner-up

Dudley Wysong Henry Dudley Wysong, Jr. (May 15, 1939 – March 29, 1998) was an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour in the 1960s. Wysong was born, raised and lived all his life in and around McKinney, Texas. One of the people who taugh ...

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 ...

, age 54, was co-leader and leader after the first two days, but shot 75 in the third round on Saturday. Geiberger carded a two-under 68 to lead by four strokes over Wysong, who shot a 66. Both shot two-over 72 on Sunday as both bogeyed the first two holes. The lead shrunk to two as Wysong birdied the third while Geiberger bogeyed the fourth, but then birdied the fifth and ninth holes to regain the four-stroke advantage. The 1966 championship was originally scheduled to be held at Columbine Country Club in

Columbine Valley, Colorado The Town of Columbine Valley is a Statutory Town located in western Arapahoe County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 1,502 at the 2020 United States Census, a +19.59% increase since the 2010 United States Census. Columbine Valle ...

, a suburb south of

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

. A

flash flood A flash flood is a rapid flooding of low-lying areas: washes, rivers, dry lakes and depressions. It may be caused by heavy rain associated with a severe thunderstorm, hurricane, or tropical storm, or by meltwater from ice or snow flowing o ...

of the adjacent

South Platte River The South Platte River is one of the two principal tributaries of the Platte River. Flowing through the U.S. states of Colorado and Nebraska, it is itself a major river of the American Midwestern United States, Midwest and the American Sout ...

in June 1965 caused significant damage to the course and forced a postponement. Firestone was scheduled to host in

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

, so the venues swapped years. This was the second of three PGA Championships at the South Course, which previously hosted in

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

and later in

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

. It is the current venue for the

WGC-Bridgestone Invitational The WGC Invitational was a professional golf tournament that was held in the United States. Established in 1999 as a successor to the World Series of Golf, it was one of three or four annual World Golf Championships (WGC) until 2021, when the n ...

, which began in

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

as the "World Series of Golf" on the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...

, preceded by the

American Golf Classic The American Golf Classic was a tournament on the PGA Tour from 1961 to 1976 at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio. It was the third event at the storied South course, after the Rubber City Open Invitational (1954–1959) and the PGA Championsh ...

, which debuted 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 ...

Past champions in the field

Made the cut

Missed the cut

Source:

Round summaries

First round

''Thursday, July 21, 1966'' Source:

Second round

''Friday, July 22, 1966'' Source:

Third round

''Saturday, July 23, 1966'' Source:

Final round

''Sunday, July 24, 1966'' Source:

Lema and wife killed

Hours after the championship's conclusion on Sunday,

Tony Lema Anthony David Lema (February 25, 1934 – July 24, 1966) was an American professional golfer who rose to fame in the mid-1960s and won a major title, the 1964 Open Championship at the Old Course at St Andrews in Scotland. He died two years later ...

and his wife Betty were among four fatalities in a chartered private plane crash near the Indiana-Illinois border. Lema, age 32, had finished tied for 34th and was heading west to a Monday tournament in the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

area. Both pilots of the twin-engine

Beechcraft Bonanza The Beechcraft Bonanza is an American general aviation aircraft introduced in 1947 by Beech Aircraft Corporation of Wichita, Kansas. The six-seater, single-engined aircraft is still being produced by Beechcraft and has been in continuous prod ...

were also killed as they attempted an emergency landing on a golf course in

Lansing, Illinois Lansing is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Lansing is a south suburb of Chicago. The population was 29,076 at the 2020 census. Geography Lansing is located at (41.565785, -87.545791). It is south of the Chicago city limits a ...

, near the destination airport.

References

External links

PGA Media Guide 2012
– 1966 PGA Championship

– 1966 PGA Championship {{coord, 41.008, -81.508, type:event, display=title PGA Championship Golf in Ohio Sports competitions in Ohio Sports in Akron, Ohio