The 1961 PGA Championship was the 43rd

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 27–31 at the North Course of

Olympia Fields Country Club Olympia Fields Country Club is a private golf club in the central United States, located in Olympia Fields, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, about south of The Loop. It contains two eighteen-hole courses, North and South. The North Course is co ...

Olympia Fields, Illinois Olympia Fields is a village and a south suburb of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 4,718 as of the 2020 census. The municipality grew up around the prestigious Olympia Fields Country Club, originally established ...

, a suburb south of

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

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 ...

, age 45, won his only

major title is a golf sports video game that was released by Irem to Arcade game, arcades in 1990. A version of the game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System as well as an arcade sequel, ''Major Title 2: Tournament Leader'', were released in 1992. The ...

in an 18-hole Monday playoff by one stroke over

Don January Donald Ray January (born November 20, 1929) is an American retired professional golfer, best known for winning the 1967 PGA Championship. Early life Born in Plainview, Texas, January graduated from Sunset High School in Dallas. He was a member ...

, 67 to 68. It was the fourth edition as a

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 ...

event and the first playoff. Rain washed out the second round on Friday afternoon with only about one-third of the field completing their rounds. The scores were scrapped and the second round was replayed on Saturday, with 36 holes on Sunday. Barber led at the midway point with a 136 (−4), two shots ahead of January and

Doug Sanders George Douglas Sanders (July 24, 1933 – April 12, 2020) was an American professional golfer who won 20 events on the PGA Tour and had four runner-up finishes at major championships. Early years He was born into a poor family in Cedartown, G ...

. A top putter of the era, Barber sank of putts on the last three holes of the final round to erase a four-stroke deficit to January and force a Monday playoff. At the 72nd hole, January had a two-stroke lead, but put his tee shot into the sand. With Barber on the green but an improbable away, January played conservatively for the bogey. Barber drained his third lengthy putt in as many holes (birdie-par-birdie) to even it up at the end of regulation. In the playoff, the two were tied at three-under after 16 holes, following January's birdie. Both had pars at the 17th, which effectively turned the 18th hole into sudden-death. Both tee shots found fairway bunkers, and Barber hit a 3-iron onto the green, from the cup. January found another bunker short of the green and could not save par from . At age 45, Barber became the oldest winner of the PGA Championship, whose previous champions were all under age 40, with several at age 39. At the time, the only older major winner was

Old Tom Morris Thomas Mitchell Morris (16 June 1821 – 24 May 1908), otherwise known as Old Tom Morris, and The Grand Old Man of Golf, was a Scottish golfer. He was born in St Andrews, Fife, the "home of golf" and location of the St Andrews Links, and died t ...

at age 46 in 1867. Barber was surpassed in

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Januar ...

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 ...

at age 48. It was the third major championship at Olympia Fields Country Club; it previously hosted the PGA Championship in

1925 Events January * January 1 ** The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini makes a pivotal speech in the Italia ...

(Courses 3 & 4) and the U.S. Open in

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhanov, J ...

(Course 4). The four 18-hole courses at Olympia Fields were reduced to two in the 1940s when the club sold half of its property. Course 4 became the North course, and the South course is a composite of holes form the other three. The North Course later hosted the U.S. Open in

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

, won by

Jim Furyk James Michael Furyk (born May 12, 1970) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour and the PGA Tour Champions. In 2010, he was the FedEx Cup champion and PGA Tour Player of the Year. He has won one major championship, the 200 ...

Past champions in the field

Made the cut

Missed the cut

Source:

Round summaries

First round

''Thursday, July 27, 1961'' Source:

Second round

''Friday, July 28, 1961''
''Saturday, July 29, 1961'' Play in the second round on Friday was ended by heavy rain in the early afternoon, with 54 of the 166 rounds completed. All scores were scrapped and the round was replayed on Saturday. Source:

Third round

''Sunday, July 30, 1961 (morning)''

Final round

''Sunday, July 30, 1961 (afternoon)''

Playoff

''Monday, July 31, 1961''

Scorecard

Source:

References

External links

PGA Media Guide 2012
– 1961 PGA Championship

– 1961 PGA Championship {{coord, 41.521, -87.687, type:event, display=title PGA Championship Golf in Illinois