1951 PGA Championship


The 1951 PGA Championship was the 33rd PGA Championship, held June 27 to July 3 at Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pennsylvania, a suburb northeast of Pittsburgh. Sam Snead won the match play championship, 7 & 6 over Walter Burkemo in the Tuesday final; the winner's share was $3,500 and the runner-up's was $1,500.
It marked the first time the PGA Championship returned to a venue; Oakmont had hosted in 1922. It was the third and final win for Snead in the PGA Championship, and the fifth of his seven major titles. At age 39, he was the oldest at the time to win the PGA Championship, passing his old record of two years earlier. Burkemo won the title in 1953 and was runner-up again in 1954.
Defending champion Chandler Harper lost in the first round to Jim Turnesa in a match that went to 23 holes. Turnesa, the runner-up to Snead back in 1942, won the title following year in 1952, and displaced Snead as the oldest champion by a few months.
Snead's win was the last by a former champion for twenty years, until Jack Nicklaus won his second PGA Championship in 1971.
Claude Harmon, Lloyd Mangrum, and Pete Cooper tied for the lowest score in the stroke play qualifier at 142. Harmon won the $250 medalist prize on the third hole of a sudden-death playoff.
The British Open in 1951 was held in the first week of July in Northern Ireland. Its mandatory two-day qualifier was held the same days as the PGA's semifinals and finals, which prevented participation in both events.

Format

The match play format at the PGA Championship in 1951 called for 12 rounds in seven days:

Failed to qualify

Runyan did not advance in the six-way playoff for the one final spot in the match play field.
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Final results

Final eight bracket

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Final match scorecards

Morning
Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 101112131415161718
Par544543435445344344
Snead344433445445344345
Burkemo454564445435434434
LeaderS1S2S2S3S4S5S5S5S5S5S4S4S5S4S4S5S4S3

Afternoon
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