1963 PGA Championship


The 1963 PGA Championship was the 45th PGA Championship, played July 18–21 at the Blue Course of Dallas Athletic Club in Dallas, Texas. Jack Nicklaus won the first of his five PGA Championship titles, two strokes ahead of runner-up Dave Ragan. It was the second major win of the year for Nicklaus, and the third of his eighteen major titles.
Nicklaus entered the final round in third place, three shots behind 54-hole leader Bruce Crampton. He shot a three-under 68 while Crampton fell back to third with 74 in the Texas heat, with temperatures over. At the trophy presentation in the bright sunshine, Nicklaus grasped the very hot Wanamaker Trophy with the aid of a towel. The temperature in downtown Dallas on Sunday reached a high of.
With the victory, Nicklaus at age 23 joined Gene Sarazen, Byron Nelson, and Ben Hogan as the only winners of all three American majors: the Masters, U.S. Open and PGA Championship. Nicklaus completed the first of his three career grand slams three years later at Muirfield in 1966.
The Open Championship was played the previous week in northwest England at Lytham St Annes, one of five times in the 1960s that these two majors were played in consecutive weeks in July. Nicklaus bogeyed the last two holes at Lytham and finished a stroke out of the 36-hole Saturday playoff, won by Bob Charles. The PGA Championship moved permanently to August in 1969. After cool temperatures in Britain, the oppressive July heat in Dallas was difficult for many to
Nicklaus won the Masters in April, the first of his six green jackets, marking only the third time that the Masters champion won the PGA Championship in the same calendar year. He was preceded by Sam Snead in 1949 and Jack Burke, Jr. in 1956. Through 2016, it has been accomplished only four times, twice by Nicklaus, and most recently in August 1975.
On Wednesday, Nicklaus set a record in the long drive contest at over ; breaking the record set in 1952 by.

Course layout

Hole123456789Out101112131415161718InTotal
Yards5214073565732063962294454023,5354744285432064594242163414203,5117,046
Par544534344364453443443571

Past champions in the field

Made the cut

Missed the cut

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Round summaries

First round

Thursday, July 18, 1963
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Dick Hart66−5
T2Julius Boros69−2
T2Bob Charles69−2
T2Shelley Mayfield69−2
T2Jack Nicklaus69−2
T2Mason Rudolph69−2
T7Charles Congdon70−1
T7Bruce Crampton70−1
T7Doug Ford70−1
T7Bernie Haas70−1
T7Tony Lema70−1
T7Earl Stewart70−1

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Second round

Friday, July 19, 1963
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Dick Hart66-72=138−4
T2Julius Boros69-72=141−1
T2Tony Lema70-71=141−1
T2Shelley Mayfield69-72=141−1
T5Manuel de la Torre71-71=142E
T5Doug Ford70-72=142E
T5Jack Nicklaus69-73=142E
T8Bruce Crampton70-73=143+1
T8Bill Johnston71-72=143+1
T8Gene Littler71-72=143+1
T8Doug Sanders74-69=143+1

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Third round

Saturday, July 20, 1963
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Bruce Crampton70-73-65=208−5
2Dow Finsterwald72-72-66=210−3
3Jack Nicklaus69-73-69=211−2
4Dave Ragan75-70-67=212−1
T5Doug Ford70-72-71=213E
T5Billy Maxwell73-71-69=213E
T5Doug Sanders74-69-70=213E
T8Julius Boros69-72-73=214+1
T8Al Geiberger72-73-69=214+1
T8Dick Hart66-72-76=214+1
T8Dave Hill73-72-69=214+1
T8Sam Snead71-73-70=214+1

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Final round

Sunday, July 21, 1963
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney
1Jack Nicklaus69-73-69-68=279−513,000
2Dave Ragan75-70-67-69=281−37,000
T3Bruce Crampton70-73-65-74=282−23,750
T3Dow Finsterwald72-72-66-72=282−23,750
T5Al Geiberger72-73-69-70=284E3,125
T5Billy Maxwell73-71-69-71=284E3,125
7Jim Ferrier73-73-70-69=285+12,750
T8Gardner Dickinson72-74-74-66=286+22,090
T8Tommy Jacobs74-72-70-70=286+22,090
T8Bill Johnston71-72-72-71=286+22,090
T8Gary Player74-75-67-70=286+22,090
T8Art Wall Jr.73-76-66-71=286+22,090

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