1971 PGA Championship

1971 PGA Championship

Tournament information
Dates	February 25–28, 1971
Location	Palm Beach Gardens, Florida
Course(s)	PGA National Golf Club, (now BallenIsles Country Club, East Course)
Organized by	PGA of America
Tour	PGA Tour
Statistics
Par	72
Length	7,096 yards (6,489 m)
Field	144 players, 81 after cut
Cut	149 (+5)
Prize fund	$202,440
Winner's share	$40,000
Champion
Jack Nicklaus
281 (−7)

PGA National

class=notpageimage|

Location in the United States

PGA National

class=notpageimage|

Location in Florida

The 1971 PGA Championship was the 53rd PGA Championship, played February 25–28 at the original PGA National Golf Club, presently known as BallenIsles Country Club (East Course) in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

Jack Nicklaus won the second of his five PGA Championships, two strokes ahead of Billy Casper, the reigning Masters champion. Nicklaus led wire-to-wire, and held a four-stroke lead over Gary Player after 54 holes, with Casper seven shots back. The two were pre-tournament favorites, along with Arnold Palmer, who shot an opening round 75 and finished at 289 (+1), eight strokes back.

Nicklaus became the first in history to complete the modern career Grand Slam for a second time; two victories in each of the four major championships. He completed his third career grand slam at the 1978 Open Championship.

The championship was played in February rather than August, due to anticipated oppressive summer weather in Florida. The rescheduling changed the PGA Championship from the fourth and final major of the calendar year to the first in 1971, and the 1970 and 1971 editions were consecutive majors. It returned to August in 1972 at Oakland Hills in Michigan.

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, February 25, 1971

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Jack Nicklaus	69	−3
T2	Bob Charles	70	−2
	Bob Goalby
	Bobby Mitchell
T5	Bradley Anderson	71	−1
	Deane Beman
	Julius Boros
	Billy Casper
	Bruce Devlin
	Larry Hinson
	Johnny Miller
	Gary Player
	Sam Snead
	Lee Trevino
	Bert Yancey

Source:

Second round

Friday, February 26, 1971

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Jack Nicklaus	69-69=138	−6
2	Miller Barber	72-68=140	−4
3	Gibby Gilbert	74-67=141	−3
T4	Gene Borek	72-70=142	−2
	Bruce Devlin	71-71=142
	Lionel Hebert	72-70=142
	Bob Lunn	72-70=142
	Bob Murphy	74-68=142
	Tom Weiskopf	72-70=142
	Larry Ziegler	74-68=142

Source:

Third round

Saturday, February 27, 1971

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Jack Nicklaus	69-69-70=208	−8
2	Gary Player	71-73-68=212	−4
3	Gibby Gilbert	74-67-72=213	−3
T4	Miller Barber	72-68-75=215	−1
	Tommy Bolt	72-74-69=215
	Gene Borek	72-70-73=215
	Billy Casper	71-73-71=215
	Bob Charles	70-75-70=215
	Bob Lunn	72-70-73=215
	Bert Yancey	71-74-70=215

Source:

Final leaderboard

Sunday, February 28, 1971

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
1	Jack Nicklaus	69-69-70-73=281	−7	40,000
2	Billy Casper	71-73-71-68=283	−5	22,800
3	Tommy Bolt	72-74-69-69=284	−4	14,200
T4	Miller Barber	72-68-75-70=285	−3	8,800
	Gary Player	71-73-68-73=285
T6	Gibby Gilbert	74-67-72-73=286	−2	6,500
	Dave Hill	74-71-71-70=286
	Jim Jamieson	72-72-72-70=286
T9	Jerry Heard	73-71-72-71=287	−1	4,800
	Bob Lunn	72-70-73-72=287
	Fred Marti	72-71-74-70=287
	Bob Rosburg	74-72-70-71=287

Source:

External links

• PGA Media Guide 2012
• PGA Championship: history
• PGA.com – 1971 PGA Championship