1965 PGA Championship


The 1965 PGA Championship was the 47th PGA Championship, played August 12–15 at Laurel Valley Golf Club in Ligonier, Pennsylvania, a suburb southeast of Pittsburgh. Dave Marr won his only major championship, two strokes ahead of runners-up Billy Casper and Jack Nicklaus.
Marr was the co-leader after 54 holes with Tommy Aaron, a stroke ahead of Gardner Dickinson and two shots ahead of major champions Nicklaus and Casper. Aaron shot 78 and Dickinson 74 on Sunday, while Marr matched an even-par 71 with Nicklaus and Casper.
Not far from his hometown of Latrobe, Laurel Valley was co-founded by Arnold Palmer in 1959, who had another disappointing major in his home state and finished 14 strokes back, tied for 33rd. Three years earlier, he lost an 18-hole playoff to Nicklaus in the U.S. Open at Oakmont near Pittsburgh, then finished tied for 17th five weeks later at the PGA Championship at Aronimink, outside Philadelphia.
After the practice rounds, a fir tree was installed on the par-5 third hole to prevent corner-cutting from the tee to an adjacent fairway, over the objections of the club professional.
This was the final PGA Championship appearance for two-time champion Ben Hogan, age 53, who tied for 15th place. After his near-fatal auto accident in early 1949, Hogan's legs could not withstand the grueling match play schedule and he did not play again in the championship until it became a stroke play event. He missed the 54-hole cut by a stroke in 1960 and tied for ninth place in 1964. Hogan won the title as a match play event in 1946 and 1948. Twenty former champions were in the field and twelve made the cut. Palmer was assessed a two-stroke penalty in both of the first two rounds and was at 147, ten shots back.
A decade later, Laurel Valley hosted the Ryder Cup in 1975, the last Ryder Cup held in the U.S. without players from continental Europe.

Course layout

Hole123456789Out101112131415161718InTotal
Yards4404005404312165053752384553,6004125354333971903754482304703,4907,090
Par445435434364544344343571

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Past champions in the field

Made the cut

Missed the cut

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Round summaries

First round

Thursday, August 12, 1965
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Tommy Aaron66−5
T2Gardner Dickinson67−4
T2Mason Rudolph67−4
T4Bruce Devlin68−3
T4Raymond Floyd68−3
T4Sam Snead68−3
7Jack Nicklaus69−2
T8Billy Casper70−1
T8Dave Marr70−1
T8Mike Souchak70−1
T8Wynsol Spencer70−1

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Second round

Friday, August 13, 1965
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
1Tommy Aaron66-71=137−5
T2Dave Marr70-69=139−3
T2Jack Nicklaus69-70=139−3
4Billy Casper70-70=140−2
T5Gardner Dickinson67-74=141−1
T5Raymond Floyd68-73=141−1
T7Don Bies71-71=142E
T7R. H. Sikes71-71=142E
T7Mike Souchak70-72=142E
T10Bruce Devlin68-75=143+2
T10Doug Ford73-70=143+2
T10Mason Rudolph67-76=143+2
T10Sam Snead68-75=143+2

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Third round

Saturday, August 14, 1965
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo par
T1Tommy Aaron66-71-72=209−4
T1Dave Marr70-69-70=209−4
3Gardner Dickinson67-74-69=210−3
T4Billy Casper70-70-71=211−2
T4Jack Nicklaus69-70-72=211−2
T6Raymond Floyd68-73-72=213E
T6R. H. Sikes71-71-71=213E
T6Sam Snead68-75-70=213E
9Bob McCallister76-68-70=214+1
10Bruce Devlin68-75-72=215+2

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Final round

Sunday, August 15, 1965
PlacePlayerCountryScoreTo parMoney
1Dave Marr70-69-70-71=280−425,000
T2Billy Casper70-70-71-71=282−212,500
T2Jack Nicklaus69-70-72-71=282−212,500
4Bo Wininger73-72-72-66=283−18,000
5Gardner Dickinson67-74-69-74=284E7,000
T6Bruce Devlin68-75-72-70=285+15,750
T6Sam Snead68-75-70-72=285+15,750
T8Tommy Aaron66-71-72-78=287+34,040
T8Jack Burke, Jr.75-71-72-69=287+34,040
T8Jacky Cupit72-76-70-69=287+34,040
T8Rod Funseth75-72-69-71=287+34,040
T8Bob McCallister76-68-70-73=287+34,040

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Television

This was the first PGA Championship televised by the ABC network, which retained the broadcast rights through 1990, when it was succeeded by CBS.