1964 PGA Championship
The 1964 PGA Championship was the 46th PGA Championship, played July 16–19 at Columbus Country Club in Columbus, Ohio. Bobby Nichols won his only major title, three strokes ahead of runners-up Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer. Nichols led wire-to-wire after a first round 64 in the hometown of Nicklaus, who shot a 64 in the final round to gain his third runner-up finish in majors in 1964.
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | July 16–19, 1964 |
| Location | Columbus, Ohio |
| Course(s) | Columbus Country Club |
| Organized by | PGA of America |
| Tour(s) | PGA Tour |
| Statistics | |
| Par | 70 |
| Length | 6,851 yards (6,265 m) |
| Field | 162 players, 93 after 1st cut 65 after 2nd cut |
| Cut | 150 (+10) (1st cut) 221 (+11) (2nd cut) |
| Prize fund | $100,000 |
| Winner's share | $18,000 |
| Champion | |
| Bobby Nichols | |
| 271 (−9) | |
Ben Hogan, age 51, competed at the PGA Championship for the first time since 1960. Tied for fifth place after a third round 68, he finished tied for ninth for his penultimate top ten in a major. His final top ten came at the 1967 Masters.
Nichols' winning score of 271 was the lowest to date at the PGA Championship, the seventh as a 72-hole stroke play championship. It stood as the record for thirty years, until Nick Price's 269 in 1994.
Nichols' win marked the third time that all of the professional major championships were won by Americans in a calendar year.
The British Open was played the previous week in St Andrews, Scotland, one of five times in the 1960s that these two majors were played in consecutive weeks in July. The PGA Championship moved permanently to August in 1969 (except 1971, when it was played in late February).