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.^[2][3] 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.^[4]

1964 PGA Championship

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[1]
Winner's share	$18,000
Champion
Bobby Nichols
271 (−9)
← 1963 1965 →

Columbus CC

Location in the United States

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 to August in 1969 (except 1971, when it was played in late February) until 2019, when it was moved to the weekend before Memorial Day in May.^[5]

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, July 16, 1964

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Bobby Nichols	64	−6
T2	Jack Nicklaus	67	−3
	Mike Souchak
T4	Billy Casper	68	−2
	Bob Charles
	Paul Haviland
	Don January
	Tom Nieporte
	Arnold Palmer
T10	Joe Conrad	69	−1
	Jon Gustin
	Bob Keller
	Bo Wininger

Second round

Friday, July 17, 1964

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Bobby Nichols	64-71=135	−5
2	Arnold Palmer	68-68=136	−4
T3	Ken Venturi	72-65=137	−3
	Bo Wininger	69-68=137
T5	Bob Charles	68-71=139	−1
	Tony Lema	71-68=139
	Tom Nieporte	68-71=139
	Mason Rudolph	73-66=139
T9	Billy Casper	68-72=140	E
	Ed Furgol	71-69=140
	Jack Nicklaus	67-73=140
	Mike Souchak	67-73=140

Third round

Saturday, July 18, 1964

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Bobby Nichols	64-71-69=204	−6
2	Arnold Palmer	68-68-69=205	−5
T3	Tom Nieporte	68-71-68=207	−3
	Mason Rudolph	73-66-68=207
T5	Billy Casper	68-72-70=210	E
	Ben Hogan	70-72-68=210
	Jack Nicklaus	67-73-70=210
	Ken Venturi	72-65-73=210
	Bo Wininger	69-68-73=210
T10	Tony Lema	71-68-72=211	+1
	Mike Souchak	67-73-71=211

Final round

Sunday, July 19, 1964

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
1	Bobby Nichols	64-71-69-67=271	−9	18,000
T2	Jack Nicklaus	67-73-70-64=274	−6	9,000
	Arnold Palmer	68-68-69-69=274
4	Mason Rudolph	73-66-68-69=276	−4	5,000
T5	Tom Nieporte	68-71-68-72=279	−1	3,850
	Ken Venturi	72-65-73-69=279
7	Bo Wininger	69-68-73-70=280	E	3,200
8	Gay Brewer	72-71-71-67=281	+1	2,900
T9	Billy Casper	68-72-70-72=282	+2	2,300
	Jon Gustin	69-76-71-66=282
	Ben Hogan	70-72-68-72=282
	Tony Lema	71-68-72-71=282