1972 PGA Championship

The 1972 PGA Championship was the 54th PGA Championship, played August 3–6 at Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, a suburb northwest of Detroit. Gary Player won his second PGA Championship with a total of 281 (+1), two strokes ahead of runners-up Tommy Aaron and Jim Jamieson.^[2] It was the sixth of Player's nine major titles, but his first in over four years.^[3][4]

1972 PGA Championship

Tournament information
Dates	August 3–6, 1972
Location	Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
Course(s)	Oakland Hills Country Club, South Course
Organized by	PGA of America
Tour(s)	PGA Tour
Statistics
Par	70
Length	7,054 yards (6,450 m)
Field	138 players, 77 after cut[1]
Cut	150 (+10)
Prize fund	$224,087
Winner's share	$45,000
Champion
Gary Player
281 (+1)
← 1971 1973 →

Oakland Hills Country Club

Location in the United States

Oakland Hills Country Club

Location in Michigan

The PGA Championship returned to the month of August in 1972 after being played in late February in 1971 in Florida.

Defending champion Jack Nicklaus, winner of the year's Masters and U.S. Open and runner-up in the British Open, finished six strokes back in a tie for thirteenth place. He regained the title the following year.

It was the fifth major championship held on the South Course, which previously hosted the U.S. Open in 1924, 1937, 1951, and 1961. It later hosted the PGA Championship in 1979 and 2008, the U.S. Open in 1985 and 1996, and the Ryder Cup in 2004.

Course layout

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Out	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	In	Total
Yards	446	521	202	439	442	368	408	458	227	3,511	459	420	567	173	468	388	408	201	459	3,543	7,054
Par	4	5	3	4	4	4	4	4	3	35	4	4	5	3	4	4	4	3	4	35	70

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, August 3, 1972

Place	Player	Score	To par
T1	Buddy Allin	68	−2
	Stan Thirsk
T3	Raymond Floyd	69	−1
	Larry Gilbert
	Jerry Heard
	Jim Jamieson
	Arnold Palmer
T8	Richard Crawford	70	E
	Rod Funseth
	Johnny Miller
	Dan Sikes
	Sam Snead
	Jim Wiechers

Source:^[5]

Second round

Friday, August 4, 1972

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Jerry Heard	69-70=139	−1
T2	Raymond Floyd	69-71=140	E
	Hale Irwin	71-69=140
T4	Gay Brewer	71-70=141	+1
	Jim Jamieson	69-72=141
	Bob Smith	69-72=141
T7	Gary Player	71-71=142	+2
	Dan Sikes	70-72=142
	Lanny Wadkins	74-68=142
T10	Billy Casper	73-70=143	+3
	Phil Rodgers	71-72=143
	Art Wall Jr.	72-71=143
	Jim Wiechers	70-73=143

Source:^[6]

Third round

Saturday, August 5, 1972

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Gary Player	71-71-67=209	−1
2	Billy Casper	73-70-67=210	E
T3	Gay Brewer	71-70-70=211	+1
	Jerry Heard	69-70-72=211
	Phil Rodgers	71-72-68=211
T6	Tommy Aaron	71-71-70=212	+2
	Doug Sanders	72-72-68=212
	Jim Wiechers	70-73-69=212
	Larry Wise	74-71-67=212
10	Jim Jamieson	69-72-72=213	+3

Source:^[7]

Final round

Sunday, August 6, 1972

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
1	Gary Player	71-71-67-72=281	+1	45,000
T2	Tommy Aaron	71-71-70-71=283	+3	20,850
	Jim Jamieson	69-72-72-70=283
T4	Billy Casper	73-70-67-74=284	+4	9,275
	Raymond Floyd	69-71-74-70=284
	Sam Snead	70-74-71-69=284
T7	Gay Brewer	71-70-70-74=285	+5	6,383
	Jerry Heard	69-70-72-74=285
	Phil Rodgers	71-72-68-74=285
	Doug Sanders	72-72-68-73=285

Source:^[4][8]