1961 PGA Championship

Template:Use mdy dates Template:Short descriptionTemplate:Template other The 1961 PGA Championship was the 43rd PGA Championship, played July 27–31 at the North Course of Olympia Fields Country Club in Olympia Fields, Illinois, a suburb south of Chicago. Jerry Barber, age 45, won his only major title in an 18-hole Monday playoff by one stroke over Don January, 67 to 68. It was the fourth edition as a stroke play event and the first playoff.

Rain washed out the second round on Friday afternoon with only about one-third of the field completing their rounds. The scores were scrapped and the second round was replayed on Saturday, with 36 holes on Sunday. Barber led at the midway point with a 136 (−4), two shots ahead of January and Doug Sanders. A top putter of the era, Barber sank of putts on the last three holes of the final round to erase a four-stroke deficit to January and force a Monday playoff. At the 72nd hole, January had a two-stroke lead, but put his tee shot into the sand. With Barber on the green but an improbable away, January played conservatively for the bogey. Barber drained his third lengthy putt in as many holes (birdie-par-birdie) to even it up at the end of regulation.

In the playoff, the two were tied at three-under after 16 holes, following January's birdie. Both had pars at the 17th, which effectively turned the 18th hole into sudden-death. Both tee shots found fairway bunkers, and Barber hit a 3-iron onto the green, from the cup. January found another bunker short of the green and could not save par from .

At age 45, Barber became the oldest winner of the PGA Championship, whose previous champions were all under age 40, with several at age 39. At the time, the only older major winner was Old Tom Morris at age 46 in 1867. Barber was surpassed in 1968 by Julius Boros at age 48.

It was the third major championship at Olympia Fields Country Club; it previously hosted the PGA Championship in 1925 (Courses 3 & 4) and the U.S. Open in 1928 (Course 4). The four 18-hole courses at Olympia Fields were reduced to two in the 1940s when the club sold half of its property. Course 4 became the North course, and the South course is a composite of holes form the other three. The North Course later hosted the U.S. Open in 2003, won by Jim Furyk.

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	510	455	443	415	355	150	412	250	380	3,370	382	155	425	545	148	375	458	428	436	3,352	6,722
Par	5	4	4	4	4	3	4	3	4	35	4	3	4	5	3	4	4	4	4	35	70

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, July 27, 1961

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Template:Flagicon Art Wall Jr.	67	−3
T2	Template:Flagicon Jay Hebert	68	−2
	Template:Flagicon Ernie Vossler
T4	Template:Flagicon Jerry Barber	69	−1
	Template:Flagicon Doug Ford
	Template:Flagicon Bill Heinlein
T7	Template:Flagicon Buster Cupit	70	E
	Template:Flagicon Don Fairfield
	Template:Flagicon Jack Fleck
	Template:Flagicon Paul Harney
	Template:Flagicon Shelley Mayfield
	Template:Flagicon Bob Rosburg
	Template:Flagicon Doug Sanders

Source:

Second round

Friday, July 28, 1961
Saturday, July 29, 1961

Play in the second round on Friday was ended by heavy rain in the early afternoon, with 54 of the 166 rounds completed. All scores were scrapped and the round was replayed on Saturday.

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Template:Flagicon Jerry Barber	69-67=136	−4
T2	Template:Flagicon Don January	72-66=138	−2
	Template:Flagicon Doug Sanders	70-68=138
4	Template:Flagicon Art Wall Jr.	67-72=139	−1
T5	Template:Flagicon Jay Hebert	68-72=140	E
	Template:Flagicon Ted Kroll	72-68=140
	Template:Flagicon Ernie Vossler	68-72=140
T8	Template:Flagicon Don Fairfield	70-71=141	+1
	Template:Flagicon Gene Littler	71-70=141
	Template:Flagicon Bob Rosburg	70-71=141

Source:

Third round

Sunday, July 30, 1961 (morning)

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Template:Flagicon Don January	72-66-67=205	−5
2	Template:Flagicon Jerry Barber	69-67-71=207	−3
T3	Template:Flagicon Wes Ellis	71-71-68=210	E
	Template:Flagicon Ted Kroll	72-68-70=210
5	Template:Flagicon Johnny Pott	71-73-67=211	+1
T6	Template:Flagicon Paul Harney	70-73-69=212	+2
	Template:Flagicon Jay Hebert	68-72-72=212
	Template:Flagicon Doug Sanders	70-68-74=212
	Template:Flagicon Art Wall Jr.	67-72-73=212
T10	Template:Flagicon Gardner Dickinson	71-71-71=213	+3
	Template:Flagicon Bob Goalby	73-72-68=213

Final round

Sunday, July 30, 1961 (afternoon)

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
T1	Template:Flagicon Jerry Barber	69-67-71-70=277	−3	Playoff
	Template:Flagicon Don January	72-66-67-72=277
3	Template:Flagicon Doug Sanders	70-68-74-68=280	E	3,600
4	Template:Flagicon Ted Kroll	72-68-70-71=281	+1	3,100
T5	Template:Flagicon Wes Ellis	71-71-68-72=282	+2	2,209
	Template:Flagicon Doug Ford	69-73-74-66=282
	Template:Flagicon Gene Littler	71-70-72-69=282
	Template:Flagicon Arnold Palmer	73-72-69-68=282
	Template:Flagicon Johnny Pott	71-73-67-71=282
	Template:Flagicon Art Wall Jr.	67-72-73-70=282

Playoff

Monday, July 31, 1961

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
1	Template:Flagicon Jerry Barber	35-32=67	−3	11,000
2	Template:Flagicon Don January	34-34=68	−2	5,500

Scorecard

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
Par	5	4	4	4	4	3	4	3	4	4	3	4	5	3	4	4	4	4
Template:Flagicon Barber	−1	−1	−1	E	E	E	E	E	E	E	E	−1	−1	−2	−3	−3	−3	−3
Template:Flagicon January	E	−1	−1	−1	−2	−2	E	E	−1	−1	−2	−2	−2	−2	−2	−3	−3	−2

Birdie

Bogey

Double bogey

Source:

External links

• PGA Media Guide 2012
• GolfCompendium.com – 1961 PGA Championship
• PGA.com – 1961 PGA Championship