1971 PGA Championship

Template:Use mdy dates Template:Short descriptionTemplate:Template other The 1971 PGA Championship was the 53rd PGA Championship, played February 25–28 at the original PGA National Golf Club, presently known as BallenIsles Country Club (East Course) in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

Jack Nicklaus won the second of his five PGA Championships, two strokes ahead of Billy Casper, the reigning Masters champion. Nicklaus led wire-to-wire, and held a four-stroke lead over Gary Player after 54 holes, with Casper seven shots back. The two were pre-tournament favorites, along with Arnold Palmer, who shot an opening round 75 and finished at 289 (+1), eight strokes back.

Nicklaus became the first in history to complete the modern career Grand Slam for a second time; two victories in each of the four major championships. He completed his third career grand slam at the 1978 Open Championship.

The championship was played in February rather than August, due to anticipated oppressive summer weather in Florida. The rescheduling changed the PGA Championship from the fourth and final major of the calendar year to the first in 1971, and the 1970 and 1971 editions were consecutive majors. It returned to August in 1972 at Oakland Hills in Michigan.

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, February 25, 1971

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Template:Flagicon Jack Nicklaus	69	−3
T2	Template:Flagicon Bob Charles	70	−2
	Template:Flagicon Bob Goalby
	Template:Flagicon Bobby Mitchell
T5	Template:Flagicon Bradley Anderson	71	−1
	Template:Flagicon Deane Beman
	Template:Flagicon Julius Boros
	Template:Flagicon Billy Casper
	Template:Flagicon Bruce Devlin
	Template:Flagicon Larry Hinson
	Template:Flagicon Johnny Miller
	Template:Flagicon Gary Player
	Template:Flagicon Sam Snead
	Template:Flagicon Lee Trevino
	Template:Flagicon Bert Yancey

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Second round

Friday, February 26, 1971

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Template:Flagicon Jack Nicklaus	69-69=138	−6
2	Template:Flagicon Miller Barber	72-68=140	−4
3	Template:Flagicon Gibby Gilbert	74-67=141	−3
T4	Template:Flagicon Gene Borek	72-70=142	−2
	Template:Flagicon Bruce Devlin	71-71=142
	Template:Flagicon Lionel Hebert	72-70=142
	Template:Flagicon Bob Lunn	72-70=142
	Template:Flagicon Bob Murphy	74-68=142
	Template:Flagicon Tom Weiskopf	72-70=142
	Template:Flagicon Larry Ziegler	74-68=142

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Third round

Saturday, February 27, 1971

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Template:Flagicon Jack Nicklaus	69-69-70=208	−8
2	Template:Flagicon Gary Player	71-73-68=212	−4
3	Template:Flagicon Gibby Gilbert	74-67-72=213	−3
T4	Template:Flagicon Miller Barber	72-68-75=215	−1
	Template:Flagicon Tommy Bolt	72-74-69=215
	Template:Flagicon Gene Borek	72-70-73=215
	Template:Flagicon Billy Casper	71-73-71=215
	Template:Flagicon Bob Charles	70-75-70=215
	Template:Flagicon Bob Lunn	72-70-73=215
	Template:Flagicon Bert Yancey	71-74-70=215

Source:

Final leaderboard

Sunday, February 28, 1971

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
1	Template:Flagicon Jack Nicklaus	69-69-70-73=281	−7	40,000
2	Template:Flagicon Billy Casper	71-73-71-68=283	−5	22,800
3	Template:Flagicon Tommy Bolt	72-74-69-69=284	−4	14,200
T4	Template:Flagicon Miller Barber	72-68-75-70=285	−3	8,800
	Template:Flagicon Gary Player	71-73-68-73=285
T6	Template:Flagicon Gibby Gilbert	74-67-72-73=286	−2	6,500
	Template:Flagicon Dave Hill	74-71-71-70=286
	Template:Flagicon Jim Jamieson	72-72-72-70=286
T9	Template:Flagicon Jerry Heard	73-71-72-71=287	−1	4,800
	Template:Flagicon Bob Lunn	72-70-73-72=287
	Template:Flagicon Fred Marti	72-71-74-70=287
	Template:Flagicon Bob Rosburg	74-72-70-71=287

Source:

External links

• PGA Media Guide 2012
• PGA Championship: history
• PGA.com – 1971 PGA Championship