1967 PGA Championship

{{Short description|Golf tournament held in 1967}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}

{{Infobox individual golf tournament

| name = 1967 PGA Championship

| image =

| dates = July 20–24, 1967

| location = Columbine Valley, Colorado

| course = Columbine Country Club

| org = PGA of America

| tour = PGA Tour

| par = 72

| yardage = {{convert|7,436|yd}}{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=lL5YAAAAIBAJ&sjid=DukDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6874%2C2873813 |newspaper=Spokesman-Review|agency=Associated Press |title=Texans Massengale, January tie in down-to-wire PGA final round |date=July 24, 1967 |page=10}}

| field = 143 players, 75 after cut

| cut = 151 (+7)

| purse = $148,200{{cite web |url=http://www.pgamediaguide.com/pgachampionship_detail.cfm?tournament_id=393&date=1967&tourn_name_id=2 |publisher=PGA of America |title=Tournament Info for: 1967 PGA Championship |access-date=July 14, 2012 |archive-date=August 1, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120801154931/http://www.pgamediaguide.com/pgachampionship_detail.cfm?tournament_id=393&date=1967&tourn_name_id=2 |url-status=dead }}

| winners_share = $25,000

| champion = {{flagicon|USA}} Don January

| score = 281 (−7), playoff

| previous = 1966

| next = 1968

}}

{{Location map

|USA

|relief = 1

|label = Columbine CC

|lat = 39.60

|long = -105.036

|caption = Location in United States

|marksize = 5

|float =

|background=

|width = 240

}}

The 1967 PGA Championship was the 49th PGA Championship, played July 20–24 at Columbine Country Club in Columbine Valley, Colorado, a suburb south of Denver. Don January won his only major title in an 18-hole playoff over Don Massengale (69–71).{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=lb5YAAAAIBAJ&sjid=DukDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6834%2C2953905|newspaper=Spokesman-Review|agency=Associated Press|title=January breaks playoff jinx to win PGA by two strokes |date=July 25, 1967 }}

Both had overtaken the leaders with low scores in the fourth round on Sunday.

Columbine was scheduled to host the championship in 1966, but flooding of the course by the South Platte River caused a postponement of a year. Firestone Country Club in Ohio, scheduled to host in 1967, swapped years with Columbine and was the site of the tournament in 1966.{{cite magazine |url= http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1080117/index.htm |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121114140947/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1080117/index.htm |url-status= dead |archive-date= November 14, 2012 |magazine=Sports Illustrated |title=Two Dons In Quest Of A Title |last=Wright |first=Alfred |date=July 31, 1967 |page=18 |access-date=January 2, 2013}}

There was a possibility of a boycott of the championship by the top tournament players, due to grievances with the PGA of America. An understanding was achieved several weeks before and the top players entered.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=fNhVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ReEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3882,1059293|newspaper=Eugene Register-Guard|agency=Associated Press |title=Pro golfers settle odds with PGA |date=July 6, 1967 |page=1C }}

At the time, Columbine was the longest course in major championship history at {{convert|7436|yd}}. The elevation of the course is over {{convert|5300|ft|-1}} above sea level, additionally dry and fast conditions shortened its effective length. Tommy Aaron carded a course record 65 in the second round to take a four-stroke lead,{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=i9hVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ReEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5472%2C4096438|newspaper=Eugene Register-Guard |agency=Associated Press |title=Aaron erases course record |date=July 22, 1967 |page=1B }} but a 76 on Saturday dropped him two back and he fell out of contention on Sunday with a 78. The 54-hole leader was Dan Sikes, the chairman of the tournament players committee,{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=jNhVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ReEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5262%2C4230841|newspaper=Eugene Register-Guard |agency=Associated Press |title=PGA rebel grabs lead |date=July 23, 1967 |page=1B }} who shot a final round 73 and finished a stroke out of the playoff, in a tie for third with Jack Nicklaus.

This was the second and final 18-hole Monday playoff at the PGA Championship, formerly a match play event through 1957. The next playoff was ten years later in 1977 and the format was changed to sudden-death, immediately following the fourth round. It was later changed to a three-hole aggregate format, first used in 2000.

The Open Championship was played the previous week near Liverpool, England, 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, where it remained through 2018 (except 1971, when it was played in late February). In 2019, the tournament moved to the weekend before Memorial Day.