The 1958 PGA Championship was the 40th PGA Championship, played July 17–20 at Llanerch Country Club in Havertown, Pennsylvania, a suburb west of Philadelphia. It was the first PGA Championship held in its current stroke play format,[3] 72 holes over four days, ending on Sunday. The previous editions were at match play, with the two most recent ones at seven rounds over five days, the final two rounds at 36 holes per match. The announcement of the change was made eight months earlier in November.[4][5]

1958 PGA Championship
Tournament information
DatesJuly 17–20, 1958
LocationHavertown, Pennsylvania
Course(s)Llanerch Country Club
Organized byPGA of America
Tour(s)PGA Tour
FormatStroke play
Statistics
Par70
Length6,710 yards (6,136 m)
Field161 players
93 after first cut
64 after second cut
Cut154 (+14) (first cut)
228 (+18) (second cut)[2]
Prize fund$39,388[1]
Winner's share$5,500
Champion
United States Dow Finsterwald
276 (−4)
← 1957
1959 →
Llanerch CC is located in the United States
Llanerch CC
Llanerch CC
Llanerch CC is located in Pennsylvania
Llanerch CC
Llanerch CC

Dow Finsterwald, the runner-up in 1957, shot a final round 67 to win his only major title, two shots ahead of runner-up Billy Casper. Finsterwald's round-by-round scores were 67-72-70-67=276, 4-under-par on the par-70 course.[6] Sam Snead led after 54 holes in pursuit of a fourth title, but faded to third with a final round 73 (+3).[7] The winner's share was $5,500, down from the previous year's $8,000.

The Open Championship was held two weeks earlier in England at Royal Lytham & St Annes, with only two Americans in the field; Gene Sarazen finished 16th, but missed the first cut at the PGA Championship.

Round summaries

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Thursday, July 17, 1958

Place Player Score To par
1   Dow Finsterwald 67 −3
2   Jay Hebert 68 −2
T3   Jimmy Demaret 69 −1
  Lionel Hebert
  Ted Kroll
  Dick Mayer
  Felice Torza
T8   Jack Burke Jr. 70 E
  Bob Crowley
T10   Leo Biagetti 71 +1
  Bill Collins
  Buster Cupit
  Cary Middlecoff
  Bob Rosburg
  Don Whitt
  Art Wall Jr.

Source:[8]

Second round

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Friday, July 18, 1958

Place Player Score To par
T1   Dow Finsterwald 67-72=139 −1
  Jay Hebert 68-71=139
T3   Julius Boros 72-68=140 E
  Billy Casper 73-67=140
  Sam Snead 73-67=140
T6   Bill Collins 71-70=141 +1
  Felice Torza 69-72=141
T8   Tommy Bolt 72-70=142 +2
  Jack Burke Jr. 70-72=142
  Doug Ford 72-70=142
  Lionel Hebert 69-73=142

Source:[9]

Third round

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Saturday, July 19, 1958

Place Player Score To par
1   Sam Snead 73-67-67=207 −3
2   Billy Casper 73-67-68=208 −2
3   Dow Finsterwald 67-72-70=209 −1
4   Jack Burke Jr. 70-72-69=211 +1
T5   Doug Ford 72-70-70=212 +2
  Jay Hebert 68-71-73=212
T7   Julius Boros 72-68-73=213 +3
  Mike Souchak 75-69-69=213
T9   Buster Cupit 71-74-69=214 +4
  Dick Mayer 75-69-69=214

Source:[10]

Final round

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Sunday, July 20, 1958

Place Player Score To par Money ($)
1   Dow Finsterwald 67-72-70-67=276 −4 5,500
2   Billy Casper 73-67-68-70=278 −2 3,500
3   Sam Snead 73-67-67-73=280 E 2,400
4   Jack Burke Jr. 70-72-69-70=281 +1 2,000
T5   Tommy Bolt 72-70-73-70=285 +5 1,600
  Julius Boros 72-68-73-72=285
  Jay Hebert 68-71-73-73=285
T8   Buster Cupit 71-74-69-73=287 +7 1,300
  Ed Oliver 74-73-71-69=287
  Mike Souchak 75-69-69-74=287

Source:[7]

References

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  1. ^ "Tournament Info for: 1958 PGA Championship". PGA.com. Archived from the original on October 23, 2006. Retrieved July 17, 2012.
  2. ^ Grimsley, Will (July 20, 1958). "Snead takes over PGA command; can become oldest man to win". St. Petersburg Independent. Florida. Associated Press. p. 10-A.
  3. ^ Wind, Herbert Warren (August 4, 1958). "Items from a summer notebook". Sports Illustrated. p. 46.
  4. ^ "Medal play in pro golf slated". Time-News. (Hendersonville, North Carolina). United Press. November 15, 1957. p. 8.
  5. ^ "P.G.A. swings from match to medal play". Chicago Daily Tribune. November 15, 1957. p. 1, part 4.
  6. ^ "Final Scores From PGA". The Salt Lake Tribune. July 21, 1958. p. 41.
  7. ^ a b "Finsterwald wins as Snead 'blows up'". Milwaukee Sentinel. UPI. July 21, 1958. p. 2, part 2.
  8. ^ Gundelfinger, Phil (July 18, 1959). "Dow Finsterwald's 67 leads PGA tourney". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 15.
  9. ^ "2nd round PGA scores". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. July 19, 1959. p. 11.
  10. ^ Bartlett, Charles (July 20, 1958). "Sam Snead fires 67 for 207; takes over PGA lead". Chicago Sunday Tribune. p. 1, part 2.
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39°58′12″N 75°18′50″W / 39.97°N 75.314°W / 39.97; -75.314