Last golf major at Aronimink: Revisiting Gary Player's 1962 PGA Championship win in Newton Square

Who won the 1962 PGA Championship?

Gary Player won the 1962 PGA Championship, his first of two PGA Championship titles and the third of his eventual nine major championships. Player was 26 years old at the time and was playing in just his second PGA Championship after finishing tied for 29th a year earlier.

Player also became the first foreign-born player to win the PGA Championship in the stroke-play era and the first South African to win the tournament.

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How Gary Player won 1962 PGA Championship

The 1962 PGA Championship featured a field of 170 people and two different cut lines, one after the second round and another after the third round. Player opened with a two-over 72, which was six shots behind the leader, but went on to shoot four-under over the next three days to secure a one-shot win at -2.

Player held off Bob Goalby, who was the only other player under par at -1. Goalby shot a three-under 67 in the final round to vault up the leaderboard and threaten Player's spot at the top, but Player held him off in the end.

"The PGA was always the hardest major to win because it always has the strongest field of only professionals," Player said. "When you win the PGA, you’ve really won a tough tournament. That win was a very major step in my career."

Other notable finishes include Jack Nicklaus, who was tied for 3rd at +1, and Bobby Nichols, who was in sixth place at +3.

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1962 PGA Championship leaderboard (just do top 10