History and records of the Senior PGA Championship
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The world's top senior players will gather at Valhalla Golf Club outside Louisville, Ky. on May 26-29 for the 72nd Senior PGA Championship. Take a look at the history and records of this major tournament on the Champions Tour.
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Most championships won
Although 13 golfers have multiple Senior PGA Championship wins, just one has six. With titles in 1964, 1965, 1967, 1970, 1972 and 1973, Sam Snead holds the record for most championship victories.
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Best 72-hole score
Sam Snead's 1973 Senior PGA Championship victory was his most dominant. Not only did he record the best 72-hole score in tournament history, shooting a 20-under 268 (66-66-67-69), but he also had the best score on the first 54 holes (a 17-under 199) and the largest 54-hole lead (11 strokes). Snead's winning margin of 15 shots that year also represents the largest advantage in tournament history.
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Highest 72-hole score
Sam Snead may have shot a 2-over 290 in the 1970 Senior PGA Championship, but it was still enough to earn him the title. Hampered by inclement weather, all of the golfers struggled. Snead claimed a two-stroke victory.
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Best 18-hole score
Arnold Palmer's 9-under 63 in the second round of the 1984 Senior PGA Championship equalled Buck White's record for the best one-round score. Palmer, however, was able to capture the win, while White settled for a tie for 12th in 1961, the year he shot a first-round 63.
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Largest 18-hole lead
In 1988, Bob Charles (pictured) fired a first-round 64 to surge to a five-stroke lead at the Senior PGA Championship, tying a mark set by Harry Schwab in 1953 for the largest 18-hole advantage. Unlike Schwab, Charles wasn't able to hold on to that edge, and he finished in a tie for 11th.
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Lowest first-round score by a winner
While Jock Hutchison holds the record for the highest first-round score by a winner (shooting a 4-over 76 in 1937), Hale Irwin (pictured) has a more desired record. He shot a 6-under 66 in the first round of the 1996 tournament, joining Harry Schwab (1953), Sam Snead (1973) and Jack Nicklaus (1991) as the eventual winners with the lowest first-round scores.
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Highest final-round score by a winner
Despite shooting a 4-over 76 in 1970, Sam Snead's closest competition was not able to take advantage of his lapse, and Snead still claimed the victory.
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Most money won
Spanning 13 Senior PGA Championships, Hale Irwin has won four times and pulled in almost $1.5 million in prize money. No other golfer has over $1 million in prize money from the tournament.
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Lowest 72-hole scoring average
Denis Watson averaged a 69.75 over four rounds on the Ocean Course at the Kiawah Island Resort in 2007, capturing a two-stroke Senior PGA Championship victory and setting the record for the lowest 72-hole scoring average.
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Lowest scoring average (minimum of 60 rounds)
Throughout the 70 rounds he has played in Senior PGA Championship events, Sam Snead holds the record for the lowest scoring average at 71.61.
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Most appearances and most rounds played
He won the Senior PGA Championship just once, taking home the title in 1966, but Fred Haas holds the record for the most appearances in the event, playing it 30 times. During that time he competed in 101 rounds, almost 20 more rounds than Joe Jimenez, who is second on that list.
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Most rounds in the 60s
A dominant force on the Champions Tour, Hale Irwin has had a record 19 rounds in the 60s at the Senior PGA Championship.
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Most rounds under par
No golfer has more rounds under par at the Senior PGA Championship than Sam Snead. He's shot under par 33 times, although Hale Irwin, who has 27 rounds under par, is catching up to his mark.
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Most times finishing as the runner-up
Jock Hutchison won the Senior PGA Championship once, but he had many other chances to become a multiple winner. Hutchison finished second a record six times (1940, 1942, 1945, 1946, 1949, 1951). Second on the runner-ups list goes to Julius Boros (pictured), who finished just out of first four times (1972, 1973, 1974, 1982). Boros did have two wins at the event.
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Top finishes
Jock Hutchison has the most top-three finishes (11) and most top-five finishes (12) in Senior PGA Championship history. When it comes to top-10 and top-25 finishes, however, those records are held by Sam Snead (pictured). Snead earned top-10 spots 15 times and was in the top-25 17 times.
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Wire-to-wire wins
There have been eight golfers who have won the Senior PGA Championship leading start to finish. They include Sam Snead, who accomplished the feat twice (1964 and 1973), Don January (1979), Arnold Palmer (1984), Peter Thompson (1984), Gary Player (pictured, 1986), Jack Nicklaus (1991) and Hale Irwin (2004). In a weather-shortened event in 2000, Doug Tewell led wire-to-wire for the entire 54 holes.
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First-attempt winners
Twenty-two golfers have won the Senior PGA Championship their first year of playing the event. They are Jock Hutchison (1937), Jack Burke Sr. (1941), Charles McKenna (1948), Al Watrous (1950), Pete Burke (1956), Sam Snead (1964), Fred Haas Jr. (1966), Tommy Bolt (1969), Julius Boros (1971), Robert De Vicenzo (1974), Charles Sifford (1975), Don January (1979), Arnold Palmer (1980), Miller Barber (1981), Gary Player (1986), Tom Wargo (1993), Hale Irwin (1996), Allen Doyle (1999), Doug Tewell (2000), Fuzzy Zoeller (pictured, 2002), Mike Reid (2005) and, most recently, Denis Watson (2007).
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