The 1972 PGA Championship was the 54th PGA Championship, played August 3–6 at Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, a suburb northwest of Detroit. Gary Player won his second PGA Championship with a total of 281 (+1), two strokes ahead of runners-up Tommy Aaron and Jim Jamieson. It was the sixth of Player's nine major titles, but his first in over four years.

The PGA Championship returned to the month of August in 1972 after being played in late February in 1971 in Florida.

Defending champion Jack Nicklaus, winner of the year's Masters and U.S. Open and runner-up in the British Open, finished six strokes back in a tie for thirteenth place. He regained the title the following year.

It was the fifth major championship held on the South Course, which previously hosted the U.S. Open in 1924, 1937, 1951, and 1961. It later hosted the PGA Championship in 1979 and 2008, the U.S. Open in 1985 and 1996, and the Ryder Cup in 2004.

Course layout Hole123456789Out101112131415161718InTotalYards4465212024394423684084582273,5114594205671734683884082014593,5437,054Par453444443354453444343570

Round summaries First round Thursday, August 3, 1972 PlacePlayerScoreTo parT1 Buddy Allin 68 −2 Stan Thirsk T3 Raymond Floyd 69 −1 Larry Gilbert Jerry Heard Jim Jamieson Arnold Palmer T8 Richard Crawford 70 E Rod Funseth Johnny Miller Dan Sikes Sam Snead Jim Wiechers Source:

Second round Friday, August 4, 1972 PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Jerry Heard 69-70=139 −1 T2 Raymond Floyd 69-71=140 E Hale Irwin 71-69=140 T4 Gay Brewer 71-70=141 +1 Jim Jamieson 69-72=141 Bob Smith 69-72=141 T7 Gary Player 71-71=142 +2 Dan Sikes 70-72=142 Lanny Wadkins 74-68=142 T10 Billy Casper 73-70=143 +3 Phil Rodgers 71-72=143 Art Wall Jr. 72-71=143 Jim Wiechers 70-73=143 Source:

Third round Saturday, August 5, 1972 PlacePlayerScoreTo par1 Gary Player 71-71-67=209 −1 2 Billy Casper 73-70-67=210 E T3 Gay Brewer 71-70-70=211 +1 Jerry Heard 69-70-72=211 Phil Rodgers 71-72-68=211T6 Tommy Aaron 71-71-70=212 +2 Doug Sanders 72-72-68=212 Jim Wiechers 70-73-69=212 Larry Wise 74-71-67=21210 Jim Jamieson 69-72-72=213 +3 Source:

Final round Sunday, August 6, 1972 PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)1 Gary Player 71-71-67-72=281 +1 45,000T2 Tommy Aaron 71-71-70-71=283 +3 20,850 Jim Jamieson 69-72-72-70=283T4 Billy Casper 73-70-67-74=284 +4 9,275 Raymond Floyd 69-71-74-70=284 Sam Snead 70-74-71-69=284T7 Gay Brewer 71-70-70-74=285 +5 6,383 Jerry Heard 69-70-72-74=285 Phil Rodgers 71-72-68-74=285 Doug Sanders 72-72-68-73=285 Source:

References

External links PGA Media Guide 2012 PGA.com – 1972 PGA Championship