Dates July 17–21, 1957 Course(s) Miami Valley Golf Club Tour(s) PGA Tour | Location Dayton, Ohio Organized by PGA of America Format Match play - 7 rounds | |
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The 1957 PGA Championship was the 39th PGA Championship, held July 17–21 at Miami Valley Golf Club in Dayton, Ohio. It was historically notable as the last PGA Championship played under the match play format. Lionel Hebert won the championship 2 & 1 over Dow Finsterwald, who won the following year, the first as a 72-hole stroke play event.
Contents
Defending champion Jack Burke, Jr. lost in the second round to Milon Marusic, 2 & 1.
At the time, it was not yet known that this was the last at match play, the decision to switch to stroke play was announced in during the November meetings.
Format
The match play format at the PGA Championship in 1957 called for 9 rounds (162 holes) in five days. As in 1956, the two-day stroke play qualifying segment (36 holes) was eliminated; 128 players were entered in the single-elimination bracket. The PGA Championship had concluded on Tuesday since 1947; this year's schedule was modified for a Sunday final, with match play beginning on Wednesday. The first five rounds were 18-hole matches contested over the first three days, which reduced the field to four players for the weekend. The semifinals and finals were 36-hole matches played on the final two days, Saturday and Sunday.
Consolation matches at 18 holes were held on the weekend to determine 3rd to 8th places.
Final results
Sunday, July 21, 1957
Final eight bracket
In the quarterfinals Friday, a clash of the Hebert brothers was avoided when Walter Burkemo defeated Jay Hebert, 2&1, while Lionel Hebert defeated Claude Harmon, 2&1. On the other side of the bracket, Dow Finsterwald defeated Charles Sheppard, 2 up, and Don Whitt defeated Dick Mayer, 2&1. In the semifinals on Saturday, Finsterwald defeated Whitt, 2 up, and Hebert prevailed over Burkemo 3&1. The final match on Sunday was all-square after the first 18 holes. Finsterwald bogeyed the 34th hole and was two holes down with two to play; the par-3 35th was halved with pars to end the match. Hebert earned $8,000 for the victory and Finsterwald received $5,000 as runner-up. Burkemo, the 1953 champion, defeated Whitt 3 & 1 to claim third place and $3,500. Finsterwald captured the title the following year in the new stroke play format. Hebert's older brother Jay won the title three years later in 1960.