The 1955 PGA Championship was the 37th

PGA Championship The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. The PGA is one of the four men's major golf champi ...

, held July 20–26 in

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

Meadowbrook Country Club Meadowbrook Country Club is a country club in Northville Township, Wayne County, Michigan, Northville Township, Wayne County, near Northville, Michigan. The idea for Meadowbrook Country Club, a private Golf course, golf and social club, came abo ...

in Northville Township, northwest of nearby

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Doug Ford Douglas Robert Ford Jr. (born November 20, 1964) is a Canadian politician and businessman who has served as the 26th and current premier of Ontario and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party since 2018. He represents the Toronto rid ...

won the

match play Match play is a scoring system for golf in which a player, or team, earns a point for each hole in which they have bested their opponents; as opposed to stroke play, in which the total number of strokes is counted over one or more rounds of 18 h ...

championship, 4 and 3 over

Cary Middlecoff Emmett Cary Middlecoff (January 6, 1921 – September 1, 1998) was an American professional golfer on the PGA Tour from 1947 to 1961. His 39 Tour wins place him tied for tenth all-time, and he won three major championships. Middlecoff graduated ...

in the Tuesday final; the winner's share was $5,000 and the runner-up earned $3,000. This was the first of two

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

titles for Ford, who won the Masters in

1957 Events January * January 1 – The Saarland joins West Germany. * January 3 – Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch. * January 5 – South African player Russell Endean becomes the first batsman to be Dismissal (cricke ...

. Ford was also the medalist in the stroke-play qualifying with a 135 (−7), worth $250 and the

Alex Smith Alexander Douglas Smith (born May 7, 1984) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons. He played college football for the Utah Utes, earning first-team All-American ho ...

trophy. He was the fourth to win the final match after winning the qualifier, joining

Walter Hagen Walter Charles Hagen (December 21, 1892 – October 6, 1969) was an American professional golfer and a major figure in golf in the first half of the 20th century. His tally of 11 professional Men's major golf championships, majors is third behin ...

(

1926 In Turkey, the year technically contained only 352 days. As Friday, December 18, 1926 ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Saturday, January 1, 1927 '' (Gregorian Calendar)''. 13 days were dropped to make the switch. Turkey thus became the ...

Olin Dutra Olin A. Dutra (January 17, 1901 – May 5, 1983) was an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour in the 1920s and 1930s. He won two major titles, the PGA Championship in 1932 and the U.S. Open in 1934, and was the first major cha ...

(

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

), and

Byron Nelson John Byron Nelson Jr. (February 4, 1912 – September 26, 2006) was an American professional golfer between 1935 and 1946, widely considered one of the greatest golfers of all time. Nelson and two other legendary champions of the time, Ben Hog ...

(

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II, the fall of Nazi Germany, and the Empire of Japan. It is also the year concentration camps were liberated and the only year in which atomic weapons have been used in combat. Events World War II will be ...

). Ford was the last medalist, as the format was changed in

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...

to seven rounds without a qualifier for two years, then to 72-hole stroke play in

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the thir ...

. Defending champion

Chick Harbert Melvin R. "Chick" Harbert (February 20, 1915 – September 1, 1992) was an American professional golfer. Early life Harbert was born in Dayton, Ohio, and served in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II. Professional career Harbert wo ...

, a local resident, was defeated in the second round by

Johnny Palmer John Cornelius Palmer (July 3, 1918 – September 14, 2006) was an American professional golfer. Born in Eldorado, North Carolina, Palmer won seven times on the PGA Tour in the 1940s and 1950s, and was a member of the Ryder Cup team 1949. Palm ...

, 1 up. No former champion advanced past the second round. This was second time in three years the PGA Championship was played near Detroit; the

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito ...

event was played at Birmingham Country Club in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, about northeast. The

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...

edition, in which Harbert was runner-up, was also held in the Detroit area.

Format

The

format at the PGA Championship in 1955 called for 12 rounds (216 holes) in seven days: * Wednesday and Thursday – 36-hole

stroke play Stroke play is a scoring system in the sport of golf. In the regular form of stroke play, also known as medal play, the total number of strokes is counted over one or more rounds of 18 holes. In a regular stroke play competition, the winner is the ...

qualifier, 18 holes per day; **defending champion

and the top 63 professionals advanced to match play * Friday – first two rounds, 18 holes each * Saturday – third round – 36 holes * Sunday – quarterfinals – 36 holes * Monday – semifinals – 36 holes * Tuesday – final – 36 holes

Final results

''Tuesday, July 26, 1955''

Results

Top half

Bottom half

w/o = won by

walkover John Baxter Taylor and William Robbins (athlete)">William Robbins to refuse to race in protest. A walkover, also W.O. or w/o (originally two words: "walk over"), is awarded to the opposing team/player, etc., if there are no other players avail ...

Source:

Final

''July 26, Morning'' ''Afternoon'' Source:

References

External links

PGA Media Guide 2012
– 1955 PGA Championship

– 1955 PGA Championship {{coord, 42.437, -83.447, type:event, display=title PGA Championship Golf tournaments in Michigan