| 1958 PGA Championship | |
A year earlier, Dow Finsterwald lost in the finals of the last PGA Championship played at match play. This year, Finsterwald won the first PGA Championship played at stroke play.
Finsterwald won the 1958 PGA Championship by passing up Sam Snead and Billy Casper with a final-round 67. Finsterwald trailed Snead by two strokes and Casper by one at the start of the fourth round, but Casper - who was making his first appearance in a PGA Championship - shot 70, and Snead carded a 73.
Casper wasn't the only young player making his PGA Championship debut in 1958. Arnold Palmer also played the PGA for the first time, finishing tied for 40th. Casper went on to win 51 PGA Tour titles, and Palmer to win 62. But neither one ever won the PGA Championship.
Why did the PGA of America switch to stroke play in 1958? It likely had to do with wanting a larger audience for the championship - and with television. The 1958 PGA Championship was the first one to be televised, but the television network was showing only the final four holes. In match play, not only are some stars likely to be eliminated early, but matches often end before reaching the 18th hole. With television networks coming on board, the PGA likely felt that stroke play was the better format for building fan interest - and keeping the TV networks interested.
Results from the 1958 PGA Championship golf tournament played at the par-70 Llanerch Country Club in Havertown, Pennsylvania:
| Dow Finsterwald | 67-72-70-67--276 | $5,500 |
| Billy Casper | 73-67-68-70--278 | $3,500 |
| Sam Snead | 73-67-67-73--280 | $2,400 |
| Jack Burke Jr. | 70-72-69-70--281 | $2,000 |
| Tommy Bolt | 72-70-73-70--285 | $1,600 |
| Julius Boros | 72-68-73-72--285 | $1,600 |
| Jay Hebert | 68-71-73-73--285 | $1,600 |
| Buster Cupit | 71-74-69-73--287 | $1,300 |
| Ed Oliver | 74-73-71-69--287 | $1,300 |
| Mike Souchak | 75-69-69-74--287 | $1,300 |
| Doug Ford | 72-70-70-76--288 | $1,016 |
| Bob Rosburg | 71-73-76-68--288 | $1,016 |
| Art Wall | 71-78-67-72--288 | $1,016 |
| Fred Hawkins | 72-75-70-73--290 | $875 |
| Dick Mayer | 69-76-69-76--290 | $875 |
| John Barnum | 75-69-74-73--291 | $740 |
| Walter Burkemo | 76-73-66-76--291 | $740 |
| Lionel Hebert | 69-73-74-75--291 | $740 |
| Bo Wininger | 76-73-69-73--291 | $740 |
| Ted Kroll | 69-74-75-74--292 | $566 |
| Cary Middlecoff | 71-73-76-72--292 | $566 |
| Eric Monti | 73-71-73-75--292 | $566 |
| Bob Toski | 79-70-71-72--292 | $566 |
| Ken Venturi | 72-73-74-73--292 | $566 |
| Pete Cooper | 74-77-73-69--293 | $425 |
| George Fazio | 72-74-73-74--293 | $425 |
| Bob Gajda | 75-70-75-73--293 | $425 |
| Billy Maxwell | 75-69-74-75--293 | $425 |
| Dick Shoemaker | 79-72-73-70--294 | $335 |
| Don Whitt | 71-72-73-78--294 | $335 |
| Mike Fetchick | 74-76-71-74--295 | $270 |
| Frank Stranahan | 76-76-74-69--295 | $270 |
| Errie Ball | 79-72-72-73--296 | $220 |
| Tom Talkington | 75-73-73-75--296 | $220 |
| Herman Barron | 75-71-75-76--297 | $162 |
| Dick Cline | 75-72-77-73--297 | $162 |
| Bill Collins | 71-70-77-79--297 | $162 |
| Mike Dietz | 77-70-74-76--297 | $162 |
| Felice Torza | 69-72-75-81--297 | $162 |
| Henry Castillo | 75-76-75-72--298 | $110 |
| Bill Ezinicki | 76-70-80-72--298 | $110 |
| Arnold Palmer | 76-71-77-74--298 | $110 |
| Skee Riegel | 76-77-74-71--298 | $110 |
| Eddie Burke | 75-75-77-72--299 | $100 |
| Bob Crowley | 70-76-73-80--299 | $100 |
| Bill Johnston | 75-72-77-75--299 | $100 |
| Dave Marr | 72-79-74-74--299 | $100 |
| Ed Furgol | 78-76-72-74--300 | $100 |
| Jackson Bradley | 77-77-73-74--301 | $100 |
| Jack Isaacs | 74-75-78-74--301 | $100 |
| Chuck Klein | 78-75-74-74--301 | $100 |
| Henry Williams | 75-74-77-75--301 | $100 |
| Mike Krak | 74-78-74-76--302 | $100 |
| Toby Lyons | 75-73-74-80--302 | $100 |
| Thorne Wood | 77-75-70-80--302 | $100 |
| Brien Charter | 72-75-80-76--303 | $100 |
| Vic Ghezzi | 75-74-76-78--303 | $100 |
| Claude Harmon | 77-75-76-75--303 | $100 |
| Al Brosch | 75-79-74-78--306 | $100 |
| James Gantz | 76-76-75-79--306 | $100 |
| Gus Salerno | 79-75-74-78--306 | $100 |
| Larry Bartosek | 75-79-74-79--307 | $100 |
| Ewing Pomeroy | 80-74-74-82--310 | $100 |
| George Griffin | 74-76-78-83--311 | $100 |
1957 PGA Championship | 1959 PGA Championship
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