The PGA Championship in America used to be a match play event. How did that work? asked Ian Knights
The PGA Championship, one of golf's four majors, was a match play event from its inception in 1916 until 1957, after which it changed to the more familiar stroke play format.
The early events were actually a mixture, as there was a stroke play qualifying competition before the leaders contested matches against each other -- as in the Ryder Cup -- boiling down to a final, usually over 36 holes. With several rounds to get through, the men who reached the later stages could play around 200 holes of golf during the tournament.
By 1957 the stroke play element had been abolished, and the PGA was a straight knockout. That year's tournament, which stretched over five days at the Miami Valley club in Dayton, Ohio, started with the 128 qualifiers contesting first-round matches of 18 holes, then the second and third rounds [also 18 holes] were played on the second day. The third day saw two more rounds of 18 holes apiece, the second of which were the quarter-finals; then the semis were contested over 36 holes. On the Sunday the two survivors played a 36-hole final.
The winner of that last match play PGA in 1957 was Lionel Hebert, who beat Dow Finsterwald 2 and 1. The event lost money overall, and was changed to a four-round stroke play tournament like the other majors. By a neat coincidence the first such PGA Championship, in 1958, was won by Finsterwald, runner-up the previous year under the old system.