The PGA
Championship:
“The Season’s Final
Major … Glory’s Last Shot”
Walter Hagen
Jack Nicklaus
Tiger Woods
While these storylines will dominate the week, it’s important to know that the PGA
Championship is built on a foundation that includes more than nine decades of unforgettable golf by the game’s greatest players. The PGA Championship is one of the four major championships that serve as the cornerstone of modern professional
FOR SPECTATORS AND PLAYERS, THIS WEEK’S PGA CHAMPI- onship represents many new opportunities. For spectators, it’s a chance to see many of the game’s top young stars and longtime favorites tee it up in Minnesota for the first time
since Hazeltine National Golf Club hosted the 2002 PGA Champi-
onship. For the players, it’s a chance to either break through with a first
major championship victory or add another prestigious title to an already
accomplished career.
The last time the PGA Championship was contested at Hazeltine National Golf Club (2002), the course scoring average through four rounds was 74.735, with only 17 percent of the rounds recorded being under par. PGA Championship factoid
golf, and as the fourth and final major of the season it has truly earned its place in the game as “The Season’s Final Major … Glory’s Last Shot.”
Like The PGA of America itself, the PGA Championship came to be in 1916 (see related story that begins on the next page). Just seven months after department store magnate Rodman Wanamaker helped establish The Professional Golfers’ Association of America, the fledgling organization – using 2,500 of Wanamaker’s money as a purse, along with trophies and medals he donated – held the first PGA Championship at Siwanoy
The year’s
strongest field
in professional
golf takes to the
tee at Hazeltine
National to
continue a
golf tradition
that dates back
to 1916
By Don Jozwiak
THE PGA OF AMERICA