91st PGA Championship Journal

Country Club in Bronxville, N. Y. Played as
a series of head-to-head matches – known
as match play – the event was
won by Englishman Jim Barnes.
The PGA Championship was
then put on hold for two years by
World War I, but resumed in
1919 at Engineers Country Club
in Roslyn, N. Y., with Barnes
again emerging victorious to claim what is
now known as the Wanamaker Trophy,
which is still awarded the winner to this day.
The PGA Championship continued to
be held as a match-play event each year –
with the exception of 1943, when World
War II interrupted play – through 1958.
During the match play era, legends such as
Walter Hagen, Gene Sarazen, Paul Runyan,
Tommy Armour, Byron Nelson, Ben Hogan
and Sam Snead were among those to lay

Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus are tied for the most appearances in PGA Championship history with 37. The Golden Bear edges Palmer by seven ( 128 to 121) in total number of rounds played. PGA Championship factoid

claim to the Wanamaker Trophy. Hagen won four PGA Championships in a row in the mid-1920s, and his record of five PGA Championships has been equaled only by Jack Nicklaus.

The PGA Championship switched to its current stroke-play format in 1958. The format calls for four rounds of 18 holes, with the field reduced to the low 70 scorers and ties after the first 36 holes have been completed. If there’s a tie after 72 holes, a three-hole aggregate score playoff is held on holes 16, 17 and 18. If a tie remains after three holes, the remaining players will play a hole-by-hole playoff until one emerges victorious.

Many of the game’s greatest names have earned the title of PGA Champion during the stroke-play era, from the aforementioned Nicklaus to Gary Player,

Recognized as the experts in the game and business of golf, The PGA of America and its 28,000 men and women Professionals are committed to developing programs that both introduce and further advance interest in the game for the 27 million golfers in the United States.

Since 1916, when it was founded in New York City, The PGA’s mission has been twofold: to establish and elevate the standards of the profession and to grow interest and participation in the game of golf.

By establishing and elevating the standards of the golf profession through world-class education, career services, marketing and research programs, The

PGA enables its Professionals to maximize their performance in their respective career paths and showcases them in the multi-billion dollar golf industry.

Furthermore, by creating and delivering
dramatic world-class championships and
exciting and enjoyable golf promotions
that are viewed as the best of their class in
the golf industry, The PGA of America
elevates the public’s interest in and passion
for the game, the desire to
play more golf, and ensures
accessibility to the game
for everyone, everywhere.

Simply put, The PGA of

America brand represents the very best in the great sport of golf.

A leader of today’s golf industry, The

PGA’s origin can be traced to Jan. 17, 1916, when a group of New York-area golf professionals, accompanied by several prominent amateur golfers, attended a luncheon at the Taplow Club in New York

City, hosted by department store magnate

Rodman Wanamaker.

Among those in attendance were 1913

U. S. Open Champion Francis Ouimet, 1914

U. S. Open Champion Walter Hagen and famed golf course architect A. W.

Tillinghast.

The purpose of the gathering was to discuss forming a national organization that would promote interest in the game of golf and help elevate the vocation of golf professionals.

Wanamaker, who viewed the public’s growing enthusiasm for golf as the beginning of a national trend, promoted the idea of an association to help accelerate the growth of the game. Little did Wanamaker or his guests realize that they were laying the groundwork for what would become the world’s largest working sports organization.

Meetings were held over the next two months, and on April 10, 1916, with a Constitution and by-laws in hand, 82 founding members, including 35 charter members who attended the first meeting at the Taplow Club, created The Professional Golfers’ Association of America in New York City.