PGA Championship History

Scottie Scheffler emphatically made the 107th PGA Championship a showcase of his incredible talents and mental fortitude. And let the record show, that while it will go down in history that Scheffler – who finished with 71 for 11-under 273 and won by five – scorched the back nine at Quail Hollow in just 32 strokes Saturday and 34 Sunday with a parade of one eagle, seven birdies, and a handful of gut-check pars, what pumped fuel into it all is something that isn’t on the scorecard or in his golf bag.

“I always try to lean as much as I can on my mind,” said Scheffler. “I think that’s probably my greatest strength.”

After seeing his lead balloon to five strokes just five holes into the final round, his swing kept tugging shots wide left and bogeys soiled his scorecard at the par-3 sixth and par-4 ninth. Up ahead, a vaunted heavyweight, Jon Rahm, was making birdies and there suddenly wasn’t much breathing room up top.

Going to the turn at 2-over 37, Scheffler, who started the day three strokes clear of his nearest competitor, Alex Noren, was now 9-under, but Rahm, who started five behind, matched that figure with birdies at Nos. 8, 10, and 11.

It didn’t seem possible, considering Scheffler had walked to the sixth tee at 11-under, five in front, but the game was now on. The thing was, so, too, was that switch that the truly great golfers have deep within.

“I’m proud of how I did this week, just staying in it mentally and hitting the shots when I needed to,” said the 28-year-old from Dallas.

Scheffler had found just two of seven fairways on the outward nine, his misses left, all of them. But in crunch time, guess what? It was a stripe show as Scheffler drove it in the fairway at 10, 11, 12, into the front bunker on the short 14th (which is as good as the fairway on that hole), then found it again at 15. The result was resounding: Three birdies, a push to 12-under and with Rahm disintegrating with a bogey, double-bogey, double-bogey finish, the major stage belonged to Scheffler.

It was his third win in the 21 majors he’s played as a professional – the other two coming in the Masters – and his record is rather impeccable on these biggest of stages.

Xander Schauffele came into the 106th PGA Championship with a resume filled with an Olympic gold medal, huge trophies, Ryder Cup appearances and no shortage of accolades. For all of its highlights, there was one small line missing in it – at 30 years old, Schauffele still had yet to land that elusive first major.

Schauffele shot a brilliant final-round 6-under 65 at Valhalla Golf Club on a radiant Sunday in Kentucky. He made one last birdie up the hill on 18 from 6 feet, 2 inches that fainted into the hole and pushed him across the line. Schauffele’s 72nd-hole heroics allowed him to edge hard-charging, long-hitting Bryson DeChambeau by one shot, that last birdie pushing him to an all-time major championship scoring record of 21-under 263.

“Winning,” said Schauffele, sitting next to that big, beautiful major championship trophy, “is a result. This is awesome. It’s super sweet. But when I break it down, I’m real proud of how I handled certain moments on the course today, different from the past.”

Schauffele led at Valhalla from wire-to-wire, opening with a blistering 9-under 62. Only five players in the history of the game have shot 62 in a major, and Schauffele now has done it twice.

The putt he made for birdie at 18 was up the hill, 6 feet, and he played it straight, even though it seemed to have a little wrinkle in it to fall left. The putt started on the left edge; when it caught the cup and fell, a warm wave of emotions ran through him. “When it lipped in – I don’t really remember it lipping in – I just heard everyone roaring and I just looked up to the sky in relief,” he said.

Schauffele made more birdies (25) than anyone else in the field, his opportunities set up by his stellar iron play. Schauffele led the field by hitting 60 of 72 greens in regulation.

DeChambeau, for his part, did just about everything he could, shooting an emotional 64 without having his best stuff off the tee. On the 18th, Viktor Hovland had 10 feet to join DeChambeau in the clubhouse at 20-under, but his putt drifted off left and missed. He finished third with a final-round 66.

Through it all – the injuries, the surgeries, the rehab and sweat and haunting inner doubts that left him awake at night – Brooks Koepka never forgot how to win. Built for big events, Koepka rose once again at Oak Hill Country Club, one of golf’s most serious exams. A hot start (three early birdies) and a strong final nine carried the 33-year-old Koepka to a final-round, 3-under 67 to secure the 105th PGA Championship, his third PGA title.

“It feels damned good,” Koepka said, reunited with a Wanamaker Trophy he last held in 2018-19. His winning score was 9-under 271, two shots clear of twenty-somethings Scottie Scheffler and Viktor Hovland. “Yeah, this one is definitely special. I think this one is probably the most meaningful of them all with everything that’s gone on, all the crazy stuff over the last few years.”

Hovland pushed Koepka most of the final round playing alongside in the final pairing, finishing with a round of 68. Scheffler, who had not finished out of the top 12 since October, made a late run. Scheffler’s 16-footer for birdie at the last hole gave a round of 65, establishing a record (with four others on Sunday) for low final round in a PGA at Oak Hill’s East Course.

Koepka got hot with his irons early, setting up birdies at Nos. 2, 3 and 4. He weathered a mid-round lull, where he encountered three bogeys that allowed others to stick around. And then he surged home, making three birdies in his final seven holes, including a dagger at 16.

Koepka drove it well, led the field in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green on Sunday (finishing fifth for the week), was 13th in putting and, when he missed greens, he scrambled well (getting up and down 19 of 28 times, ranking fourth). PGA Professional Michael Block of California made an ace on Sunday at No. 15 and shot 71 to finish T-15, the best finish by a club pro in the PGA in 40 years. Koepka ranked right up there with the Rochester crowd, too. Three of his five majors have been won in New York. Asked if the PGA should return to Oak Hill, Koepka flashed that big, bright grin of his “I’ll come back anytime,” he said.

Justin Thomas began the final round of the 104th PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club T-7 and seven strokes off the lead after posting scores of 67-67-74 through the first three days of competition. That deficit was quickly erased as the 29-year-old roared toward the top of the leaderboard. Thomas shot 3-under par 67 on Sunday, which matched the low round of the day, to finish at 5-under for the Championship. He then birdied two of three holes in a 3-hole aggregate playoff to defeat Will Zalatoris by one stroke and claim his second Wanamaker Trophy.

Thomas, who won his first PGA Championship in 2017 at Quail Hollow Club, tied John Mahaffey for the biggest comeback in PGA Championship history. Mahaffey railed from seven strokes down to win the 1978 PGA Championship at Oakmont Country Club. Thomas also became the sixth player to come back from as many as seven strokes after 54 holes to win a major championship.

“I really tried to play the golf course for what it was, and I had a good feeling,” said Thomas. “Although I was so far back there weren’t that many guys ahead of me, and it’s a very tough golf course and anything could happen.”

Thomas birdied the par-4 9th, par-3 11th, par-4 12th and par-4 17th holes to set up a playoff against Zalatoris. In the playoff, both Thomas and Zalatoris birdied the par-5 13th. Thomas unleashed a spectacular drive onto the green at the par-4 17th and two-putted for birdie before registering a par on 18 to win.

The playoff capped a memorable week for Thomas, who is the son and grandson of PGA Professionals. He and his father, Mike, celebrated with an emotional embrace at 18. “I know somewhere up there, Grandpa was definitely watching today and pulling for me,” said Thomas. “It’s very, very cool to be able to share this moment with my family.”

Phil Mickelson had done everything there was to do in golf. Or so he, and pretty much all of us, thought. Early Sunday evening, as a brilliant sun over his shoulder burned through the coastal Carolina sky, Mickelson stood on the 18th green at Kiawah Island’s Ocean Course and held aloft the Wanamaker Trophy, the improbable victor of the 103rd PGA Championship. “It’s been a while since I held that,” said Mickelson, 50, whose final-round 73 across a difficult, windswept course, and 72-hole total of 6-under 282, made him the oldest major champion in history. He’d last won the PGA in 2005, at Baltusrol. “Although I believed it,” Mickelson said, “until I actually did it, there was a lot of doubt, I’m sure.” A closing two-putt par after a soaring 9-iron into the final green gave Mickelson a two-shot victory over two-time PGA champion Brooks Koepka (74) and South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen (73).

It was Mickelson’s sixth major championship, making him the 14th player in history to capture a half dozen or more majors. Paired alongside Koepka, Mickelson got off to a rocky start, Mr. Phil’s Wild Ride included three bogeys (against two birdies) over the first six holes. There seemed to be two-shot swings on every other hole. After departing the sixth green, Mickelson’s caddie—and younger brother— Tim pulled him aside for a pep talk. “If you’re going to win this thing, you’re going to make committed swings,” Tim told Phil. Said Phil, “It hit me in the head.” From there, Mickelson was locked in. He piped his drive down the fairway at the par-5 seventh, where he would make birdie. From there on, he made lots of quality swings.

As Mickelson walked up 18, thousands of excited spectators rushed to form a circle around the green. “Phil! Phil! Phil!” they chanted. Mickelson made his way through, temporarily swallowed up in the masses. He emerged smiling. “I’ve never had something like that,” Mickelson said. “It was a little bit unnerving, but it was exceptionally awesome, too.”

The PGA had been shifted from May to a familiar August date and did not include onsite spectators due to the coronavirus pandemic. As a result, the PGA led off the major-championship season for the first time since 1971 and at Harding Park, the second municipal golf facility to host a PGA Championship. Even without the usual large galleries, the 2020 PGA was one to remember, with California’s own Collin Morikawa emerging from an unprecedented seven-way tie for the lead on the back nine Sunday with a chip-in at the 14th hole and a heart-stopping tee shot at the drivable par-4 16th. The birdie at 14 gave Morikawa sole possession of the lead for the first time, and his unforgettable drive at No. 16 led to a 7-foot eagle putt that propelled him to his first major title.

Morikawa, who played college golf and graduated just across the Bay Bridge at the University of California, won by two shots over Dustin Johnson and Paul Casey. The 23-year-old displayed poise beyond his years, enabling him to become the third-youngest player since World War II to win the PGA, behind Rory McIlroy and Jack Nicklaus, and the ninth to win his PGA debut. Johnson shot a scintillating 65 Saturday to take a one-shot lead over Scottie Scheffler and Cameron Champ, then Sunday saw the talent-rich leaderboard tighten. Twice there were seven players tied for the lead, with almost another dozen within three shots. That included Matthew Wolff, just 21, who roared into contention with three birdies and an eagle in a four-hole stretch. Morikawa finally pulled away with “The Drive” at 16, which immediately became part of golf lore – even without the crowd’s roar. Two more pars and Morikawa was lifting the Wanamaker Trophy.

With the PGA Championship held in May for the first time since 1949, Brooks Koepka defended his title and became the first player to repeat as champion of both the PGA and the U.S. Open — at the same time, no less — and the first player since Tiger Woods to win back-to-back PGAs since it shifted to stroke play in 1958. But it wasn’t easy. It rarely is in major championships, especially at Bethpage Black, one of the world’s toughest public courses. Koepka led by six with eight holes to play before the Black’s demanding back nine, the toughening wind conditions and world-No.-1 Dustin Johnson’s charge cut the lead to one shot when he left the 14th green.

Koepka steadied his game and made clutch pars on the 15th and 16th holes, adding another up-and-down par at 18 to win by two shots at 8-under 272. Playing alongside Masters champion Woods and Open champion Francesco Molinari in the PGA’s traditional all-major grouping, Koepka opened with a course-record 63 to take a one-shot lead; in another first, he became the first player to shoot 63s in consecutive years at a major, having done so while winning the previous year’s PGA Championship at Bellerive Country Club.

Koepka added a 5-under 65 in the second round to break the 36-hole majors scoring record by two shots and take a PGA-record, seven-shot advantage into the weekend. From there, Koepka became the first wire-to-wire (sole possession of first place) PGA Champion in 36 years (Hal Sutton, 1983). With his fourth career major championship victory in hand, Koepka also reclaimed the No. 1 slot in the Official World Golf Rankings.

If the sights and sounds of Brooks Koepka’s PGA Championship victory seemed familiar, you weren’t alone. Koepka posted a final-round 4-under 66 to win the historic 100th PGA Championship by two shots at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis. Koepka, 28, entered play Sunday with a 2-shot advantage, but that evaporated thanks to five Adam Scott birdies in a seven-hole stretch. Koepka answered with 10- and 7-foot birdie putts on Nos. 15 and 16 to reset the margin he began the day with and ultimately won by. Tiger Woods (266) closed strong with a 64 to finish second, while Scott’s 67 put him third at 267.

For the third time in seven majors, or 14 short months, Koepka won a major championship, this time hoisting the Wanamaker Trophy for the first time. In doing so, he overcame recognizable roars as Woods climbed a Sunday-afternoon leaderboard in a major. “Everybody on the golf course heard it,” said Koepka of Woods’ surge. “We knew what was going on. It’s pretty obvious when Tiger makes a birdie. I think everybody at the golf course cheers for him.”

Koepka’s two-stroke victory came 56 days after his second career major championship triumph at Shinnecock Hills, making him only the fifth player to win the PGA Championship and U.S. Open in the same year, joining Woods (2000), Jack Nicklaus (1975), Ben Hogan (1948) and Gene Sarazen (1922). “When I look at what I’ve done in the past two months, it’s incredible. Looking where I was, sitting on my couch watching the Masters, and to think I could do this, I would have laughed and told you there was no way, no chance,” said Koepka, who missed most of the season’s first four months with a wrist injury.

At 264, Koepka set the lowest 72-hole score in a PGA Championship and matched Henrik Stenson’s mark (2016 Open Championship) for lowest four-round score in a major championship. Woods joined Phil Mickelson (2001) with the lowest 72-hole mark by a non-winner at the PGA Championship. The runner-up finish was Woods’ seventh in a major, third in a PGA Championship.

For Justin Thomas, the son and grandson of PGA Professionals, winning the PGA Championship was a dream come true. Thomas fired a closing three-under-par 68 to win the 99th PGA Championship by two shots at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte. Francesco Molinari, Louis Oosthuizen and Patrick Reed finished in a tie for second at 6-under 278. Third-round leader Kevin Kisner shot 74 on Sunday and finished in a tie for seventh. Thomas, 24, entered play Sunday two shots back and in a tie for fourth place, but three birdies on his inward 9 eventually secured the first major championship of his career. “For me, the PGA (Championship) definitely had a special place in my heart, and maybe a special drive,” said Thomas. “For this to be my first (major championship victory) and have my Dad (PGA Master Professional Mike Thomas) here, and I know grandpa (retired PGA Life Member Paul Thomas) was watching at home ... was pretty cool. It’s just a great win for the family.”

Thomas became the ninth PGA Champion who is the son of a PGA Professional. Thomas — who finished at 8-under-par 276 — kick-started his back-nine surge with an 8-foot-birdie putt on No. 10 that hung on the lip of the hole for 9 seconds before gravity took over. Two holes later, he buried a 40-foot greenside chip and his lead was two. A pin-seeking tee shot and 15-foot birdie putt on the dangerous par-3 17th cinched the Wanamaker Trophy. Walking off No. 18, Thomas was greeted by fellow 20-somethings Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler and roommate Bud Cauley.

In the longest final day at the PGA Championship in 64 years, Jimmy Walker produced three big birdies on the back nine at Baltusrol and held his nerve Sunday against the No. 1 player in the world to the very end. He closed with a bogey-free 3-under 67 for a one-shot victory over defending champion Jason Day. Walker built a three-shot lead with an 8-foot birdie putt on the par-5 17th, only to watch Day blast a 3-wood onto the green at the par-5 18th to 15 feet for an eagle, closing the margin to one shot. Needing a par to win, Walker went for the green and left it in deep rough to the right and well below the green. He safely pitched to 35 feet, and the putt settled 3 feet beyond the hole. He shot 68-67 on Sunday to finish at 14-under 266, one shot off David Toms’ record score at the 2001 PGA Championship.

Walker began the back nine by holing a 45-foot bunker shot on No. 10 and making a 30-foot birdie putt on No. 11. The final birdie was the most important: Walker twice had to back off his 8-foot birdie putt on the 17th when he heard the crowd erupt after Day’s shot into the 18th. When it slipped in the edge of the cup for birdie, Walker had the cushion he needed. It was a long road to a first major for the 37-year-old American, and it ended with a marathon. More amazing than Walker playing a bogey-free final round was that the PGA Championship even finished. In a most peculiar final day, preferred lies were allowed after nearly four inches of rain drenched the Lower Course.

Jason Day entered Sunday’s final round leading Jordan Spieth—who was attempting to cap a historic run by winning all three U.S.-based major championships—by three strokes. Day, 27, overcame both his own obstacles and Spieth’s dogged pursuit by hatching a little history of his own. Day distanced himself from Spieth with a 5-under-par 67 to win his first major comfortably, by three strokes. He was never seriously threatened and became the fifth Australian to win the PGA Championship, joining Steve Elkington (1995), Wayne Grady (1990), David Graham (1979) and Jim Ferrier (1947). He also became the third international player to hoist the Wanamaker Trophy in as many Championships at Whistling Straits (also Martin Kaymer/2010, Vijay Singh/2004).

Day’s Sunday coronation became just that thanks to four birdies in his initial seven holes and a memorable 382-yard drive on the par-5 11th hole, which he fittingly birdied. With his friend, mentor, coach and caddie, Colin Swatton, on his bag, Day became the first player in major championship history to finish as low as 20-under-par. He edged Tiger Woods’ mark of 19-under at the 2000 Open Championship at St. Andrews. Despite the runner-up finish, Spieth took home a consolation prize of great acclaim, as he seized the title of World No. 1 in the Official World Golf Rankings for the first time.

Rory McIlroy emerged from a four-man race to outlast Phil Mickelson and the darkness at Valhalla Golf Club to capture his second straight major championship. McIlroy’s closing 3-under 68 made him the fifth player to win four majors at 25 or younger. The others: Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Bobby Jones and “Young” Tom Morris. Trailing by three shots heading to the back nine, McIlroy rallied to take the lead and then birdied No. 17 for a two-shot advantage. Because of a two-hour rain delay, and with darkness falling quickly, it wasn’t certain that McIlroy would be able to finish until he got the invitation from Rickie Fowler at the No. 18 tee to hit his tee shot before Fowler and his playing partner, Mickelson—both two shots behind—had reached their drives.

McIlroy came within a yard of driving into a hazard right of the fairway before getting permission from a PGA of America Rules Official to hit his second shot. Trying to force a tie, Fowler missed a 50-foot eagle attempt before Mickelson’s eagle chip came within inches of the hole. McIlroy’s second found a bunker, then he two-putted from 35 feet for a one-shot victory. Mickelson (66) finished runner-up for the ninth time in a major while Fowler became the first player in history to finish in the top five in all four majors in a single year without winning any of them.

Jason Dufner officially answered any questions about not recovering from a back-nine PGA Championship collapse in 2011 by turning in a technician-like performance at Oak Hill Country Club’s East Course to win the 95th PGA Championship and his first major title. Dufner’s closing 2-under-par 68 was good for a 10-under-par 270 total and a two-stroke victory over Jim Furyk, who could not close the gap—nor could any other challengers—in the final round. At age 36, playing in all four majors for just the second time, Dufner made the most of his opportunities, producing a near-flawless, second-round 7-under-par 63, which was the 26th round of 63 in a major.

Dufner took the 36-hole lead and ultimately became the sixth player in history to win a major after posting a 63. The final weekend stretch was proof of how far Dufner had come. After struggling to a 71 on Saturday, he trailed Furyk by one stroke to open Sunday’s finale. He made a knee-knocking three-foot par putt on No. 1, saved par on 2, then made back-to-back birdies on Nos. 4 and 5 to tie and go ahead for good. He reached 12-under par through 16 holes before closing with a pair of bogeys. Furyk finished runner-up after an even-par 70. Sweden’s duo of Henrik Stenson and Jonas Blixt, attempting to make history by giving their homeland its first male major champion, finished third and fourth, respectively, each posting 70.

Rory McIlroy had all the tools at his command in the 94th PGA Championship, registering a legendary performance and validating his record-setting 2011 U.S. Open Championship by blowing away the field at The Ocean Course on Kiawah Island. McIlroy closed in a style befitting golf royalty by knocking home a birdie putt from 25 feet on the 18th hole for a 6-under-par 66 and a 13-under-par 275 total. His eight-stroke victory broke the PGA Championship record for victory margin that Jack Nicklaus set in 1980.

The 23-year-old from Northern Ireland, who jumped back to No. 1 in the world rankings, is the first from his homeland to win a PGA Championship and a U.S. Open. McIlroy also became the youngest player since Seve Ballesteros to win two majors. Returning to the course Sunday morning to complete nine holes of a rain-delayed third round, McIlroy separated himself from the field by offsetting a bogey at 13 with birdies at 15 and 16. His third-round 67 gave him a three-stroke lead. He was bogey free for his final 23 holes, and no one came closer than two strokes. Former No. 100-ranked David Lynn of England, 38, who made his American debut, closed with a 68 to finish runner-up.

Trailing by five strokes with just three holes to play, Keegan Bradley rallied over a crucible quartet of holes at Atlanta Athletic Club’s Highlands Course to become the first major champion using a belly putter, and just the third player in nearly a century to win a major championship in his first attempt. He closed regulation play with a 2-under-par 68 to match Jason Dufner, who shot a final-round 69, at 8-under-par 272. Bradley’s finish included back-to-back birdies at the 16th and 17th holes to force a three-hole aggregate-hole playoff. He opened the playoff on the 16th hole by hitting his approach to four feet after Dunfer’s approach nearly hit the flag-stick and rolled six feet past. When Bradley made his birdie putt, it was his first outright lead of the day. He added a two-putt par at 17 and then reached the 471-yard 18th hole in regulation, his ball landing just inside Dufner’s. Though Dufner made his final putt, Bradley’s tap-in made him only the third player in nearly a century to win a major championship in his first try, joining Francis Ouimet (1913 U.S. Open) and Ben Curtis (2003 Open Championship) in that exclusive club.

Bradley also is one of eight PGA Champions (following Melvin “Chick” Harbert, Doug Ford, Jack Burke Jr., Dave Marr, Raymond Floyd, Davis Love III and Rich Beem) who is the son of a PGA Professional. Denmark’s Anders Hansen was a stroke back in third after a 66; 2001 Champion David Toms (67) and Sweden’s Robert Karlsson (67), who suffered three straight bogeys after coming within a stroke of the lead, shared fourth with Scott Verplank (70) at 275.

Germany’s Martin Kaymer emerged victorious from a three-hole playoff with Bubba Watson at Whistling Straits, posting a winning even-par total in the overtime drama to become his country’s first PGA Champion and second to win one of golf’s four majors. The dramatics, however, were more compelling prior to the playoff, when Dustin Johnson – clinging to a one-stroke lead standing on the 18th tee – saw his chances for glory erased due to a rule violation in a tiny sand bunker on the right-hand side of the fairway. Johnson had placed his 4-iron behind the ball, unaware that it was part of a bunker. He went on to pitch to seven feet of the hole, just missing a par putt that was to have been a Championship-winning stroke. However, he incurred a two-stroke penalty for grounding his club in a bunker outside the ropes and missed the playoff.

Kaymer, who won after tying for eighth in the year’s U.S. Open and sharing seventh at the Open Championship, began the final day four strokes behind third-round leader Nick Watney and finished regulation tied with Watson at 11-under-par 277. Watson birdied the first playoff hole and Kaymer the second. Then Watson went for the green out of thick rough from 206 yards at the 18th, the third playoff hole, and put his ball into Seven Mile Creek, 40 yards short of the green. After seeing what happened to Watson, Kaymer chipped back to the fairway before putting a 7-iron third shot 15 feet from the hole. Watson took a penalty stroke on his way to a double bogey. Kaymer two-putted for a bogey and victory.

South Korea’s Y.E. Yang, 37, established a historic milestone on a course known for surprise finishes by delivering the biggest shocker of them all ー chasing down, outplaying and dethroning Tiger Woods on a Sunday. Yang became the first male Asian player to win one of golf’s four major championships. Trailing Woods by nine strokes after the fifth hole of his second round, Yang’s record PGA comeback wasn’t complete until he drilled a 210-yard 3-hybrid approach at 18 that soared up and over a tree, cleared a greenside bunker and came to rest 12 feet from the flagstick.

Holing the birdie putt gave him a 2-under-par 70, accentuated by a fist pump amidst the roar of a massive gallery at Hazeltine National Golf Club. His 8-under-par 280 total was good enough for a three-stroke triumph over Woods, whose closing 75 bore no resemblance to the same player who had a perfect 14-for-14 slate after sharing or holding the lead of a major entering the final round. Hazeltine National, hosting its fourth major and second PGA Championship, served up the longest course in major championship history at 7,674 yards.

Ireland’s Padraig Harrington carved his way into history at the 90th PGA Championship, capturing his third major championship and second in a span of three weeks. In the process, he snatched the Championship from Sergio Garcia over the final few holes. Harrington, 36, became the first European in the modern era to win the British Open and PGA Championship in succession, and the first to win the PGA Championship since Scotland’s Tommy Armour in 1930. Harrington put together back-to-back rounds of 4-under-par 66, completing 27 holes on the final day after the third round was suspended by mid-afternoon rain.

Harrington’s signature moments came on the final three holes, where he made pressure putt after putt, including a 15-footer for par at No. 18. Harrington’s winning 72-hole total of 3-under-par 277 was good for a two-stroke margin over Spain’s Garcia and America’s Ben Curtis, the 2003 British Open champion, whose chances faded with bogeys on two of his final four holes. Garcia closed with a 68 and Curtis a 71 to share runner-up honors at 279. Sweden’s Henrik Stenson posted a 72 that left him and Colombia’s Camilo Villegas, who had a 68, sharing fourth at 281.

The PGA Championship featured the year’s strongest field, despite the absence of two-time defending PGA Champion Tiger Woods (who was sidelined while recovering from knee surgery). The Championship had 93 of the top 100 world-ranked players, including 68 international players representing 20 countries.

Tiger Woods withstood back-nine challenges by Woody Austin and Ernie Els at steamy Southern Hills to earn a fourth PGA Championship, a 13th major title and move a notch closer to the 18-major standard set by Jack Nicklaus. Woods finished with a 1-under-par 69 for a two-stroke victory over Austin, who ground his way to a 67 for his best finish in any major championship. Els finished three strokes back in third, the victim of a faulty putter. Woods entered the final round with a three-stroke lead and slipped only once, a three-putt bogey on the 14th hole. He rebounded quickly, sinking a birdie putt at 15, pointing as the ball fell in the cup. He followed by running off three consecutive pars to secure the Championship.

Woods’ perfect 13-for-13 major championship performance after either sharing or leading alone after 54 holes remains a trademark in a career full of records. His 13 majors tied the great Bobby Jones, and he is one PGA Championship shy of the record shared by Nicklaus and Walter Hagen. Woods jumped back into the Championship after an opening 71 by thrilling the Southern Hills galleries with a second-round 63, his lowest round in a major. He tied the Southern Hills course record first set by Raymond Floyd in 1982, and would go on to become just the fifth player out of 21 to shoot 63 in a major who would record a victory.

Tiger Woods walked off Medinah’s No. 3 Course for the second time in six years in victory, collecting a third PGA Championship, his 12th major title and accomplishing what no previous winner achieved in the process -- an honorary membership, courtesy of the club’s hierarchy quickly making the vote official. Woods overwhelmed his competition with much the same bravado that he exhibited early in his career, closing with a workmanlike 4-under-par 68 for an 18-under-par 270 and a five-stroke victory, and leaving only Nicklaus and his 18 titles in his path.

He opened the final round with a 10-foot birdie to take the lead from playing partner Luke Donald and never looked back, cruising on the longest course in major Championship history: The No. 3 Course was stretched to 7,561 yards, 35 yards longer than the 2004 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wis. Woods also is the first player in history to win at least two majors in two consecutive years. Shaun Micheel, the 2003 PGA Champion, elevated his own game at a course that he said reminded him of his Championship at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, N.Y. But his closing 69 was not enough to challenge. Donald, bidding to become the first European-born PGA Champion since Tommy Armour in 1930, slumped to a 74 and finished tied for third at 276 with Australia’s Adam Scott, who had a 67, and Spain’s Sergio Garcia, who posted a 70.

Phil Mickelson made superlative use of two weeks of preparations for the 87th PGA Championship, making a pilgrimage to Baltusrol Golf Club and later returning to execute his game plan to perfection. He capped the dramatics by making a flop shot from the rough from some 50 feet away for a two-foot tap-in birdie and a one-stroke victory in just the third Monday, weather-related finish in a PGA Championship.

Mickelson led or shared the lead throughout a steamy week in Springfield, N.J. His second major championship came a day after 12 players were unable to finish a day earlier due to a passing thunderstorm. Mickelson’s final-round 2-over-par 72 was good for a winning total of 4-under-par 276, a stroke better than Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn and Australia’s Steve Elkington, the 1995 PGA Champion. Two-time PGA Champion Tiger Woods finished fourth with Davis Love III at 278.

Vijay Singh, who couldn’t buy a birdie putt for 18 holes, finally hit paydirt in overtime to capture his third major title, the 86th PGA Championship at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wis. Fiji’s most famous sportsman earned his second PGA Championship, and first since 1998, while winning a record $1.125 million from a $6.25 million purse. Singh accomplished his feat on a course that was the longest (7,536 yards) in major championship history and among a field featuring 95 of the world’s top 100 ranked players. His closing 4-over-par 76 was the third-highest final round by a major championship winner and good for a 72-hole total of 8-under-par 280.

Singh made his only birdie of the day a timely one, sinking a five-foot putt on his 19th hole – the uphill, 361-yard, par-4 10th – followed by two pars in the three-hole cumulative-score playoff. It was just enough to defeat Justin Leonard and Chris DiMarco. Singh became the fourth oldest to win a PGA Championship at 41 years, five months and 23 days. His closing 76 was the highest score by a major championship winner since Reg Whitcombe’s 78 at Royal St. George’s in the 1938 Open Championship.

In a year when unknowns became stars, Shaun Micheel fit into the storyline by making his way to Oak Hill Country Club to compete in the 85th PGA Championship in Rochester, N.Y. Playing on the outskirts of a city renowned for its inventiveness – in optical science, photocopiers and photo processing – Micheel capped the week by producing his own “Kodak moment.” His 7-iron approach to within two inches of the 72nd hole – a shot which he and caddie Bob Szczesny judged to be 175 yards – left an indelible stamp on a topsy-turvy Championship.

The season’s final major featured the year’s strongest field – 96 of the top 100 ranked players, just two players shy of the 2002 all-time record. The Championship also yielded the largest international contingent in PGA Championship history – 60 players representing 20 countries – which also was the most for any U.S. major championship this year. Chad Campbell, who began the final round tied with Micheel at 4-under-par, dueled the final 18 holes, coming within a stroke after a Micheel bogey on the 17th hole. Campbell finished with a 72 and 278, while South Africa’s Tim Clark was third at 279 after a 69. Alex Cejka of the Czech Republic ended fourth at 280 after a 69.

Rich Beem answered every challenge on his way to winning the 84th PGA Championship and withstood a furious charge by the game’s best player, Tiger Woods, to cart off the Wanamaker Trophy at Hazeltine National Golf Club. Beem earned $990,000 for the third victory of his improbable four-year career – and second in two starts. On this Sunday in Minnesota, it was Woods who came up short. He trailed Beem by two strokes at the start of the round, pulled within one, but could get no closer. Beem posted a 4-under-par 68 for a winning total of 10-under-par 278 and one better than Woods, who closed with a 67.

Beem became the 12th champion of the last 15 PGA Championships to claim his first major title. Beem is the seventh son of a PGA Professional to win the PGA Championship, joined by Melvin “Chick” Harbert (1954), Doug Ford (1955), Jack Burke Jr. (1956), Dave Marr (1965), Raymond Floyd (1969, ’82) and Davis Love III (1997). His father, Larry Beem, is a PGA Life Member and teaching professional, as well as golf coach at New Mexico State in Las Cruces, N.M. Larry was a standout collegiate player at New Mexico State in the 1960s; his son followed as a player at New Mexico State.

David Toms used a pair of momentous strokes, 24 hours apart, to seize the first Major Championship of his 12-year professional career. In the third round, Toms set the tone for a pulsating final 18 holes by hitting a 5-wood tee shot 243 yards and into the hole on the par-3 15th hole. It was the longest ace in a Major and the first time a hole-in-one yielded an eventual PGA Champion. Toms never surrendered his lead in the final round, but was tied several times by Phil Mickelson, the last by a birdie chip from 45 yards on the 15th. Mickelson then three-putted the 16th to give Toms the lead again and set up a dramatic final-hole decision on the treacherous par-4, 490-yard 18th hole.

Toms hit his drive right of the fairway into the first cut of rough, 209 yards from the hole. He reached for a wedge and laid up short of the water, 88 yards out. From there, he hit a lob wedge to what he later estimated to be 12 feet of the hole. Mickelson lagged a 25-foot birdie putt two rolls short of the hole before Toms stroked home his winning par putt. With a steady, closing 1-under 69, Tom shattered the PGA and Major Championship 72-hole scoring records. His 15-under-par 265 broke the 1993 Open Championship aggregate total by Greg Norman (267) and the PGA Championship standards set in 1993 by Steve Elkington and Colin Montgomerie (267); Elkington won that year’s title in a playoff. Toms’ record scoring total for a Major Championship would stand for 15 years.

Tiger Woods had chased Bob May’s Southern California junior golf records, but they’d never faced each other in competition. That drought ended on the world stage in the 82nd PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky., where they dueled through the final round and into a three-hole playoff. Both played brilliantly down the stretch, each posting a bogey-free 31 on the back nine. Woods, pushed to the limit, reached for something extra and birdied the final two holes in regulation and the first hole (the 16th) in the Championship’s first-ever three-hole aggregate score playoff; Memorable par saves on the final two holes earned his second Wanamaker Trophy.

Woods became the first player since Ben Hogan in 1953 to win three major titles in one year. He also erased a PGA jinx by capturing back-to-back Championships, the first to do so since Denny Shute (1936-37) and the first to repeat in the stroke (medal) play era that began in 1958. Woods was tested from the beginning, losing his one-stroke margin through 54 holes, with a rare bogey on the par-5 second hole. He didn’t clinch his fifth major championship until May missed a 30-foot birdie putt by inches on the final hole of the playoff.

Just 23 and with the game of a veteran, Tiger Woods captured the 81st PGA Championship at Medinah (Ill.) Country Club, and may have found his biggest rival as golf looked toward the next century. Woods nearly squandered a five-stroke lead before salvaging an even-par 72 for a winning total of 11-under-par 277. His two-putt for par on the 72nd hole was one stroke better than 19-year-old Sergio Garcia of Spain. Woods took home a first-place prize of $630,000 from a PGA Championship record purse of $3.5 million. Jay Haas, the 36-hole leader, and Stewart Cink tied for third at 280.

The real drama in the woods of Medinah evolved on the back nine of the final round. Garcia, who held the first-round lead, is the youngest player to compete in the PGA Championship since Gene Sarazen in 1921. Woods, who won the 1997 Masters title, was competing in his third PGA Championship. He became the fifth-youngest PGA Champion and the youngest since Jack Nicklaus in 1963. Woods triumphed over the strongest field in the history of golf: A record 92 of the world’s top 100 players, featuring 43 international players from 19 countries, competed for the Wanamaker Trophy. One international contestant, left-hander Mike Weir of Canada, tied Woods for the third-round lead. But Weir fell quickly out of contention in the final round and tied for 10th after an 80.

Vijay Singh, the national sports hero of tiny Fiji, delivered a gritty performance to win the 80th PGA Championship, which was the first PGA Championship staged in the Pacific Northwest in 54 years at Sahalee CC in Sammamish, Washington. The 35-year-old Singh recorded a final-round 2-under-par 68, capped by a two-putt par on the treacherous 18th, to finish at 9-under-par 271. His two-stroke victory over Steve Stricker earned him $540,000. Steve Elkington, the 1995 Champion, finished third at 274 after a 67. Singh became the 10th player in 11 years to earn his first major championship at the PGA Championship and the 10th international player to win the Wanamaker Trophy.

Singh triumphed over a 150-player field featuring 85 of the top 100 world-ranked players, who collectively owned 53 major championship titles. Singh and Stricker shared the third-round lead and each had an adventurous final round at Sahalee after starting the final round four strokes ahead of the field. Stricker lost a share of the lead on the ninth hole and trailed by a stroke before a bogey at the par-3 17th. Singh was boosted by a birdie on the 11th, where his second shot ricocheted off a tree and settled 50 feet from the hole. He also birdied the 15th before Stricker made his birdie, then parred out from there for the victory.

The only question left for Davis Love III to answer was when would he fulfill the promise of his youth and win a major championship. The son of a PGA Professional, Love found his answer in a stirring week at Winged Foot Golf Club. He opened with a first-round 66, followed with a 71, then bounced back with a pair of 66s that gave him an 11-under-par winning total for 72 holes, the lowest of any champion in Winged Foot’s storied 74 years. Love led the world’s best players in driving distance (a 307-yard average), tied for third in putting (113), tied for 12th in greens in regulation and tied for 21st in fairways hit—all done while defeating his final-round playing partner and reigning Open Champion, Justin Leonard.

Love survived his biggest hurdle at the par-3 13th, when he pulled a 4-iron into deep rough near the green. Leonard’s tee shot landed 15 feet from the cup. Love responded with an L-wedge approach that almost found the hole. Leonard missed his birdie try, bogeyed the 14th hole and Love had the cushion he needed for an emotional walk up the 18th fairway. Jeff Maggert, who tied the competitive course record with a final-round 65, finished third at 276.

Mark Brooks’ focused game plan proved the key to victory as the PGA Championship celebrated its first visit to Valhalla Golf Club. The field featured 81 of the top 100 Sony world-ranked players. Brooks, 35, capped a dramatic final round by making two birdies within 20 minutes on the par-5, 540-yard 18th hole. He knocked home a five-foot birdie putt in regulation play and then joined Kentucky-born favorite Kenny Perry for the 14th playoff in PGA Championship history.

From the 18th tee in the playoff, Brooks’ tee shot split the fairway while Perry’s drive found the left-hand rough. Perry failed to get out of the rough until his fourth approach shot crept on the putting surface. Brooks calmly hit a 229-yard 3-wood approach to the green then two-putted, making a four-foot birdie putt to claim victory.

Brooks’ steady play included handling Valhalla’s slick greens and keeping his drives out of the rough: Brooks ranked first in putting among the elite field, needing only 104 putts, and was tied for 21st in driving accuracy.

Australian-born Steve Elkington, playing what he called “the round of my life,” posted a final-round 7-under-par 64 at historic Riviera Country Club for a 72-hole total of 17-under-par 267. Elkington’s performance shattered Nick Price’s year-old PGA Championship record by two strokes. Moments later, Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie registered a 65 to tie the lowest 72-hole score in a U.S. major championship and tie Greg Norman’s all-time major championship total from the 1993 British Open.

In the sudden-death playoff, Elkington made a 25-foot birdie putt at the 18th green, then watched as Montgomerie missed his 20-foot birdie attempt on the right side of the cup. Elkington concluded the year by winning his first Vardon Trophy for lowest adjusted scoring average.

The 77th PGA Championship produced the lowest course average in Championship history (71.09) and the second most sub-par rounds (194). Among the records tied was a final-round 63 by Brad Faxon, who finished fifth. Faxon’s performance included a front-nine 28 for the lowest nine-hole score in PGA Championship history and a 15-foot par-saving putt on the 18th green.

In one of the most dominating performances of any major championship, Nick Price shattered a 30-year-old PGA Championship record with a six-stroke victory at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla. Price, a native of Zimbabwe, became the third international player to win two PGA Championships. In earning the world’s No. 1 ranking against the year’s strongest field, Price posted a final-round 67 for an 11-under-par 269 for 72 holes, two strokes lower than Bobby Nichols’ PGA Championship record set in 1964 and the lowest of any U.S. major championship.

Price’s victory also made him the first golfer in 12 years to win consecutive Grand Slam events in the same year and the first since Walter Hagen in 1924 to win back-to-back Open and PGA Championship titles. The 76th PGA Championship marked the final appearance of Arnold Palmer, who had competed in a record 37 consecutive Championships.

Paul Azinger shed the label of “best player never to have won a major championship” by finishing atop a leaderboard that included players who’d won a combined 23 major championships. The lanky 6-foot-2 Bradenton, Florida resident birdied four of the last seven holes to post a 12-under-par 272 for a back-nine Inverness record 30. His 72-hole score forced a playoff with Greg Norman, runner-up at Inverness Club in 1986.

Azinger two-putted from eight feet on the second playoff hole while Norman’s par attempt from four feet above the hole rimmed in and out. Fiji native Vijay Singh became the 15th player to shoot 63 in a major championship, posting the course-record score in the second round.

Nick Price, who had come within three strokes of winning two major championships in his 15-year career, put the pieces together in a memorable finale to the 74th PGA Championship at Bellerive Country Club. The 35-year-old native of Durban, South Africa, now an Orlando, Florida, resident, made nine straight pars on the front nine of the final round. He seized the title by sinking birdie putts of 25 feet on the par-3, 222-yard 16th and 12 feet on the par-5, 536-yard 17th.

Price held off by three strokes the challenges of John Cook, Nick Faldo, Jim Gallagher Jr. and Gene Sauers, who had led the Championship for 59 holes.

Every sport has a magical moment when an unknown or ultimate longshot emerges to inspire people everywhere. The 1991 PGA Championship gave the world long-driving John Daly of Dardanelle, Arkansas. The ninth alternate, Daly got his chance when Nick Price withdrew to be present at the birth of his child and three alternates ahead of Daly declined.

Without the benefit of a practice round, Daly posted an opening-round 69 to share eighth place. He seized the lead for good, closing the Championship with rounds of 67, 69 and 71 for a 276 total and a three-stroke victory over Bruce Lietzke.

Australian Wayne Grady, who would call Orlando, Florida, home, quietly opened with a par 72 at Shoal Creek in Birmingham, Alabama, then added rounds of 67, 72 and 71 to capture his first major golf championship. Fred Couples, one shot ahead of Grady through 66 holes, bogeyed the next four while Grady was making pars; Couples finished second, three strokes behind.

Only three players, Grady, Couples and third-place finisher Gil Morgan (286), managed to break par (288) for the Championship.

Payne Stewart birdied four of the last five holes at Kemper Lakes Golf Club, shooting a 31 over the final nine, to edge runners-up Mike Reid, Curtis Strange and Andy Bean, and win his first major title. Reid, who led the 71st PGA Championship until the finishing holes, bogeyed 16, double-bogeyed 17 and missed an 8-foot birdie putt on 18.

Windless playing conditions at Kemper Lakes, a public golf facility, helped produce holes-in-one by Mark O’Meara, Lanny Wadkins, Scott Hoch and Davis Love III. The four aces tied a PGA Championship record established in 1988.

The 70th PGA Championship was played at Oak Tree Golf Club in Edmond, Oklahoma, rated one of the hardest courses in the country. Players were concerned that scores would be high, yet the 1988 PGA Championship turned out to be the second easiest in Championship history.

This made for some exciting golf, as second-round leader Paul Azinger made a hole-in-one, which was witnessed live by millions on TV during the third round. Although Azinger had a hot hand all week, Jeff Sluman proved hotter by firing a final-round 65 that included an eagle-3 on the par-5 fifth hole, where Sluman holed a 100-yard wedge. The victory was the first of Sluman’s career and atoned for his playoff loss to Sandy Lyle in the 1987 Players Championship.

The 1987 PGA Championship, played during one of the hottest weeks at the home of the PGA of America on the difficult Champion Course at PGA National Golf Club, produced the highest winning score in PGA Championship history. A final round of even-par 72 brought 1981 PGA Champion Larry Nelson from three strokes off the pace to tie another former champion, Lanny Wadkins, at 287.

Nelson won with a par 4 on the first extra hole (No. 10) to become the 15th multiple winner of the PGA Championship.

Bob Tway became the first player in modern history to win the PGA Championship with a birdie on the 72nd hole when he holed a shot from a green-side bunker. The Tour sophomore began the final round four strokes behind Greg Norman, who led the first three rounds. Tway, who shot a third-round Championship record-tying 64, caught Norman on the back nine, shooting a closing 1-under-par 70 to the Australian’s 76.

PGA Club Professional Lonnie Nielsen of East Aurora, New York, tied for 11th at 284.

Former U.S. Open Champion Hubert Green returned from virtual oblivion to out-duel defending Champion Lee Trevino at Cherry Hills Country Club in Englewood, Colo. With rounds of 66 and 68, Trevino led at the midway point, but with closing rounds of 70 and 72, Green overtook Trevino for a two-stroke victory.

It would be Green’s 19th and final triumph on the PGA Tour.

Three former PGA Champions – Lee Trevino, Gary Player and Lanny Wadkins – staged one of the most exciting PGA Championships ever at Shoal Creek. Wadkins tied for the first-day lead with 1982 winner Raymond Floyd and Mike Reid with a 4-under-par 68, then tied for the second-round lead at 137 with Trevino and Player.

In that round, Player leaped into contention with a 63, which matched the lowest single round in PGA Championship history. Trevino, wielding a hot putter he purchased a few weeks earlier in Holland, took the lead on Saturday with a 67 and on Sunday turned back every bid Wadkins and Player could offer, walking off the 72nd green with a four-shot victory at 273.

A brilliant 6-under-par 65 provided Hal Sutton with the opening-round lead at Riviera Country Club. The 1982 Rookie of the Year followed up with rounds of 66, 72 and 71 for a “wire-to-wire” victory in spite of a last-day charge by Jack Nicklaus, who added his fourth second-place PGA Championship finish to his record-tying five PGA Championship victories.

The one-stroke win led to Sutton’s No. 1 money-winning year and his first PGA Player of the Year Award.

Raymond Floyd opened the event at Southern Hills on a broiling day with a blistering 7-under-par 63 and led for the remainder of the Championship, winning by three strokes over Lanny Wadkins. It was Floyd’s second PGA Championship. The 39-year-old set the PGA Championship record of 132 for a 36-hole record of 63.

Residing less than a half-hour from The Atlanta Athletic Club, Larry Nelson leaped into the lead with his second straight 66 in the third round and cruised to a four-stroke triumph over Fuzzy Zoeller. The 33-year-old one-time aircraft-plant draftsman and Vietnam veteran began the final round with a four-stroke lead and was never challenged, firing a closing 1-over-par 71.

Jack Nicklaus made PGA Championship history by matching Walter Hagen, a Rochester, New York native, for the most titles (5) and winning by the largest margin since the Championship switched to stroke play in 1958. With a 1-under-par 69 in the final round, Nicklaus posted a 6-under-par score of 274 for a seven-shot victory over runner-up Andy Bean at Oak Hill.

Australian David Graham fired a 5-under-par 65 over the final round—despite a double bogey on the 72nd hole—to tie Ben Crenshaw at 8-under-par 272, the second-lowest 72-hole total since the Championship switched to stroke play. Graham tied Crenshaw on the first two playoff holes, with one putt of 18 feet for par on the first hole, another of 10 feet for birdie on the second hole.

Graham won the Championship with a birdie on the third playoff hole at Oakland Hills.

John Mahaffey, trailing third-round leader Tom Watson by seven strokes, staged a PGA Championship-record rally to tie Watson and Jerry Pate after 72 holes at Oakmont. Mahaffey won his first major championship with a dramatic 12-foot birdie putt on the par-4 second extra hole. Mahaffey’s final-round 66 put him at 276, 8-under-par.

For the first time, a major championship was decided in a sudden-death playoff, as Lanny Wadkins made a six-foot par putt on the third extra hole to beat Gene Littler, who led from the first round. Wadkins began the final round at Pebble Beach six shots behind Littler and was still five behind with nine holes to play despite two front-nine eagles.

Littler bogeyed five of the first six holes on the back nine, allowing Jack Nicklaus to tie him at the 15th hole, with the 27-year-old Wadkins just one shot back. Nicklaus bogeyed the par-3 17th; Wadkins pulled into a tie with Littler with his only birdie of the day at the 18th.

For the first time in history, rain pushed the final round of a PGA Championship over to Monday. A record 115,450 spectators attended the Championship. Needing a par on the treacherous 18th hole at Congressional Country Club in suburban Washington, D.C., to win his second PGA Championship and avoid a playoff with Don January and Raymond Floyd, Dave Stockton made his 10-foot putt for par.

His rounds of 70-72-69-70–281 matched the highest winning total in this classic at the time.

Playing one of his favorite courses, Firestone South, Jack Nicklaus ran his string of PGA Championship victories to four, one shy of Walter Hagen’s record. With opening rounds of 70 and 68, Nicklaus found himself three shots behind Bruce Crampton, whose second-round 63 was the lowest round ever in the Championship. But on Saturday, Nicklaus shot 67 while Crampton soared to 75 for an eight-shot swing, giving Nicklaus a four-shot lead going into the final round.

On the final day, Nicklaus cruised to a 71 for a two-shot victory over runner-up Crampton.

Lee Trevino, brandishing an old putter he found in the attic of his rented home, slogged his way to victory in a week of steady rain at Tanglewood Park, the first municipal golf facility to host a PGA Championship. During the third round, Trevino moved in front with a 68 to establish a one-stroke lead over Jack Nicklaus.

In the final round, Nicklaus fired a flawless 69 but couldn’t overtake Trevino, who matched Nicklaus’ performance for a one-stroke victory.

Jack Nicklaus made the 56th PGA Championship at Canterbury a memorable one by making it his 14th major championship, erasing Bobby Jones’ major-championship-winning record, which had stood for 43 years. Nicklaus opened with a 72, which left him tied for 22nd, but a pair of 68s made him the third-round leader. A closing 69 gave Nicklaus a 277 total and a four-shot victory over runner-up Bruce Crampton.

It was a miracle 9-iron shot from an almost impossible position that brought the Championship to Gary Player for a second time. In the final round, Player bogeyed the 14th and 15th holes at Oakland Hills and seemingly ended his chances when he pushed his tee shot far to the right on the 16th hole. Unable to see the flag, Player lofted the ball over a menacing willow tree and pond to within four feet of the hole.

He holed the birdie putt and went on to score a two-stroke victory over Tommy Aaron and Jim Jamieson.

Jack Nicklaus scored a wire-to-wire victory with a 7-under-par 281 to beat Billy Casper, who birdied the last two holes to slip in front of Tommy Bolt. The victory at PGA National Golf Club made Nicklaus the first professional to twice conquer the Grand Slam of Golf – the PGA Championship, U.S. Open, British Open and Masters.

Dave Stockton, a 28-year-old California native, came out of the pack at Southern Hills Country Club in the third round to fire a 66 and take a three-stroke lead. In the final round, he held off late charges by Arnold Palmer and Bob Murphy despite a near disaster at the 13th hole, where he put his second shot in a pond and then lofted a wedge shot to within inches of the hole to pull out a bogey.

He finished two in front of Murphy and Palmer to claim victory. For Palmer, it was the third time he finished in a second-place tie in this, the only major championship he has never won.

Raymond Floyd survived an outburst of social turbulence from the gallery focused on Gary Player, as well as a gritty stretch drive by the South African, to win the 51st PGA Championship at NCR Country Club by one stroke. Floyd took a one-stroke lead in the second round and extended it to five strokes on Saturday, the same day a group of militant protesters burst onto the golf course while Player was preparing to putt on the 10th green.

The next day, Player staged a final-round rally that got him within a stroke of Floyd, who bogeyed the 13th and 15th holes. On 16, Player bogeyed while Floyd ran in a 35-foot birdie putt. Despite birdieing 17, Player fell short of catching Floyd, who posted a winning 276.

Julius Boros survived the wilting midsummer Texas heat and the treacherous 18th hole at Pecan Valley Country Club to snatch the 50th PGA Championship from Arnold Palmer and Bob Charles. Palmer, frustrated again in his quest for a PGA Championship title, made a magnificent par at the final hole for a 282 after watching several good birdie putts slide past the cup in the closing round.

But Boros pitched a long chip within two feet of the pin for a par, becoming, at the age of 48, the oldest winner in PGA Championship history.

For the second time in the 10-year history of the PGA Championship contested at stroke play, the winner was decided in a playoff. Played at Columbine Country Club in the thin, mile-high Colorado atmosphere, two lowland neighbors from Texas, Don January and Don Massengale, adapted to the rarefied air to come down to the wire deadlocked at 281. Even though January had lost the 1961 PGA Championship in a playoff, he proved the steadier of the two in the extra 18 holes, with a 3-under-par 69 to Massengale’s 71.

The 1966 PGA Championship at Firestone was a triumph for Al Geiberger. Munching peanut butter sandwiches for stamina, the California native shared the first-round lead with Sam Snead. The lead bounced back and forth, but when Snead fired closing rounds of 75 and 73, Geiberger won with four strokes to spare over Dudley Wysong, whose third-round 66 was the best of the Championship.

Dave Marr, 31, started the final round at Laurel Valley Golf Club in a first-place tie with Tommy Aaron. Aaron faded with a 40 on the front nine, but Billy Casper and Jack Nicklaus were threatening. Going into the last hole, Marr hooked his drive into a trap. He played his second shot short of a lake in front of the green and hit a 9-iron three feet from the cup. He made the putt for a two-stroke win over Casper and Nicklaus.

With an opening round of 64, Bobby Nichols, a 28-year-old Kentuckian, never looked back as he held the lead every round to win the PGA Championship at Columbus Country Club. His 271 stood as the lowest 72-hole total in PGA Championship history for 30 years.

In 100-degree heat, Jack Nicklaus won the 45th PGA Championship, held at Dallas Athletic Club. At 23 years of age, Nicklaus joined Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson and Gene Sarazen as the only men in golf history to win the PGA Championship, the U.S. Open and the Masters. For this victory, Nicklaus had to overcome Bruce Crampton, who held a three-stroke lead going into the final round. Crampton faded over the last few holes as Nicklaus posted a 68 for a 279 total to win his initial PGA Championship.

Gary Player, posting a 2-under-par 278, became the second foreign citizen to win the PGA Championship, beating hard-charging Bob Goalby by one stroke at Aronimink. Goalby brought the Championship to a thrilling climax by making birdies at 14 and 16 during the final round, but the 26-year-old South African staved off the rally and both parred the final two holes.

In the final round at Olympia Fields Country Club, 31-year-old Don January led 45-year-old Jerry Barber by four shots with three holes remaining. Then, Barber sank putts of 20 feet for a birdie, 40 feet for a par and 60 feet for a birdie on the last three holes to match January’s 277.

In the 18-hole playoff, Barber again trailed January by two strokes on two different occasions, but rallied to finish with a 67 for a one-stroke victory.

There were only 13 sub-par rounds in the entire Championship at the rebuilt Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio. With those scores, a different man turned up as the leader at the end of each round. Arnold Palmer captured the first-round lead with an opening 67.

But it was Jay Hebert, who fired a final-round 70 despite a double-bogey 6 on the 10th hole, who was standing at the end with a one-stroke victory over Jim Ferrier.

A traffic jam developed on opening day at Olympia Fields as nine players shared the lead with 69s. Jerry Barber shot a record 65 the next day to take the 36-hole lead. He stayed on top after 54 holes with a 71.

However, 33-year-old Bob Rosburg fired a final-round 66 to finish with 277, one stroke in front of Barber, who tied for second with Doug Sanders.

Llanerch Country Club was the site of the first four-day, 72-hole stroke-play contest in PGA Championship history, and the first Championship covered by television. CBS broadcast three holes and the winner’s award ceremony. Dow Finsterwald, 28, and a Championship runner-up a year earlier in match play, opened with a 3-under-par 67.

After 36 holes, he shared the lead with Jay Hebert at 139. Sam Snead went ahead after 54 holes with 207. Going into the final round, Finsterwald was two back and shot a 31 on the front nine on his way to posting a 67 for a two-stroke victory over Billy Casper.

Lionel Hebert won the final PGA Championship conducted at match play, defeating Dow Finsterwald, 3 and 1, at Miami Valley Golf Club in Dayton, Ohio. It was the second consecutive Championship contested with a 128-player field. In the finals, neither Hebert nor Finsterwald enjoyed larger than a 1-up advantage. Hebert’s momentum turned at the 32nd hole when he made a 15-foot birdie putt to go 1-up. They matched birdies the next two holes before the 34th, where Finsterwald hit into a creek in front of the green and failed to make par, boosting Hebert’s lead to 2-up. With a routine par at the 35th hole, Hebert closed out the match, earning the $8,000 check.

Defending Champion Jack Burke Jr. was ousted by Milon Marusic, 2 and 1, in the morning 18 holes the second day.

Jack Burke Jr. overcame a two-hole deficit in the morning round at Blue Hill Golf & Country Club in Canton, Massachusetts, to defeat Ted Kroll, 3 and 2, in the first PGA Championship featuring a 128-player match-play field. Burke’s rally in the afternoon half of the 36-hole final came after falling 3-down on the 19th hole. But he rallied by winning five of the next seven holes and posted a 32. With a 2-up lead going into the final nine, Burke claimed victory on the 34th hole when Kroll bogeyed.

It was Burke’s second major championship of the year, having captured the Masters that April. Kroll, who was awarded the Purple Heart during service in World War II, suffered his second disappointment in a major this year: He’d been in contention on the closing holes of the 1956 U.S. Open, only to see Cary Middlecoff take the title.

Doug Ford scored a 4-and-3 victory over Cary Middlecoff in a match that was tightly contested through the first 27 holes at Meadowbrook Country Club in Northville, Mich. Despite a morning 66 by Ford, Middlecoff battled to a 1-up lead with a 67. Ford rallied in the afternoon, squaring the match for the fourth time on the 26th hole with a birdie. He then birdied the 29th, 30th and 32nd holes to take a 3-up advantage and closed the match with a par-4 at the 33rd hole.

It was a storybook week for Ford, competing in his first PGA Championship and becoming the first player to win in his debut since Tom Creavy in 1931. He was also the fourth player in PGA Championship match-play history to win the Championship after winning medalist honors. Other players to achieve that feat were Walter Hagen (1926), Olin Dutra (1932) and Byron Nelson (1945). Ford also became the last to achieve medalist-to-champion distinction, as The PGA of America eliminated the 36-hole qualifier in 1956, doubling the field to 128 participants, who went straight into match play.

Chick Harbert, who was runner-up in 1947 and 1952, avenged those disappointments by defeating defending Champion Walter Burkemo, 4 and 3, at Keller Golf Club in St. Paul, Minn. Burkemo began the match strong, winning three of the first four holes in his bid to become the first repeat PGA Champion since Denny Shute in 1936-37. However, Harbert played the next 29 holes in 8-under par, surrendering only one hole to Burkemo.

Harbert took control of the contest with wedge shots landing within inches at the 19th and 20th holes to build a 3-up lead. Burkemo had opportunities to trim the lead, but could not make a series of critical putts. To reach the final, Harbert dropped a 15-foot birdie putt on the 18th green in his semi-final against Tommy Bolt for a 1-up decision.

The Championship’s early-round matches included a first-round 5-and-4 morning victory by Bob Toski over past Champion Jim Turnesa.

More than 100,000 people turned out at Birmingham (Michigan) Country Club to watch local hero Walter Burkemo win his lone major championship with a 2-and-1 decision over Felice Torza. In the morning round, Burkemo went out in 1-over-par 72 but still held a 1-up lead. He started the afternoon strong with two birdies and a par to increase his lead to 2-up. Torza trimmed the deficit to one hole after the 29th when Burkemo bogeyed, but gave it back at the 31st hole. Burkemo made bogeys at the 32nd and 34th to allow Torza to get within two holes, but closed the match with a par at the 35th hole.

Golf World nicknamed the first day of play “Black Friday” with the upset defeats of Gene Sarazen to Torza, 2 and 1; Jack Fleck to Wally Ulrich, 3 and 2; Vic Ghezzi by Jimmy Clark, 2 and 1; Ed Oliver falling in overtime to Henry Williams, 1-up, 20 holes; Jack Isaacs downing Chandler Harper, 4 and 3; Lew Worsham losing to Dave Douglas, 1-up, on the 20th hole; Pete Cooper beating 1952 runner-up Chick Harbert, 3 and 2; Broyles Plemmons going to the 22nd hole to beat George Fazio, 1-up; and medalist Johnny Palmer being beaten by Jack Grout, 2 and 1.

Jim Turnesa finally settled a 26-year-old family major championship jinx by beating Chick Harbert on the final green at Big Spring Country Club in Louisville for a 1-up victory. Turnesa was one of seven golfing brothers. His younger brother Willie, the only one to remain an amateur, gained attention by winning the U.S. and British Amateurs. But for the other brothers, all professionals, the only tournament success was as runners-up. In 1926, Joe Turnesa was runner-up to Bobby Jones in the U.S. Open, and in 1927 lost in the finals of the PGA Championship to Walter Hagen. Jim Turnesa lost the 1942 PGA Championship to Sam Snead in the finals, and brother Mike lost the 1940 PGA Championship to Ben Hogan. In 1948 and 1949, Jim finished third in the U.S. Open.

Jim won the 34th PGA Championship in dramatic fashion, trailing Harbert 3-down when the morning round ended. He shot a 34 on the front side of the afternoon round, then picked up two holes and squared the match for the first time since the seventh hole with a birdie at the 32nd hole. The contest remained square until the final hole, where Harbert hooked his drive under an evergreen tree and made bogey while Turnesa parred the hole for the victory.

Sam Snead put on a brilliant exhibition at rugged Oakmont Country Club, capturing his third and final PGA Championship with a 7-and-6 domination of Walter Burkemo. Snead won five of the first six holes, starting with an eagle, two birdies and three pars. Though Burkemo trailed by only three holes at the lunch break, it was too large a deficit to overcome as Snead started fast again in the afternoon with birdies on the 19th and 22nd holes, building a 5-hole advantage. The match came to an end at the 30th hole.

Snead’s secret was his play on the front side, where he was 24-under par. In total, he played the 202 holes of the Championship in 21-under par. Snead’s march to the final featured narrow victories over Fred Haas (a birdie on the 18th hole for a 1-up decision), and a 21-hole duel to get past Marty Furgol, who lodged a protest that Snead had cleaned his ball on the 14th green without replacing it with a mark. The match continued through the 18th all square before officials ruled that Snead had not broken any rules and had, in fact, blown at his ball to dislodge an insect. Snead waited 30 minutes on the tee with Furgol in the clubhouse with the committee. The protest was withdrawn and Snead birdied the 21st hole to win the match.

Snead’s championship victory also marked the end of an era in which nine of the 18 PGA Champions won the Championship more than once: Over the next 19 years, until Jack Nicklaus broke the streak in 1971, 19 different winners would be crowned PGA Champion.

Chandler Harper of Portsmouth, Va., defeated Henry Williams Jr., 4 and 3, to win the 32nd PGA Championship at Scioto Country Club in Columbus, Ohio. Despite shooting a 75 in the morning round, Harper was 3-up as Williams shot a 79. Going into the final nine, Williams was still 3-down, and a bogey at the 30th hole all but sealed the contest. Harper won the match on the 33rd hole to become the second Virginian in a row to win the PGA Championship.

In the semifinals, Williams Jr. beat Henry Picard, 1-up, on the 38th hole in one of the greatest comebacks in the history of the PGA Championship. Williams found himself 6-down with just eight holes left in the match but won the 29th hole when Picard made a bogey and took the 30th with a birdie. Williams halved the 31st after missing a five-footer for birdie, but made a 20-footer for birdie at the 32nd to be only 3-down. He won the 33rd with a par and then captured the 34th with another 20-footer for birdie. When Picard bogeyed the 35th hole, the match was square. Both players made birdies at the final hole to send the match into overtime. Both made pars at the 37th hole, with Williams having to make a five-footer. At the next hole, Picard three-putted for a bogey, missing one from 20 inches to give the match to Williams.

In the other match, Harper surprised all by upsetting Jimmy Demaret, 2 and 1.

Native Virginian Sam Snead won his second PGA Championship, defeating Johnny Palmer, 3 and 2, and delighting a partisan gallery at Hermitage Country Club in Richmond. Snead was 2-down after the front side, but he regained the two holes on the back side to finish the round square. Despite losing the 27th hole with a bogey, Snead went to the final nine 2-up. Palmer’s chance for a comeback got slimmer when both birdied the 28th hole. Snead then birdied the 31st hole and the match ended three holes later, with Snead claiming a winner’s check for $3,500.

In the semifinals, Palmer had an easier day, routing Lloyd Mangrum, 6 and 5. In the match of the day, Snead beat Jim Ferrier, 3 and 2. Ferrier gained the advantage with a morning-round 67 to lead 2-up, but Snead started a rally when he holed his second shot from 30 yards for an eagle 2 at the 21st hole. He won three of the next six holes to finish the nine at 1-up. Ferrier squared the match with a birdie at the 28th hole, but gave it back with a bogey on the next hole. Snead closed out the match with birdies at the 31st and 33rd holes.

After the first day of play, only two of the five former PGA Champions remained: Snead and Ferrier.

Ben Hogan, bidding to win the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship in the same year, used his irons with deadly accuracy in his 7-and-6 victory over Mike Turnesa at Norwood Hills Country Club in St. Louis. Hogan’s march to his second PGA Championship included posting a morning-round 66 to go 4-up. Despite a short rally from Turnesa in the afternoon, Hogan won the 28th, 29th and 30th holes to close out the match.

For the week, Hogan was 35 under par for the 213 holes he played. In the semifinals, both matches were close, with Turnesa coming from behind to beat Claude Harmon in overtime, 1-up, and Hogan beating Jimmy Demaret, 2 and 1, in a match where both players were 10-under par. The match was even at the 33rd hole, but Demaret took three putts and then lost the next hole when Hogan made an 18-footer for birdie. Both made pars at the next two holes, which ended the match.

In the opening round, former PGA Champion Bob Hamilton was on the losing end of a 20-hole match as Zell Eaton won, 1-up.

For the first time since 1937, a final match didn’t include Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson or Sam Snead; instead, Australian native Jim Ferrier defeated Chick Harbert, 2 and 1. Ferrier’s putting was key, as he took only 52 putts over the course of the 35-hole match and finished 6-under par. For the Championship, Ferrier was 27 under par for the 243 holes he played. The Championship match was square after the morning round, but Ferrier fired a front-nine 32 and went to the final nine 3-up. Even though Harbert got one back with a birdie at the 30th hole, Ferrier’s birdie at the next hole put him back at 3-up. Ferrier bogeyed the 34th hole to give one back, but when Harbert was unable to make his birdie at the 34th hole, the match came to an end.

The two semifinal matches turned into big routs as Ferrier beat Art Bell, 10 and 9, and Harbert defeated Vic Ghezzi, 6 and 5. In the quarterfinals, the Championship favorite, Lew Worsham, was defeated by former Champion Ghezzi, 3 and 2. Another surprise saw Jim Ferrier beat Lloyd Mangrum, 4 and 3, in a match which Ferrier controlled from the second hole.

On the first day of play, Defending PGA Champion Hogan was ousted by Toney Penna, 3 and 1. In another upset, 45-year-old Gene Sarazen got by former Champion Johnny Revolta, 1-up, and then eliminated Snead, 2 and 1.

Ben Hogan claimed the first of his two PGA Championships as he defeated Ed Oliver, 6 and 4, at Portland (Oregon) Golf Club. In the morning round, Hogan had troubles with his putting and found himself 3-down, but with a 30 on the front nine of the afternoon round he took control of the match, going into the final nine 2-up. Hogan won four of the final five holes, making birdies on three of them, concluding the match on the 32nd hole with a birdie 3.

For the day, Hogan was 7 under par, playing the afternoon 14 holes in 8 under par. In the semifinals, Hogan defeated Jimmy Demaret, 10 and 8, the second biggest margin of victory in PGA Championship history. The other match saw Oliver shoot 9 under par to defeat Harold McSpaden, 6 and 5. The match ended at the 31st hole when McSpaden put his tee shot into the woods after Oliver hit his second shot close; McSpaden conceded the match.

In the quarterfinals, Defending Champion Byron Nelson was eliminated with a bogey at the final hole as Oliver nipped him, 1 up. This was the last match that Nelson would ever play in the PGA Championship: His record would stand at 37 wins in 45 matches.

Byron Nelson, making his fifth appearance in the finals, defeated Sam Byrd, who was making just his third PGA Championship appearance, 4 and 3. After the morning 18 at Moraine Country Club, Byrd finished the round with four straight birdies and a 2-up lead. Nelson rallied to win the 22nd, 25th and 26th holes and square the match. He went in front with a birdie at the 29th hole, which turned out to be the first of four straight holes that he won, sealing the victory. Nelson was 2-under for the day and a total of 37 under par for the 204 holes he played in the Championship. Byrd played well in the finals, but over the 197 holes he played in the Championship he was only 14 under par.

The semifinals turned into routs, as Byrd defeated Clarence Doser, 7 and 6, while Nelson easily beat Claude Harmon, 5 and 4. In second-round play, Byrd, a former New York Yankee outfielder, stunned former PGA Champion Johnny Revolta, 2 and 1. In the second round, Nelson had a tough time beating Mike Turnesa, 1 up, in a match that saw Nelson 2-down with just four holes left. Nelson responded to the challenge by making birdies at the 33rd and 34th holes to square the match. He made eagle at the next hole and halved the final hole. It was a heartbreaking loss for Turnesa, who was 7 under par, but Nelson was 10 under par with rounds of 68 and 66.

In the quarterfinals, Nelson defeated past Champion Denny Shute, 3 and 2. The victory put Nelson in the semifinals for the sixth time in a row. The night after Nelson’s semifinal victory, he told his wife, Louise, that the pressure of the year was starting to get to him. He was in the midst of his streak of 11 straight wins and had already won seven in a row. Louise revealed years later that Nelson was disappointed that nobody had beaten him.

Bob Hamilton, a long shot, upset the 1940 PGA Champion, Byron Nelson, 1 up, in the finals at Manito Golf and Country Club. After the morning round, the match was even as both players shot 70. In the afternoon round, Hamilton won the 19th hole with a birdie 3. Nelson would never get the lead again. Hamilton got to 2-up when Nelson bogeyed the 29th hole, but Nelson birdied the next hole. Another birdie by Nelson at the 33rd hole squared the match, but Hamilton came back to win the next with a birdie. They halved the 35th hole with pars.

At the final hole, a driveable 300 yards, Nelson’s tee shot landed in heavy grass short of the green while Hamilton was just short of the green. Nelson pitched to within 10 feet of the hole, while Hamilton almost chipped in, his ball stopping 20 inches away. Nelson did force Hamilton to earn the Championship by making his birdie put.

In the semifinals, Nelson rolled past Charles Congdon, 8 and 7. Nelson shot a 67 in the morning round and led 7-up after 18 holes. In the other match, Hamilton beat George Schneiter, 1-up. In the quarterfinals, the match of the day had Hamilton upsetting the leading money-winner, Harold McSpaden, 2 and 1. In a remarkable day of golf, Hamilton played more shots from the woods than on the fairways and played the 35 holes in 5 under par.

Sam Snead, who was to report to the Navy the day after the final match, defeated Corporal Jim Turnesa of the Army, 2 and 1, to win his first major championship. In the morning, Turnesa toured the course in 70 and jumped out to a 3-up lead. In the afternoon, Turnesa maintained his lead until a bogey on the 24th cost him a hole. By the end of the front nine, Snead had the match square. Turnesa bogeyed the 29th hole to go 1-down, then made another bogey at the 30th hole to go 2-down. The match ended on the 35th hole when Snead holed a spectacular 60-foot chip shot for a birdie to secure the victory.

In the semifinals, Byron Nelson was forced into overtime then drove out of bounds on the 37th hole to lose to Turnesa. Snead was able to reach the finals with his victory over Jimmy Demaret, 3 and 2. Early-round play saw only one upset as defending PGA Champion Vic Ghezzi was eliminated by Demaret, 4 and 3, in the opening round at Seaview Country Club.

Vic Ghezzi defeated Byron Nelson, 1 up, in an extra-hole match at Cherry Hills that had a bizarre finish. Ghezzi was 3-down after the 27th hole but squared the match by winning the first three holes of the final nine. On the final hole, both Ghezzi and Nelson missed the green with their second shots. Nelson pitched up to within 15 feet while Ghezzi chipped his ball four feet away. When Nelson missed his putt, Ghezzi had a shot at ending the contest, but missed the match-winning putt.

At the 37th hole, Ghezzi had another chance to win the match with a 10-footer for birdie, but missed. On the next hole, both missed the green with their second shots and both chipped up to within three feet. They were so close that even the referee couldn’t determine who would putt first, so they flipped a coin. Nelson won the toss, but missed his putt. Ghezzi had another chance at victory and sank the putt.

In the semifinals, the match of the day was between Nelson and Gene Sarazen, with Nelson able to win, 2 and 1. After the morning round, Sarazen had a 1-up lead as he shot 69, but after the 28th hole Nelson had the lead for the first time in the match. Going into the 35th hole, Nelson held a 1-up lead. Sarazen ran his birdie putt five feet past, then missed that putt to lose the hole and the match. In the other match, Ghezzi was able to hang on to beat Lloyd Mangrum 1 up, despite shooting a 40.

Byron Nelson won his first PGA Championship by edging Sam Snead, 1 up, on the West Course at Hershey Country Club. Nelson took an early 2-up lead by shooting 71 in the morning round, but Snead fought back in the afternoon, shooting 68. Snead took a 1-up lead to the 34th hole, but Nelson birdied the hole to remain 2-down. Snead almost ran in a 20-footer that would have tied the hole. At the 35th hole, Nelson hit a superb wedge to within two feet while Snead was six feet away. Snead missed his putt, Nelson made his to go 1-up.

At the final hole, a par-3, Nelson hit another splendid shot, a 3-iron to 10 feet, while Snead was just off the green. When Snead missed his shot, Nelson hit his putt to within inches for a tap-in and the victory.

The semifinal matches ended with Nelson beating Ralph Guldahl, 1-up, and Snead rolling over Harold McSpaden, 5 and 4. In the quarterfinals, the match of the day had Gene Sarazen pitted against Snead with Snead winning, 1 up. Snead was 3-down after the 28th hole, but won the 29th with a birdie, the 31st with a par and the 33rd with a par. When Snead made a birdie at the 34th hole to take a 1-up lead, it was the first time he was up in the match. The 35th and 36th holes were halved with pars.

In an exciting overtime match at Pomonok Country Club, Henry Picard won a 1-up decision over Byron Nelson to claim his only PGA Championship. Picard recorded birdies on the 36th and 37th holes to seal the match. Picard led most of the way until Nelson birdied the 29th hole to square the match. When Nelson birdied the 32nd hole, nearly driving the green 330 yards away, it was the first time he had the lead. After halving the 33rd hole with birdies, Picard saved the match by making a 25-footer for par to prevent him from going 2-down. The 35th hole was halved with pars.

At the final hole, only 300 yards long, both players were just short of the green with their drives. Nelson hit a poor second shot to within 12 feet, Picard a better one to four feet. Nelson missed his putt and Picard made his, sending the match to extra holes. At the 37th hole, Picard hit his drive under a movie truck while Nelson was down the middle followed by hitting his approach to five feet. After Picard got relief, he left his second shot seven feet away. Picard sank his putt while Nelson missed his.

In the semifinals, Nelson rolled over Dutch Harrison, 10 and 9. In the other match, Picard had a tough time with Dick Metz, the match settled on the final green with Picard getting a 1-up victory. The quarterfinals saw the departure of the defending PGA Champion as Metz beat Paul Runyan, 2 and 1. The opening day saw Walter Hagen and Gene Sarazen, who between them had won eight of the 22 Championships, both lose first-round matches.

New York native Paul Runyan defeated Sam Snead, 8 and 7, to win his second PGA Championship. Runyan’s short game produced a 67 in the morning, good for a 5-up lead, at Shawnee Golf and Country Club. He made the turn in 35 with a 7-up advantage, won the 28th hole, and closed out the match with a half on the 29th. Runyan was 24-under-par for the 196 holes he played; in his last 70 holes, he made only one bogey.

The semifinals featured one of the best matches in PGA Championship history with Snead beating Jimmy Hines, 1-up. It took a finish of four consecutive 3s from Snead to win, but if the contest had been decided by stroke play, Hines, who was 8-under for the day, would have won by one stroke. In the 147 holes of match play, Snead was 21-under-par.

In the other semi, Paul Runyan was 6-under for 33 holes and easily beat Henry Picard, 4 and 3. In the third round, Denny Shute’s attempt to win his third straight PGA Championship was halted when Jimmy Hines eliminated him, 2-and-1. In other third-round action, Byron Nelson routed Harry Bassler, 11 and 10, in perhaps the most sensational day of golf in PGA Championship history. He had a 64 in the morning round and won eight of the first nine holes. He went to lunch having won 12 holes and halving the rest.

Denny Shute won his second consecutive PGA Championship in overtime, defeating Harold McSpaden, 1 up, after 37 holes. McSpaden jumped out to a 3-up lead after the first five holes, but Shute found his putting stroke, one-putted nine of the next 13 holes, squared the match after the front side, then turned things around to finish the morning 3-up.

In the early stages of the afternoon round at Pittsburgh Field Club, McSpaden was 2-under-par and won four holes to enter the back side with a 1-up lead. When McSpaden bogeyed the 28th hole, the match was square. When Shute made bogeys at the 31st and 32nd holes, McSpaden was 2-up again. McSpaden bunkered his tee shot on the 34th hole, dropping to 1-up. On the 35th hole, McSpaden badly pulled his second shot under a tree and lost the hole to Shute’s bogey. All square going to the last hole, McSpaden’s tee shot hit a spectator and bounced into the fairway. He followed that with a great second to within four feet of the hole. Shute, also on in two, left his first putt about three feet short, giving McSpaden a chance to win the match, but he missed as well, sending the match into overtime.

On the first playoff hole, McSpaden missed a 10-footer for par and Shute made his four-footer to win. The semifinals were billed as the “Battle of Champions” as Shute faced Tony Manero, U.S. Open winner. Shute won the 33rd and 34th holes to win the match, 3 and 2. In the other match, McSpaden defeated Ky Laffoon, 2 and 1. On the first day of play, five former PGA Champions went down in defeat, with the only survivors being Denny Shute and Paul Runyan.

Denny Shute played David to Jimmy Thomson’s Goliath. Outdriven by as much as 60 yards on many holes, Shute used his irons and putter to turn back Thomson, 3 and 2, at Pinehurst No. 2. In the morning round, Thomson shot 77 to Shute’s 74, but Shute could only muster a 1-up lead. During the afternoon, Shute started to pull away with a 30-foot birdie putt at the 29th hole. His putter kept him alive the rest of the way.

On the 31st hole, he hit a poor drive into the waste area and scuffed his next shot short of the green; Thomson hit his second shot on the green, Shute pitched to 20 feet away, Thomson safely secured his par, and Shute made his putt for a half. The next two holes were halved with pars, with Shute closing out the match on the par-5 34th hole when he hit a spectacular second shot to just three feet away. When Thomson missed his birdie putt, Shute knocked his putt in for eagle and a 3-and-2 victory.

Notable players who didn’t make it to match play were Walter Hagen, Leo Diegel, Sam Parks Jr., Byron Nelson and Jim Turnesa. During first-day play, all former PGA Champions in the field were eliminated as Gene Sarazen, Tommy Armour and Paul Runyan lost their matches; defending PGA Champion Johnny Revolta was defeated in the second round.

Weather played a key role in the finals, with frigid northern blasts numbing both 40-year-old legend Tommy Armour and upstart 24-year-old Johnny Revolta. Revolta birdied the first hole and Armour was never able to square the match again. A front-nine 33 at Twin Hills Golf and Country Club gave Revolta a 3-up advantage, and even though he was 2-over-par on the back nine, he still picked up another hole, going to lunch 4 up.

Armour’s game improved in the afternoon: He won the first hole with a par, but it took him 12 more holes to win another and despite playing the first seven afternoon holes at even par, he lost one more hole. After Armour bogeyed the eighth hole, they went to the back side with Revolta 6-up. They matched par on the first three holes of the back nine and Armour finally won one, the 31st hole, when Revolta made bogey. But when Revolta put his tee shot on the par-3 32nd hole just 10 feet away, Armour knew the match was over.

If there was a secret to Revolta’s 5-and-4 win, it was his putting: Over the course of the 32-hole match, Revolta didn’t have a three-putt and one-putted 13 greens. During the first round, medalist and five-time PGA Champion Walter Hagen lost to Revolta, 1 up, in a nailbiter: At 18, Hagen had a chance to tie after Revolta made bogey, but missed his par putt.

Not since 1923 had the PGA Championship final been so close and gone so long, and in the end Paul Runyan, the pupil and putting wizard, beat his former instructor, Craig Wood, 1 up, at the Park Country Club in Williamsville, New York. After the morning round, Wood had a 1-up lead but lost his advantage on the front side of the afternoon round. He took the lead back at the 29th hole with an eagle 3, but Runyan squared the match three holes later with a birdie. Runyan picked up a hole with a Wood bogey at the 33rd hole. At the 35th hole, Wood almost holed his second shot, making birdie to be tied going to the last hole.

Both players missed the final green with their second shots and both chipped within 12 feet. PGA President George Jacobus had to decide who would putt first, and with considerable care he determined that Runyan was away. Both made their putts, forcing overtime. At the 37th hole, Runyan was short of the green in two while Wood was just eight feet away for eagle. Runyan hit a great chip within two feet and was able to halve the hole when Wood missed his match-winning putt.

At the next hole, Wood hooked his drive under a tree and sent his second into the crowd. Runyan didn’t do much better as he pushed his second shot right of the green, then faced a tough shot over a bunker that he played well, the ball stopping eight feet away. Wood chipped 12 feet short of the cup and just missed his par putt. Runyan made his to win. Several prominent names went down in the first round including former PGA Champions Walter Hagen and Leo Diegel and former U.S. Open Champions Billy Burke and Johnny Farrell.

Gene Sarazen had a lot to prove at Blue Mound Golf and Country Club. Earlier that week, Tommy Armour proclaimed that Sarazen was “all washed up as a championship contender.” The remark lit a spark in Sarazen, who spent the week routing his competitors. Yet, after the morning round in the finals against Willie Goggin, Sarazen was only 1 up — despite a 1-under-par 69. “The Squire” went to work in the afternoon, winning three of the first five holes, shooting 34, and going into the final nine 4-up. With a birdie on the 32nd hole, Sarazen closed out the match, 5 and 4.

As he was receiving his prize of $1,000 and the Wanamaker Trophy for the third time, he told the audience, “Pretty good for a washed-up golfer.”

In the first round, all favorites advanced with the exception of two-time PGA Champion Leo Diegel, who was eliminated by Goggin, 4 and 3; and Horton Smith, who was beaten by long shot Clarence Clark, 6 and 5. Walter Hagen, Craig Wood and Denny Shute had not entered the event.

In the finals, Olin Dutra continued the assault on par he showcased throughout the PGA Championship at Keller Golf Club in St. Paul, Minnesota, beating Frank Walsh, 4 and 3. For Walsh, it was a valiant try that seemed impossible just seven months prior as he had suffered a fractured skull and was sidelined for eight weeks. As for Dutra, his performance at Keller Golf Course was one of the most dominant in PGA Championship history.

Over the course of the six days, Dutra played 196 holes and was 19-under-par. The first round was full of overtime surprises as several of the favorites were eliminated. In a stunning defeat that went seven extra holes (the second-longest match in PGA Championship history), five-time PGA Champion Walter Hagen lost to Johnny Golden, who rolled in a 10-footer for birdie on the 43rd hole.

Other upsets that went extra holes had Reggie Myles beating Horton Smith and Vincent Eldred staggering past Paul Runyan. But the most amazing match was between Bobby Cruickshank and Al Watrous, as Watrous relinquished a 9-up lead and lost in overtime on the 41st hole.

Making his PGA Championship debut, Tom Creavy was able to hold off Denny Shute, 2 and 1. After the 30th hole, it appeared that Creavy, 4 up, was going to win in a rout. But Shute fought back. On the 31st hole at Wannamoisett Country Club, Creavy made bogey while Shute made par to get one back. Despite Shute hitting his drive into a water hazard at the 32nd hole, they still halved the hole. At the 33rd hole, Shute made a birdie to get another one back. When Creavy made a double-bogey at the 34th hole, it looked like he was folding. But that was as close as Shute got as he made bogey at the 35th hole to lose, 2 and 1.

Creavy got a great thrill afterward when his hero Bobby Jones, who was refereeing the match, said, “It was one of the finest matches I think that was ever played.”

In the quarterfinals, Tommy Armour’s one-year reign as PGA Champion came to an end at the hands of Shute, 3 and 1. The first round saw a number of upsets with Walter Hagen, Leo Diegel, Johnny Farrell, Ed Dudley and Al Espinosa losing. Hagen’s loss was the biggest surprise, as veteran Peter O’Hara eliminated the five-time PGA Champion, 4 and 3.

The final was something out of a Hollywood script, with two great golfers battling to their final putts to determine the PGA Champion. Even though Gene Sarazen was the favorite over Tommy Armour, especially with Sarazen playing on his home course at Fresh Meadow Country Club, it was one of those matches where neither player had the upper hand. The biggest lead was just two holes, which both players had at one time during the contest. Following the morning round, Armour had a 1-up lead after shooting 71 to Sarazen’s 72. On the front nine of the afternoon round, Sarazen got the hole back and they went to the final nine all-square.

On the 18th hole, Sarazen hooked his tee shot while Armour hit the fairway. Sarazen put his second shot into a greenside bunker. Armour, who had a poor lie, also hit into the bunker. Sarazen got out to 10 feet past the hole, while Armour exploded 12 feet away. As Armour got over his putt, he was forced to back away after a photographer disturbed him. When he finally hit the ball, it had just enough momentum to topple in to win. Sarazen, who looked surprised that Armour made it, putted hurriedly and missed.

Notable players who did not make the field in sectional qualifying included past PGA Champions Walter Hagen, Jock Hutchison and Jim Barnes. Leo Diegel ended his two-year reign as PGA Champion in the second round, losing to Harold Sampson, 1 up.