Aug 6, 2013; Rochester, NY, USA; Tom Watson tees off on the 10th hole during the practice round of the 95th PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club. Mandatory Credit: Allan Henry-USA TODAY Sports
There have been several great players in golf history who were never able win a Wanamaker Trophy, and the two that come to mind more quickly than anyone, were Tom Watson, and Arnold Palmer. Of course, in modern history since 1958, there have only been one player who has won four PGA Championships, and that would be Tiger Woods. Tiger is the only one to win back-to-back PGA Championships, and he accomplished that twice. Jack Nicklaus won five PGA Championships.
Tiger won in 1999 and 2000, and again in 2006 and 2007. Jack Nicklaus won his Wanamaker Trophies in 1963, 1971, 1973, 1975, and his last came at Oak Hill in 1980. Several players won two PGA Championships that include, Gary Player, Raymond Floyd, Dave Stockton, Lee Trevino Larry Nelson, and Vijay Singh.
The PGA Championship cost Arnie, and Tom their career slams. Arnie has four Green Jackets, two British opens, and the 1960 US Open which he won at Cherry Hill. Tom Watson has two Green Jackets, one US Open, and five Claret Jugs. Tom came close in 1978 , but lost at Oakmont to John Mahaffey.
Tom Watson, John Mahaffey, and Jerry Pate ended regulation tied at -8 under par with a four shot lead over second place. Mahaffey won the three-way playoff on the second hole of sudden death with a birdie.
Several golfers have only one major on their resumes, and that one major was the PGA. At the top of that list is Davis Love III in 1997. We all remember his victory at Winged Foot with the rainbow in the background after his father, Davis Love II was killed in a plane crash earlier in the year.
There was Martin Kaymer’s gift at Whistling Straits in 2010 when Dustin Johnson, who was on his way to victory grounded his club in one of the 200 vague sand traps throughout the course. Johnson also lost the US Open that year in the final round to Graeme McDowell.
2009 provided us with a one and done, Y.E. Yang who went out on Sunday and became the first person to ever beat Tiger Woods in a major when he had a piece of the 54 hole lead. 2002, and 2003 featured Rich Beam, and Shaun Micheel as PGA winners who never won another major. In fact, Shaun Micheel has never won any other PGA event. Rich Beem only won three PGA events, and five professional tournaments in his career.
Who can forget 1991 at Crooked Stick. What a great name for a Golf Course! We saw the emergence of a kid who was the ninth, and final alternate who made the field and won it all. How can we talk about the PGA Championship, and not talk about John Daly. A kid who could hit the ball a mile, came along before Tiger Woods, and won the Rookie of the Year on the strength of his PGA title. Big John remains the only player in history to win two major championships in his career, and never play on a Ryder Cup team.
I read an article this morning, which I included in my Around the Links blog that called the PGA Championship the “Ugly Step-Sister” major. The courses are not quite the test of golf that the US and British Open are, and does not have the tradition of The Masters, but just think of how much golf history we would have missed out on, had there not been a PGA Championship.
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