The US PGA Championship is the last of the four major championships held every year. It is an official money event in both the US PGA Tour and European Tour . The Championship is conducted by the Professional Golfers Association of America and is traditionally held in August.
History of the PGA Championship
- Jim Barnes won the first PGA Championship in 1916 at the Siwanoy Country Club in Bronxville, New York.
- The trophy is known as the Wanamaker Trophy, after the name of Rodman Wanamaker.
- The Championship shifted to the stroke play format in 1958 before which it was a match play event.
- It is the only major which does not invite amateurs to compete.
Qualifying Procedure for the PGA Championship
The PGA Championship has a field of 156 players most of whom are invited. Invitations are sent to:
- All former PGA champions are invited.
- Winners of the previous five Masters, US Open and British Open
- The defending Senior PGA Champion.
- Members of the last United States Ryder Cup team.
- Winners of tournaments co-sponsored or approved by the PGA Tour since the previous PGA Championship .
- The top 70 golfers in the official money standings.
Besides these, there are other criteria for invitation to the championship. In line with the other majors, winning the PGA gives a golfer several privileges which make his career much more secure.
The PGA Championship is held at a number of courses with the Medinah Country Club in Illinois hosting it in 2006. The total prize money was $6,800,000. Tiger Woods won the event getting the better of Shaun Micheel by five strokes. It was his 12 th Major title getting past Walter Hagen on the all-time major championship winner list. Jack Nicklaus heads the list with 18 titles.
Tournament schedule and tickets
The next edition of the PGA Championship will be held at the Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla from 6-12 August, 2007. It will become the first course to host four PGA Championships. Daily tickets for the practice rounds are priced at $30 while tickets will be priced at $85 during the Championship rounds from 9 August.
PGA Championship concludes the major championships for the season. Since all the top golfers take part in the event you are guaranteed some great golfing action. As we continue on this tour we will learn about the other tournaments in the European Tour .
