15 Things you Didn't Know about the US PGA Championship

Post by Sports Writer Derek Clements

It's the 100th anniversary of the PGA Championship, the season's final major. Take a look back at the history and some of the trivia that has defined the fourth Grand Slam event on the calendar.

1 From 1916 to 1957 the tournament was a matchplay event. Lionel Hebert beat Dow Finsterwald 2&1 in the 1957 final, but Finsterwald claimed the title the following year when it became a 72-hole strokeplay event. No player won the title in both formats.

2 Like The Masters, the US PGA has a champions’ dinner where the defending champion chooses the menu, but also has to provide a gift for those in attendance. After winning in 2008, Padraig Harrington handed out a traditional Irish drum but warned: “In the hands of the right Irishman, it makes a lovely sound. In the hands of a six-year-old, I’m not so sure. You might want to keep it on a high shelf.”

3 The Wanamaker Trophy, one of the largest in sport, is named after department store magnate Rodman Wanamaker, a keen golfer who was responsible for the founding of the PGA of America in 1916 and sponsored the first US PGA later that year.

4 Walter Hagen lost the trophy after his victory in 1925, but was not found out until 1928 because he also won in 1926 and 1927. Hagen had supposedly paid a cab driver to return the trophy to his hotel while he celebrated in Chicago, but it never arrived. The PGA of America had a replica made before the original was found in 1930 in the basement of the company in Detroit which made the Hagen line of golf clubs.

5 The US PGA likes to claim it has the strongest field in golf by virtue of inviting the top 100 players in the world rankings. In 2014 all 100 were set to take part until Dustin Johnson’s self-imposed “leave of absence”.

6 In 2014 the US PGA revived the long drive contest which used to be held during practice rounds, but the big-hitting Bubba Watson was not in favour and hit a three iron on the hole being used – the par-five 10th

7 Arnold Palmer and Tom Watson both needed to win the US PGA to complete the career grand slam, but Palmer could only finish runner-up in 1964, 1968 and 1970, while Watson lost in a playoff to John Mahaffey in 1978.

8 Julius Boros remains the oldest winner of any major after claiming the 1968 US PGA – a shot ahead of Palmer and Bob Charles – at the age of 48.

9 Gene Sarazen was the youngest winner when he took the title in 1922 aged 20.

10 In 2009, Korea’s YE Yang became the first male Asian player to win a major championship and also the first to come from behind to beat Tiger Woods in the final round of a major.

11 This year’s venue of Baltusrol, which also hosted the championship in 2005, was named after farmer Baltus Roll, who had died on the property in an attempted robbery.

12 Only eight men have won the US PGA on their debut: Jim Barnes (1916), Tom Creavy (1931), Bob Hamilton (1944), Doug Ford (1955), Bob Tway (1986), John Daly (1991), Shaun Micheel (2003) and Keegan Bradley (2011)

13 John Daly was ninth reserve before getting in at the last minute in 1991 and driving through the night to take his place in the field at Crooked Stick.

14 Jason Day’s winning total of 20 under par at Whistling Straits in 2015 was the lowest in relation to par in any major until it was equalled by Henrik Stenson at The Open at Troon.

15 Walter Hagen and Jack Nicklaus share the record of five wins.