In the 106th edition of the PGA Championship, one of the four major championships in men’s golf, taking place from tomorrow until Sunday, May 19th in Louisville, Kentucky, Tiger Woods, as expected, will be among the most anticipated contenders. In 1999, at the Medinah Country Club near Chicago, he triumphed for the first time in the PGA Championship. The second victory came in 2000, at the Valhalla Golf Club, the same venue hosting this year’s event. From the summer of 2000 to the spring of 2001, Woods embarked on an extraordinary streak of success, winning some of the most prestigious tournaments in golf history and achieving what became known as the “Tiger Slam.” Over 11 months, he secured eight out of the eighteen tournaments played on the PGA Tour, notably clinching the US Open, The Open, the PGA Championship, and, on April 8th, 2001, The Masters. He thus became the first player in the modern era to win all four major championships consecutively.
Tiger Woods, results
Overall, Woods boasts a total of four victories in the PGA Championship, with his other two triumphs coming in 2006 and 2007. In the history of the competition, only Jack Nicklaus and Walter Hagen have outperformed him, each securing five victories.
The PGA Championship’s venue varies annually, with the tournament typically held in various locations across the United States, primarily in the eastern states. As of 2016, only 10 editions have taken place in western states. The most frequently used course is the Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which has hosted the tournament four times, with the last occurrence in 2007.
From 1969 to 2018, the tournament was traditionally held in August, with exceptions in 1971 (February) and 2016 (late July, to avoid overlap with the Olympic tournament). Previously, the championship was held at various times between May and July, but moving it to August allowed players to participate in the Open without sacrificing their chances in the PGA Championship. Since 2019, the tournament has been held in May, the week preceding Memorial Day. In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the tournament was rescheduled to August.
Qualification criteria for the PGA Championship are stringent, similar to other major championships. Invitations are extended to past champions, winners of the last five editions of the Masters, U.S. Open, and Open Championship, the reigning PGA Senior Championship winner, players finishing in the top 15 at the previous PGA Championship, the top 20 finishers at the last PGA Professional National Championship, the top 70 players on the PGA Tour money list, participants from the last Ryder Cup teams (both American and European) ranked within the top 100 of the Official World Golf Ranking, winners of PGA Tour events since the last PGA Championship, and additional players invited by the PGA of America to complete the field of 156 participants.
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