NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. (AP) — A look back at PGA Championships that are marking key anniversaries this year:
100 years ago (1926)
Course: Salisbury Golf Links
Winner: Walter Hagen
Score: 5 and 3.
Prize: $1,000.
Runner-up: Leo Diegel
Key to the win: Hagen won all of his matches without having to go the distance. He was 2 up after the morning 18 when Diegel had a most unfortunate situation. His shot on the opening hole went over the green, onto a road and under a car. Once the car was moved, he was in a tire track and it took him three to get on the green.
Noteworthy: Hagen won his third straight PGA Championship on his way to four in a row. Bobby Jones won the other two majors that year, the U.S. Open and British Open, and was not eligible for the PGA Championship because he was an amateur.
AP story: Invincible Walter Hagen finished a new chapter in American golf history today with the winning of his third successive championship among the professionals. Brushing aside the opposition of Leo Diegel with the same irresistible stroking by which he conquered Johnny Farrell yesterday, the former caddie from Rochester, N.Y., completed the greatest match playing record of all time in a fitting, decisive final. Hagen, who will be 34 years old next December, rolled up his 15th straight victory in the professional event by his triumph over Diegel.
75 years ago (1951)
Course: Oakmont Country Club
Winner: Sam Snead
Score: 7 and 6.
Prize: $3,500
Runner-up: Walter Burkemo
Key to the win: Snead made eagle on the par-5 opening hole and Burkemo did the rest with three bogeys and a double bogey over the next five holes. Snead was 3 up after four holes and Burkemo never got any closer the rest of the way.
Noteworthy: Snead atoned for being on the losing end of the biggest blowout in PGA Championship when he lost in 29 holes to Paul Runyan in 1938. It was his third Wanamaker Trophy. Not until 20 years later with Jack Nicklaus in 1971 would the PGA get another multiple champion.
AP story: Sam Snead, West Virginia’s silky-stroking hillbilly, climaxed one of the most spectacular subpar streaks in golf history Tuesday to smother Walter Burkemo of Franklin, Mich., 7 and 6, for his third Professional Golf Association championship. It was the second-worst defeat record in 33 PGA finals — outranked only by the humiliating 8-and-7 licking Snead took from Paul Runyan in 1938. When Snead closed the door on the popular, pug-nosed battler from Michigan on the 30th hole, he was 22-under par for 166 match-play holes over the Oakmont monster whose par 37-35–72 has withstood prolonged assaults for years.
50 years ago (1976)
Course: Congressional Country Club
Winner: Dave Stockton
Score: 70-72-69-71–281
Margin: 1 shot
Prize: $45,000
Runner-up: Raymond Floyd and Don January
Key to the win: In a final round held Monday because of rain, Stockton rallied from a four-shot deficit and made a 10-foot par putt on the final hole to avoid a playoff and capture his second Wanamaker Trophy.
Noteworthy: The start of Sunday’s final round was scratched because of rain and started over on Monday. Stockton remains the last player to win the PGA Championship with a 72-hole score over par.
AP story: Dave Stockton, provided with an opening when double bogey disaster struck down three earlier leaders, boldly and confidently rolled home a 15-foot par-saving putt on the 72nd hole that staked him to the 58th PGA Championship Monday. Stockton, perhaps the premier scramble on the tour, resorted to his specialty in the multiple-man scramble down the stretch, one-putting for the pars he needed on the last two holes. The 35-year-old Stockton completed the storm-delayed final round in par 70 on the Congressional Country Club course and acquired his second PGA title by a single stroke at 281, one over par, on the hilly playground of presidents.
25 years ago (2001)
Course: Atlanta Athletic Club
Winner: David Toms
Score: 66-65-65-69–265
Margin: 1 shot
Prize: $936,000
Runner-up: Phil Mickelson
Key to the win: With a one-shot lead over Mickelson, Toms chose to lay up short of the water on the 490-yard closing hole, the longest par 4 in PGA Championship history. He holed a 12-foot par putt to win his first major.
Noteworthy: David Toms made a hole-in-one with a 5-wood on the 16th hole, making him the last player to make an ace in a major he won. His 265 broke by two shots the 72-hole scoring record at the majors.
AP story: David Toms wasn’t interested in being macho. His only concern was beating Phil Mickelson to his first major championship. Contending for the first time in a major, Toms took the safe route by laying up on the 490-yard closing hole and won the PGA Championship on Sunday with a 12-foot putt that proved far more memorable than his 243-yard ace the day before. Toms could have been bold. He could have hit 5-wood from 210 yards over a lake from a treacherous lie in the rough and win the drama-packed PGA Championship in style. He could have been Jean Van de Velde. Instead, Toms put the pressure on himself and proved worthy of a major championship.
20 years ago (2006)
Course: Medinah Country Club
Winner: Tiger Woods
Score: 69-68-65-68–270
Margin: 5 shots
Prize: $1,224,000
Runner-up: Shaun Micheel
Key to the win: Woods broke out of a tie with Luke Donald with a 10-foot birdie on the opening hole and it was never really close after that. He became the first player to win a PGA Championship twice on the same course.
Noteworthy: Woods, coming off a British Open victory at Hoylake, became the first player to win multiple majors in consecutive years.
AP story: An emotional wreck at Hoylake, a machine at Medinah. Tiger Woods went from brown fairways to lush greens, from pure irons to perfect putting, from silver claret jug to shiny Wanamaker Trophy. For all those changes, from one major to the next, this much stayed very much the same: Woods overwhelmed his competition again Sunday, closing with a 4-under 68 for a five-shot victory in the PGA Championship, giving him 12 career majors and leaving only Jack Nicklaus and his 18 titles in his way.
10 years ago (2016)
Course: Baltusrol Country Club (Lower)
Winner: Jimmy Walker
Score: 65-66-68-67–266
Margin: 1 shot
Prize: $1,800,000
Runner-up: Jason Day
Key to the win: Walker built a three-shot lead with a birdie on the 17th and had to make a 3-foot par on the final hole to hold off Day, who hit 2-iron to 15 feet for eagle. Rain forced a 36-hole Sunday and preferred lies were allowed because the course was so soaked.
Noteworthy: The PGA Championship was held the final week in July, two weeks earlier than normal to create room for golf’s return to the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. It was the first time held in July since 1968.
AP story: Jimmy Walker did everything required of a major champion on the longest final day in 64 years at a PGA Championship. And then Jason Day made him do a little bit more. Walker was standing over an 8-foot birdie putt on the par-5 17th hole Sunday when he heard a roar that caused him to twice back off the putt. It was Day, the defending champion and world’s No. 1 player, down to his last chance and delivering with a 2-iron that landed in front of the pin and stopped 15 feet away for eagle. Day made the eagle putt, and the lead was down to one. Walker calmly made a 3-foot par to capture the PGA Championship, ending a long and wet week at Baltusrol.
5 years ago (2021)
Course: Kiawah Island GC (Ocean)
Winner: Phil Mickelson
Score: 70-69-70-73–282
Margin: 2 shots
Prize: $2,160,000
Runner-up: Brooks Koepka and Louis Oosthuizen
Key to the win: Mickelson made a pair of early birdies and built a five-shot lead going to the back nine. He held on to become at age 50 the oldest major champion in history.
Noteworthy: Mickelson won his sixth major just weeks after accepting a special exemption to the U.S. Open. He became the 10th player, and first since Tiger Woods, to win a major in three decades.
AP story: Phil Mickelson has delivered so many thrills and spills over 30 years of pure theater that no one ever knows what he will do next. His latest act was a real stunner: A major champion at age 50. Mickelson captured his sixth major and by far the most surprising Sunday at the PGA Championship. He made two early birdies with that magical wedge game and let a cast of contenders fall too far behind to catch him in the shifting wind of Kiawah Island. He closed with a 1-over 73, building a five-shot lead on the back nine and not making any critical mistakes that kept him from his place in history. Julius Boros for 53 years held the distinction of golf’s oldest major champion. He was 48 when he won the 1968 PGA Championship in San Antonio.
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