USPGA: It has history, honest!

Only 58 people can claim to have won the USPGA since its inauguration in 1916 and its
latest champion has helped re-affirm that it is the "Fourth Major" and not just a trumped up PGA tournament with no more meaning than a regular tour stop event.

Tiger Woods added the USPGA as his second leg of the grand slam last year at Medinah when Sergio Garcia chased him home out of tree roots and deep rough to finish second behind the Millennium phenom, but even with the best player in the world as defending champion, it is still seen to be a poor relation to the other three major championships.

Granted, it doesn't get the recognition it deserves as being one of the biggest dates in the calendar, especially with the Players Championship and now the WGC events, each with a prize of a cool $1m going to the winner. But the USPGA has history and it also has, normally, historical venues.

This year however, the PGA in their infinite wisdom, or rather should I say, coerced by Jim Awtrey of the PGA (who has a few connections within Valhalla and subsequently tempted the PGA of America to buy the course), they have closed a deal under the table whereby Valhalla, a course only 14-years old has the privilege of not only hosting a major at the tender age of ten years old in 1996, but also being short-listed for both the US Open and the Ryder Cup!

Valhalla aside, the USPGA still has a lot of history, more than the Players Championship and the WGC events put together, twice!

Department store magnate Rodman Wanamaker had the initial idea of the USPGA as it is known today. He invited prominent golfers and other leading industry representatives including Winged Foot architect A.W. Tillinghast to a luncheon at the Taplow Club in New York City. On Jan. 16, 1916, a group of 35 individuals, including legendary Walter Hagen, convened, a meeting which resulted in the formation of the PGA of America.

During the meeting, Wanamaker hinted at the need for the new organisation for an annual all-professional tournament, and offered to put up $2,500 as part of the prize funds. The first PGA Championship was played at Siwanoy Country Club in Bronxville, New York as a matchplay event and was won by British-born professional Jim Barnes.

In the Roaring 20's, winners included Walter Hagen, Gene Sarazen and Leo Diegel. Hagen went on to win 5 PGA Championships. In 1940, Byron Nelson won with a 1-up victory over Sam Snead. With the outbreak of World War II, the match-play field was reduced to 32 players.
Snead called the '42 PGA Championship, his first of seven major triumphs, his biggest thrill in golf - he finished the match by holing a 60-foot chip shot for birdie on the 35th hole! Ben Hogan won in 1946; he qualified seven times for the match-play portion and won 22 of 27of his matches.

In 1957, the Championship was going to be changed to a combination of medal play and match play, but was not carried out. Television was a major factor that caused the PGA to decide to go with stroke play format.

In the Sixties, South African Gary Player won in '62, Jack Nicklaus won first of five in '63, and Arnold Palmer set a record with rounds of 68-68-69-69 but never ended up with a Championship victory (like Sam Snead's US Open "jinx", golf historians consider Palmer as one of the best players never to have won a PGA Championship).

With his victory in February 1971 at PGA National Golf Club in Palm Beach Gardens, Nicklaus became the first professional to win the modern Grand Slam of golf for the second time. Nicklaus would win four PGA Championships in 13 years, including runner-up twice and placed nine times in the top four. In '80, the Bear tied Walter Hagen for most PGA Championships, winning his fifth crown by a record margin of seven strokes.

And that is one of the records Tiger Woods wants to break this year!!! Just think, The masters by 12, the US Open by 15 shots and The Open by 8 shots. Woods has to go for the Grand slam record of winning all by a record margin! Can't wait!

THE FIELD: The field for the 82nd PGA Championship at
Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, KY, has 92 of the top 100 players
in the Official World Golf Ranking, including the top 75. The field
has 150 players.

LAST TIME: Valhalla was the site of the 1996
PGA Championship, where Mark Brooks
defeated Kenny Perry with a birdie on the
first sudden-death playoff hole. Brooks and
Perry finished regulation tied at 11-under-par
277.

THE RECORD: The PGA Championship
tournament record of 17-under-par 267
was set by Steve Elkington and Colin
Montgomerie in 1995 at Riviera Country
Club in Los Angeles. Elkington birdied the
first sudden-death playoff hole to defeat Montgomerie.

THE NAME: The name Valhalla comes from the great hall
described in Norse mythology, where the souls of Vikings feasted
and celebrated with the gods.
The 14-year-old course was the brainchild of Louisville business
leader Dwight Gahm, who wanted to build a championship
course. He brought in Jack Nicklaus to design the course and
Nicklaus, at age 60, is in this week's field.

LEFTIES: There are five left-handers in the PGA Championship
field who play on the PGA TOUR: Greg Chalmers, Russ Cochran,
Steve Flesch, Phil Mickelson and Mike Weir.
Cochran, a native of Paducah, KY, held the 54-hole lead in the
1996 PGA at Valhalla, but shot a final-round 77 to finish in a tie
for 17th. Flesch, a resident of Union, KY, and like Cochran a
former University of Kentucky golfer, is coming off a tie for 20th
at the last major, the British Open at St. Andrews.
The only left-hander to win a major championship is New
Zealand's Bob Charles, who captured the 1963 British Open at
Royal Lytham & St. Annes, beating Phil Rodgers in a 36-hole
playoff.

AN AGREEMENT: In November 1993, the PGA of America
negotiated an agreement in which it would purchase 25 percent of
Valhalla Golf Club. After the 1996 PGA, the PGA of America
assumed 50 percent ownership of the club. After this week's event,
the PGA of America will exercise the right to purchase the
remaining interest in Valhalla.
Valhalla will be the site of the 37th Ryder Cup Matches in 2007.

CHANGES: A few changes have been made to Valhalla since the
1996 PGA. New tees were built on the first, second and sixth holes
and existing tees were extended on the fifth and 12th holes. An
"island" fairway on the seventh hole, a 597-yard par 5, will be
available for use this year for players wanting to take a more direct
route on the dogleg-left hole.
A new pin location was added on the eighth green in the back
right, and a fairway bunker was added on the left side of the ninth
hole to tighten the landing area.

FAMOUS PAIRING: Defending champion Tiger Woods will be
paired with five-time PGA Champion Jack Nicklaus and Masters
Tournament winner Vijay Singh, the 1998 PGA Champion, in the
first and second rounds this week at Valhalla.
Nicklaus' PGA victories in 1963, '71, '73, '75 and '80 are tied with
Walter Hagen for the most in the history of the year's final major.
Nicklaus, Woods and Singh tee off at 9:13 a.m. Thursday and at
1:25 p.m. Friday.

FUTURE SITES: The PGA will be played at the
following sites in upcoming years: 2001, Atlanta
(GA) Athletic Club; 2002, Hazeltine National
Golf Club, Chaska, MN; 2003, Oak Hill
Country Club, Rochester, MN; 2004, Whistling
Straits, Kohler, WI; 2005, The Country Club,
Brookline, MA; 2006, Medinah (IL) Country
Club; and 2008, Oakland Hills Country Club,
Bloomfield Hills, MI.