There have been numerous stellar champions to lift the Wanamaker.
Winning the PGA Championship can be a life changer for any golfer.
A lifetime exemption into the major. A five-year PGA Tour exemption. Add in exemptions into the other majors, it’s a chance for golfers to propel their career and play on some of golf’s biggest stages.
The PGA Championship began in 1916, and from then until 1957 was contested in a match-play format. The tournament switched to stroke play in 1958. And even with the long history of the championship, only five golfers have won three or more Wanamaker Trophies.
Valhalla is hosting its fourth PGA Championship from May 16-19.
Tiger Woods made a reconnaissance trip to Valhalla Golf Club five days ago to get in some early prep work for the 2024 PGA Championship. He was back on the golf course Monday for another practice round and even stopped to sign some autographs for some fans who made their way to the course in Louisville, Kentucky.
Valhalla is hosting its fourth PGA Championship, with tournament rounds set for May 16-19, but the on-course activities have begun. The 106th PGA features a field of 156 players, including 32 major winners and 16 past PGA champs, including two-time winner Brooks Koepka, the defending champion.
Valhalla will play as a par 71 measuring 7,603 yards. The winner of the PGA gets a lifetime exemption into the event as well as a replica of the Wanamaker Trophy.
Elijah Craig welcomes the PGA back to Louisville’s Valhalla Golf Club.
Elijah Craig welcomes the 2024 PGA Championship back to Louisville’s Valhalla Golf Club on May 16-19 after a decade away from the Bluegrass State.
To celebrate the return, Elijah Craig will present the “Elijah Craig Bourbon Speakeasy” on the course for spectators to enjoy and will release a special Commemorative Edition of its Elijah Craig Small Batch in honor of the golf event.
Elijah Craig will be onsite during the championship at the 14th hole of the course aptly named “On The Rocks” for tournament rounds as wells as practice dys. Spectators can taste the Elijah Craig Small Batch, enjoy hand-crafted signature cocktails and engage in photo opportunities after signing their name on an interactive signature wall.
Offsite, area consumers will find displays and engagement opportunities at retail and bar locations promoting Elijah Craig’s exclusive sponsorship.
A special-edition commemorative bottle of Elijah Craig Small Batch is available at select retailers across the country to help fans mark the return of the major championship to Elijah Craig’s “backyard.” The bottle will be adorned with a neck label featuring the PGA Championship’s Wanamaker Trophy, a gold coin emblazoned cork showing the 2024 PGA Championship logo and a face label prominently showcasing the “Official Bourbon” designation along with the PGA Championship logo.
The barrels for this special release are pulled from Heaven Hill rickhouses P, 1G and A to further its ties to Elijah Craig’s partnership with the PGA Championship.
This one-time offering is available nationwide for a suggested retail price of $36.99.
It’s been 10 years now since McIlroy claimed a major championship.
It’s been 10 years now since Rory McIlroy claimed a major championship.
His victory in the 2014 PGA Championship was his fourth major overall, joining Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods as the only golfers to have that many before the age of 26. He’s won 16 times on the PGA Tour since and at No. 2 in the world he remains a force in the game, but that victory at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville nearly a decade ago remains the last time he claimed one of the four major tournaments in men’s professional golf.
On a humid, hot August day during which a weather delay meant they would be running out of daylight at the finish, Phil Mickelson, Henrik Stenson and Rickie Fowler all had at least a share of the lead on the back nine. Indeed, McIlroy trailed by three at the turn but rallied with an eagle at No. 10 and a hard-fought par in the gloaming at the par-5 18th.
Despite 20 top-10s and 10 top-fives, the most of any players in the last decade, McIlroy is 0-for 35 in the majors since. No one was predicting him to see stuck at four majors the next time the PGA Championship rolled around to Valhalla but that’s the reality McIlroy has faced and perhaps a return to friendly grounds will make all the difference this week.
Take a look at some of the best photos from Rory McIlroy winning the 2014 PGA Championship.
McIlroy’s thoughts about Valhalla are still valid as the PGA returns for the fourth time.
Then just 25 years old, Rory McIlroy entered the final major championship of 2014, at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, as the world No. 1. He’d regained the top stop just that week after consecutive wins at the Open Championship and WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.
Four rounds later, he backed up his world ranking by doing Tiger Woods-type things: winning consecutive majors, playing virtually mistake-free all week and beating Phil Mickelson in the process.
The Northern Irishman shot rounds of 66-67-67-68 to finish at 16-under 268, one clear of Mickelson and two ahead of Rickie Fowler and Henrik Stenson, claiming his fourth major championship and cementing his spot as golf’s next big thing. With the 2014 PGA, he became just the fourth player in the past century to win four majors at age 25 or younger, joining Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Bobby Jones. How’s that for company?
With an effervescent bounce in his step and enough confidence to fill the Wanamaker Trophy 10 times over, McIlroy made the difficult seem simple that week in Kentucky. You’ve got to remember, this was back when Fowler wasn’t a redemption story (he actually finished top five in all four of that year’s majors, including two T-2s), when Mickelson was a year removed from winning his fifth major championship and when Stenson was a force to be reckoned with rather than an afterthought in LIV Golf.
He beat them all, but it was far from a walk in the park.
Rory McIlroy celebrates with the Wanamaker trophy after his one-stroke victory in the 96th PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club. (Photo: Andrew Redington/Getty Images)
Lee Westwood stormed out the gate like a thoroughbred at nearby Churchill Downs with nine birdies and signed for a round of 6-under 65 to sit atop the leaderboard after round one alongside Kevin Chappell and Ryan Palmer. McIlroy rebounded from an early double bogey when he made four straight birdies on the back nine to sit one shot back at 5 under.
Come Friday, McIlroy was the man out front after a 4-under 67, taking the 36-hole lead by one over Jason Day and Jim Furyk. Mickelson went two shots better than his Thursday effort with a 4-under 67 of his own to sit three shots back at 6-under, T-7 alongside Bernd Wiesberger.
A ho-hum Moving Day saw a stagnant McIlroy catch fire on the back nine once again with birdies on three of his last four holes to shoot 67 for the second consecutive day and keep his one-shot advantage, this time at 13 under over Wiesberger, who shot the low round of the day, a 6-under 65 to sit solo second at 12 under. Fowler (69-66-67) was third at 11 under while Mickelson also fired a second consecutive 67 on Saturday to remain three back , T-4 alongside Day at 10 under.
The leaderboard was so close in the third round that five players were tied for the lead at 10 under at one point on the back nine Saturday afternoon, and the 69.6 scoring average set the lowest mark in PGA Championship history at the time. But an exciting third round wouldn’t hold a candle to the drama that would come on Sunday, though one was nearly needed.
McIlroy’s time at the top came to an early end when he lost his one-shot advantage thanks to two bogeys over his first six holes on Sunday. Fowler and Mickelson each made four birdies on the front nine and Stenson made five birdies of his own as the trio passed McIlroy on the leaderboard. Before he knew it, McIlroy was three down before the turn.
“I was paying attention to what was going on,” McIlroy said at the time. “I didn’t want them getting too far ahead of me.”
From the fairway, he watched Fowler make a 30-foot birdie putt in the group ahead to take the outright lead on the 10th hole. McIlroy quickly flew back into contention with an eagle on the par 5 set up by a stellar 3-wood.
“The eagle on 10 was massive,” explained McIlroy. “I started the round very tentatively. I just didn’t really have it. Sort of just trying to get through the first few holes making pars while everyone else was attacking, so that wasn’t good. But the eagle on 10 just changed everything.
Rory McIlroy hits out of a bunker on the 12th hole during his second round at the PGA Championship.
“I hit 3-wood from I think it was 284 (yards) total. The ball flight was probably around 30 feet lower than I intended. And the line of the shot was probably around 15 yards left of where I intended,” he said of the shot. “It was lucky, it really was. You need a little bit of luck in major championships to win and that was my lucky break.”
Bogeys from Fowler and Stenson on the 14th and one from Mickelson two holes later —his lone blemish in the final round—opened the door for McIlroy, who burst through with birdies at Nos. 13 and 17. That meant Mickelson and Fowler needed an eagle to tie the championship on the par-5 18th. Mickelson’s chip from off the green nearly fell while Fowler’s putt from distance never had a shot.
”I thought I had a good chance. It was right in line and then it just broke off at the end,” said Mickelson of his close call. “Gave it a good chance, but that’s not the opportunity on 18 that I’m looking for. I don’t like being two back having to hole a shot. I need to be close. That bogey on 16 hurt.”
McIlroy made it interesting by finding the greenside bunker with his approach to the final green but got out and two-putted for a one-shot win in near complete darkness after a two-hour rain delay early in the afternoon.
Playing the final hole in limited light, McIlroy suggested the final two groups play as a foursome so they could finish. Instead, he and Wiesberger were allowed to hit their tee shots before Mickelson and Fowler had reached their drives in the group ahead. The PGA of America then let McIlroy and Wiesberger hit their second shots into the green while Mickelson and Fowler had to stand off to the side.
“We were cool with hitting the tee shot,” said Fowler of the PGA’s decision while noting it was tough to see the read on his putt. “We weren’t expecting the approach shots.”
“It didn’t affect the outcome of the championship at all, I don’t think,” Mickelson said despite being visibly upset off the green after a lengthy talk with a Rules official. “It’s not what we normally do. It’s not a big deal either way.”
“It was a classy move for those guys to let us come up because they didn’t need to. They could have let us just stand there and wait in darkness and make it a little bit more difficult,” said McIlroy. “True sportsmanship. They called us up and it was a classy move.”
The 2014 PGA was the closest call of McIlroy’s four major wins at the time, which made it the most satisfying to date. Not only did he prove he can hang with the game’s best on a consistent basis, it put him on track to be the game’s biggest star since Tiger, and the comparisons immediately followed after he became the first player since Woods to win three straight starts on Tour.
Said Mickelson, “He’s better than everyone else right now,” with Fowler adding that McIlroy was the “best player in the world, hands down.”
“He’s on a roll. He is the best player in the world and just playing phenomenal golf,” added Stenson. “It’s always hard to compare players. If he’s not the same [as Woods], he’s not far behind. He’s got every opportunity to move on from here on.”
McIlroy tried to put the comparisons behind him, but he appreciated the company he was joining and embraced the hype.
Rory McIlroy poses with the Wanamaker Trophy after winning the 2014 PGA Championship golf tournament at Valhalla Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Thomas J. Russo-USA TODAY Sports
“I think you have to expect it, you have to accept that to have a run of golf like I’ve had, it’s expected,” he explained after his win. “You have to welcome it and I don’t think you can see it as a burden. It’s a great place to be in. To be the face of golf or one of the faces of golf, it’s a big responsibility, but at the same time, I feel like I’m up to the task of handling it well.”
He still is. While his major success over the past decade hasn’t been nearly the same, he’s dominated on both the PGA Tour and DP World Tour with 20 wins, not to mention four Race to Dubai titles and three FedEx Cup trophies in that time.
Currently the No. 2 player in the world, McIlroy’s thoughts about Valhalla are still valid as the PGA Championship returns there for the fourth time.
“Valhalla, I think it always seems to provide a very exciting finish in these championships,” he said back in 2014. “I watched the 2000 PGA here when Tiger won against Bob May, and I was sitting at home watching [the 2008] Ryder Cup, as well. It seems like it always provides a great finish.
“I had a great time here and hopefully I’m going to come back one day and come back to Valhalla and try and win this thing again.”
Last week, Woods made the rounds hawking his new line of Sun Day Red apparel, which officially went on sale. Appearances included both The Tonight Show and The Today Show.
Woods also posted on social media that while he was in New York City, he popped over to see construction at Trout National – The Reserve, the golf course his design firm is building in Vineland, New Jersey, for Los Angeles Angels star Mike Trout. Woods posted, “Construction is progressing quickly, and the course looks incredible. Don’t worry, Mike, we’ve got everything under control while you’re in season. Can’t wait until we tee it up.” (Someone should tell Tiger that Trout just had surgery to repair a torn left meniscus and is likely to miss two to three months.)
It was great to be back out at Trout National – The Reserve last week. Construction is progressing quickly, and the course looks incredible. Don’t worry @MikeTrout, we’ve got everything under control while you’re in season. Can’t wait until we tee it up. pic.twitter.com/K7hgGN81g2
This week, Tiger’s been getting back to business. With the PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, May 16-19, he flew in for a visit to the course where he claimed one of his four Wanamaker trophies in 2000.
The PGA Championship’s official social media account posted multiple pictures of Woods prepping at the course. He hasn’t played since the Masters last month, where he made the cut but ran out of gas and finished dead last.
While on the talk-show circuit, Tiger reiterated he hoped to play once a month at the majors. How will he fare as he chases his 16th major and first since being involved in a serious car crash?
“I think every one of the majors he plays he’s got a better chance. I think they all become easier walks for him as we get into the season,” said ESPN analyst and two-time major winner Andy North. “But I think he’s played well at Valhalla. He’s got some great memories there. He’s got a lot of great shots he can step up on tees and remember hitting. I think that’s really important.
“Where is his game in the last month? How much work has he been able to get in? I think that’s what it all boils down to. I think, again, short game will have a huge determining factor on what he does, and hopefully he can get around physically. This could be maybe the first major in a while that it’s going to be warm. I think he needs the warm weather as much as anybody, and so many of the majors he’s played in, the weather has been awful. Obviously he doesn’t need a whole bunch of rain delays and stuff potentially this next week. I think it’s a lot weather determinant and it’s a lot on his short game, and I think physically he’s getting better at being able to get around every time he plays.”
Woods, 48, last won a major at the 2019 Masters. He last won the PGA Championship in 2007.
PGA of America Members far and wide soaked up every minute.
As a PGA of America Golf Professional with decades of lessons under his belt, Michael Block had an inkling that he’d be able to connect with doughy middle-aged men as the golf instructor and Head Professional at Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club in Mission Viejo, California.
With a gregarious personality and a smooth-as-silk golf game, the four-time Southern California PGA Championship winner assumed if he found his way into the spotlight at the 2023 PGA Championship at Oak Hill, he might resonate with the group he resembled.
But the others? The thousands of adoring fans chanting his name in the Rochester suburb of Pittsford as they followed him at the storied East Course designed by Donald Ross? Or the millions more watching him on subsequent TV interviews after his Sunday ace propelled him into a tie for 15th place, the highest a PGA of America Golf Professional had finished in decades?
Even the cheery Block didn’t think he’d make all those connections.
“I thought I was just going to hit a chord with like 40-year-old … what do they call them? Dadbods. I thought I was going to hit a chord with them, which I think I did, but I think I hit a chord with all the other ones too, which is really, really cool,” Block said. “I met a lot of young people and old people and middle-aged people and whatever else.”
— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 21, 2023
The then-46-year-old club pro aced the 151-yard par-3 15th hole at Oak Hill on Sunday with a 7-iron. Block, who was playing alongside Rory McIlroy, sent his tee shot into the air at “Plateau,” the shortest hole on the course, and dunked it.
“No, no way,” he said as the crowd erupted. “Are you kidding me?”
McIlroy smiled widely and slapped Block’s hand and gave him a congratulatory bear hug and tap to the belly.
“I’m like, ‘Why is Rory giving me a hug?’” Block said. “Rory is giving me a hug for hitting it 3, 4, 5 feet? That’s weird. I’m like, ‘I think I just made it.’”
It was the 29th ace in the PGA Championship since 1983.
And while fans from all walks of life were rallying in Block’s corner as he put together the improbable charge, perhaps the group that was pulling for him the most was his own brethren — fellow PGA of America Golf Professionals.
Kris Hart is the Senior Director of Growth and Ventures at the PGA of America and a Golf Professional himself. When Block made the cut in 2023, he said the buzz throughout the PGA of America world reverberated. Now working from the organization’s new home in Frisco, Texas, Hart said text chains and hallway chatter focused on Block’s play.
“There was just so much excitement in the halls when you saw what Michael did. As a group we’re like, all right, let’s go. Because there’s criticism, right? There’s 20 PGA of America Golf Professionals in the field. People are always asking, ‘Do they make the cut?’ Well, when someone not just makes a cut but performs and does something amazing like what Michael did, that really elevates things and makes it so much better.”
The top 20 finishers in the PGA Professional Championship are exempt into the PGA Championship: Block checked that box for the fifth time by finishing tied for second in 2023. He had missed the cut in all six majors he’d previously played in and had made the cut in just four of 24 career starts on the PGA Tour, the last in 2015 and the best a T-69.
But as he pulled into the top 10 on the leaderboard at Oak Hill for a stretch, those who also teach the game rallied behind him, hoping to will him to victory.
“It’s just a reminder to people that these players do belong,” Hart said. “I mean, they’re golf professionals. They’re not training every single day but they’re unbelievable players. And they’re even better people. If you think about how you have to balance this life, balancing your job, family and everything, it’s not easy.
“Look, I’m a PGA of America Golf Professional myself. I have a day job. I love to play, and can play well at times, but it’s good one day, and not so good on other days. That’s what made what Michael did so special.”
While the ace certainly helped Block, who needed a top-15 finish to secure a return visit to the PGA in 2024 at Valhalla, it was a clutch up-and-down par on the closing hole that sealed it, giving him a final-round 71 and punching his ticket for this week. Among the PGA Tour elite that Block’s 1-over 281 total beat last year: Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa, Jordan Spieth, Hideki Matsuyama, Jon Rahm, Max Homa and Dustin Johnson.
Club pro Michael Block won the hearts of fans at the PGA and also had a hole-in-one on the 15th-hole.
After his round, and after doing a session in the media center, he got a call from the tournament director at the Charles Schwab Challenge, who offered Block the final sponsor exemption. Block accepted the call on speaker phone and he and his wife got emotional with the good news. He also received an invite to the RBC Canadian Open. Plus, for his work on the course, Block earned $288,333.
His day at Oak Hill was topped off by joining the set of Golf Channel’s “Live From,” and chopped it up with Rich Lerner, Brandel Chamblee and Brad Faxon.
And PGA of America Members far and wide soaked up every minute.
“These PGA of America Members work so, so hard. And it’s gotten harder since COVID. We were the first sport back. We did an amazing job as an industry and through the golf boom,” Hart said. “What does that mean? For PGA of America Golf Professionals and the staff that work at golf courses, it’s hard. People and consumers are tough and they demand more and then when you have more consumers and more rounds than you’ve ever had before, it’s a lot to deal with.
“But the fact that they can do that and be able to play the game, well, it’s pretty cool. It’s pretty cool what Michael did. And he really did it for all of us.”
For the upcoming PGA Championship, Gooch won’t have to figure out a way in any longer, as he announced on social media Monday afternoon that he was extended an invitation to Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, for the second men’s major of the year by the PGA of America.
Fellow LIV golfer Joaquin Niemann, who said he will try to make the USGA’s national championship via qualifying, also received a PGA invite for 2024.
Doug Ferguson of the Associated Press reported that the PGA of America likely won’t release the 2024 field until Tuesday but Gooch will be among the 156 golfers in the field.
“Just keep grinding away, keep doing the work, and hopefully something will turn around,” said Koepka.
Brooks Koepka is known for his swagger and confidence, but with two weeks to go until his PGA Championship title defense, the five-time major champion isn’t feeling very good about his chances at Valhalla Golf Club for the second men’s major of the year.
While speaking with the media ahead of 2024 LIV Golf Singapore at Sentosa Golf Club this week, Koepka said he felt like he wasted time from December until last month’s Masters, where he finished T-45 at 9 over thanks to four rounds over par of 73-73-76-75.
“Just keep grinding away, keep doing the work, and hopefully something will turn around,” said Koepka, who then criticized his poor putting as the main reason for his struggles.
“Ball doesn’t go in the hole, that’s usually one of them. I don’t know how else to simply put it,” he said of his woes with the flatstick. “I feel like I’m hitting good putts, they just keep burning lips. Eventually it starts to wear on you after a while. All you can do is hit a good putt and see where it goes from there. Hopefully they start falling soon.”
“I can’t find the hole at all, to be honest with you,” he added. “Something we’ve just been putting some work into, so trying to find some answers.”
Koepka switched to a mallet putter two weeks before the Masters and hasn’t touched the previous putter that he’s used for the last dozen years since.
So far this LIV Golf season, Koepka has two top-10 finishes (T-5 in the season opener in Mexico and T-9 last week in Australia) as well as a head-scratching T-45 out of 54 players in Miami.
The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, site of Phil Mickelson’s win in 2021, will host a third men’s major.
The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort on Kiawah Island, South Carolina, will be the host of another major.
The venue, site of then-50-year-old Phil Mickelson’s PGA Championship triumph in 2021 to become the oldest player to win a men’s major, will again host the PGA Championship in 2031.
The PGA of America also announced Wednesday that the 2029 Girls and Boys Junior PGA Championships will be at the Ocean Course.
The 113th PGA Championship is scheduled for May 2031. It will be the third time the Wanamaker Trophy is up for grabs along South Carolina’s coast. The Ocean Course previously hosted the 2012 (won by Rory McIlroy) and 2021 PGA Championships. It’s the ninth course to host three or more PGA Championships.
Other significant events at the Ocean Course include the 1991 Ryder Cup won by the American side, the 2005 PGA Professional Championship (Mike Small) and the 2007 Senior PGA Championship (Denis Watson).
Kiawah Island Golf Resort’s Ocean Course in South Carolina (Courtesy Kiawah Island Golf Resort)
“We are ecstatic to bring the Junior PGA Championships and PGA Championship to the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort in 2029 and 2031,” said PGA of America President John Lindert, who is PGA director of golf at the Country Club of Lansing in Michigan. “Past PGA Championships at Kiawah Island have provided no shortage of memorable moments and historic performances, all taking place along a breathtaking coastal setting. The Ocean Course’s challenging layout and rich history make it an ideal destination for our championships.”
The Ocean Course was designed by Pete Dye and opened in 1991, shortly before the Ryder Cup. At the suggestion of his wife, Alice, he engineered fairways and greens closer to the tops of the dunes alongside the Atlantic Ocean instead of on lower grades, as is common on many traditional links layouts. This increases exposure to frequent winds while providing incredible views from just about any vantage.
