The PGA Championships identity might be that it has no identity at all
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The PGA Championship for years has been the major that lacked an identity compared with the other three.
And the PGA Championship?
'The other one,' Geoff Ogilvy once said in a blend of humor and honesty. Another former U.S. Open champion, Graeme McDowell, was posed the same question years ago and he settled on 'the fourth major.'
But as the 107th edition of this major starts Thursday at Quail Hollow, boasting 99 of the top 100 players in the world ranking, two-time major champion Jon Rahm raised the idea that the identity of the PGA Championship might be that it has no identity at all.
With so much variety — 74 courses since it began at Siwanoy in New York in 1916 — players aren't always sure what to expect.
'When you go to Augusta, you know what you're getting — same course every year," Rahm said. 'The U.S. Open, nine times out of 10 you know what you're getting depending on weather. Same thing with The Open, right?
'It's this championship that we change venues and drastically change the way we set it up.'
Bethpage Black in 2019 was a beast. A wet week at Valhalla produced the lowest score in PGA Championship history last year. No more than a dozen players finished under par at Southern Hills (2022) and Oak Hill (2023).
'You get different things every time you come,' Rahm said. 'It's very difficult to say that two of them are the same.'
The U.S. Open goes to Oakmont next month, regarded as a classic course for the second-oldest championship and one of the toughest in America. Justin Thomas, who won the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow in August 2017 and at Southern Hills in May 2022, was asked what he would consider a classic PGA Championship venue.
'I don't think there is,' Thomas said. 'And I think that's what is kind of cool and unique about this event.'
Gene Sarazen would have preferred otherwise.
Sarazen won his PGAs, when it was match play, at Oakmont (1922), Pelham in New York (1923) and Blue Mound in Wisconsin (1933). And he was concerned that it was getting left behind in terms of prestige.
The great 'Squire' — the first player to take ownership of the career Grand Slam in 1935 — was at Firestone Country Club in Ohio for the 1966 PGA Championship. It had been played at Laurel Valley in Pennsylvania the year before and was headed to Columbine in Colorado the next year.
'I think that if the PGA Championship is ever going to attain the stature of the U.S. Open or Masters, it must be given a permanent home,' Sarazen said. "And I think Akron and Firestone would be an ideal spot.
'You can't take a tournament like the PGA and jump it around from here to Colorado to some place out in the hills of Pennsylvania and hope to see it capture the public's imagination,' he said. 'I think the tournament here could be the Masters of the North ... which isn't too bad a name, is it?'
Even the PGA of America has been trying to find the right message, the right slogan, for a championship that dates to 1916 and was deemed as a big one the year it started. 'Glory's Last Shot' was ideal when it was played in August, making it the final major of the year.
And then it moved to May and it became, 'This is major.' It wasn't long before someone in marketing realized if you have to remind people that it's major, it probably isn't.
There is some familiarity to Quail Hollow as a regular PGA Tour stop dating to 2003. That joins the likes of Torrey Pines, Pebble Beach and Riviera that annually host a PGA Tour event and occasionally get a major. Torrey Pines and Pebble Beach hold tour events and majors in the same year.
Rory McIlroy is a four-time winner at Quail Hollow, including last year at the Wells Fargo Championship. He set foot on the course Tuesday for the PGA Championship.
'I thought it was going to feel different just because it was a major championship, and I got out on the golf course, and it felt no different than last year at the Wells Fargo,' he said. 'The rough is maybe a little juicier. But fairways are still the same cut lines and same visuals. It doesn't feel that much different.'
Even so, the anticipation is greater than usual this year with McIlroy coming off the career Grand Slam at the Masters, Scottie Scheffler coming off an eight-shot win and Jordan Spieth seeing if he can join the Grand Slam club.
The tournament rarely lacks for drama regardless of the scores. It has been decided over the last three holes dating to McIlroy setting the record with an eight-shot win in 2012 at Kiawah Island.
Most players attribute that to Kerry Haigh, the chief championships officer in charge of setting up the course. He wants it strong but fair. He wants them to play, not protect. No one seems to mind if Jason Day finishes at 20-under par at Whistling Straits, or if Xander Schauffele sets a major championship record at 21-under 263 as he did last year at Valhalla.
'It's just all about getting a deserving, fitting winner,' Thomas said. 'I feel like this tournament seems to do that for the most part.'
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