PGA Championship History and Qualification
April 26th, 2008 | by admin |History
The first PGA Championship was held in 1916 at Siwanoy Country Club in Bronxville, New York. The winner, Jim Barnes, received $500. The 2007 winner, Tiger Woods, earned $1.26 million. The champion is also awarded the Wanamaker Trophy, which was donated by Rodman Wanamaker.
Initially a match play event, the tournament changed to stroke play in 1958. Network broadcasters, preferring a large group of well-known contenders on the final day, are sometimes accused of pressuring tournament organizers to make the format change.
Qualification
The PGA Championship was established for the purpose of providing a high profile tournament specifically for professional golfers at a time when they were generally not held in high esteem in a sport that was largely run by wealthy amateurs. This origin is still reflected in the entry system for the Championship. It is the only major which does not invite leading amateurs to compete, and the only one which reserves a large number of places, 20 of 156, for club professionals. These slots are determined by the top finishers in the club pro championship, which is held in July.
Since 1968, the PGA Tour has been independent of the PGA of America. The PGA Tour is an elite organization of tournament professionals, but the PGA Championship is still run by the PGA of America, which is mainly a body for club and teaching professionals. The PGA Championship is the only major that does not explicitly grant entry to the top 50 players in the Official World Golf Rankings, although it invariably invites all top 100 (not just top 50) players who are not already qualified.
List of qualification criteria:
- All former PGA Champions.
- Winners of the last five U.S. Opens.
- Winners of the last five Masters.
- Winners of the last five Open Championships.
- The last Senior PGA Champion.
- The low 15 scorers and ties in the previous PGA Championship.
- The 20 low scorers in the last PGA Professional National Championship.
- The 70 leaders in official money standings (starting one week prior to the previous year’s PGA Championship and ending two weeks prior to the current year’s PGA Championship).
- Members of the most recent United States Ryder Cup Team.
- Winners of tournaments co-sponsored or approved by the PGA Tour since the previous PGA Championship (does not include pro-am and team competitions).
- The PGA of America reserves the right to invite additional players not included in the categories listed above.
- The total field is a maximum of 156 players. Vacancies are filled by the first available player from the list of alternates (those below 70th place in official money standings).
