The first PGA Championship held in 1916 was won by an Englishman, Jim Barnes and was held at Siwonay Country Club in Eastchester, New York. World War I forced a two-year sabbatical of the new tournament, but Barnes returned to defend his title in 1919 at Engineers Country Club in Roslyn, New York.
From 1921-1927, Walter Hagen won five PGA Championships in a span of seven years. Gene Sarazen won twice during that time, first in 1922 and again in 1923. Sarazen added a third Wanamaker Cup in 1933.
The American Triumvirate, Ben Hogan, Sam Snead and Byron Nelson combined to win seven PGA Championships from 1940-1951 and breathe new life into the professional game.
Jack Nicklaus won the PGA Championship on five separate occasions and Tiger Woods has four Wanamaker Cups in his trophy collection.
An interesting side note to the PGA Championship is that two of the most successful professional golfers of all time, Arnold Palmer and Tom Watson never won the PGA Championship, and were denied completion of their personal “Career Grand Slams.”
The 40-pound Wanamaker Trophy was named after, Lewis Rodman Wanamaker (1863-1928), a successful businessman, a leading golf enthusiast. In 1916, he hosted a meeting in New York, in which he proposed the formation of the Professional Golfers Association (PGA). In addition, he suggested a tournament be held annually to identify the leading professional golfer. With an initial investment of $2,500, he funded the first purse and trophy, thus he is the man responsible for the trophy, given to the winner of the PGA Championship each year.
The PGA Championship celebrates the efforts of the 40,000 PGA Professionals that work to make the game enjoyable at clubs across the country. A unique feature of the PGA Championship is inclusion of 25 club professionals into the field that qualify via the annual PGA Professional Championship.
The 2017 PGA Championship will be held at Quail Hollow Golf Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, August 10-13. It is historically the fourth and final major tournament held each year. Executives of the PGA of America feel their tournament has become less relevant, because the Masters, U.S. Open and The Open Championship precede it. In conjunction with these other majors, as well as, the PGA Tour, the PGA of America is exploring moving from its traditional August date to May each year.
Such a schedule shift would necessitate moving The Players Championship to March and rearranging several regular PGA Tour events, as well.
One of the main storylines for the 2017 PGA Championship will focus on Jordan Spieth at the age of 24 attempting to finalize his “Career Grand Slam.” In 2015, he won both The Masters and the U.S. Open and by winning The Open Championship last month at Royal Birkdale, the PGA Championship is the only major he needs to complete the rare feat. Spieth would join an exclusive club with only six current members, Bobby Jones, Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.
