History of the PGA Championship, and its Origin

The first PGA Championship was held in 1916. Jim Barnes won the tournament, which was a match play event back then, by defeating Jock Hutchison 1 up in the finals. The tournament was played at Siwanoy Country Club in Bronxville, New York. Following his victory, Barnes was crowned with the original Wannamaker trophy and a $500 winner's purse.

Over the years, the prize money of the Major has increased enormously. With each PGA Championship passing, the PGA of America has intended to increase the winner’s purse greater than the preceding edition. During the 2022 edition, the prize money was placed at $15 million compared to the 2021 edition’s $12 million.

The 2023 PGA Championship will also offer the same prize money, with the winner bagging home $2.6 million. The increasing prize money makes it among the most paid Major of the season after the Masters.

Format for the PGA Championship

One of the four Major tournaments in professional golf, the Professional Golfers' Association of America (PGA of America) organizes the PGA Championship every year. The Major’s structure has changed over the years, but it currently uses a stroke-play style. The tournament comprises four rounds of 18 holes, with a total par score of 72 holes. The field consists of 156 players, who are selected based on various criteria such as past performance in major championships, tournament results in the current season, and world ranking.

After the conclusion of two rounds, a cut is made to the 70 best-positioned players and ties, who continue to play the final two rounds. In case of a tie after 72 holes, the tied players must face off each other in a 3-hole aggregate playoff, with the final hole being the 18th. However, generally, the PGA Championship rules differ based on the course.

If the players are tied even after the Playoffs, then they face sudden death, with the player with the worse score at a hole losing. In the PGA Championship’s 100+ years of history, there have been only 19 instances where golfers had to face off in a Playoff. The most recent was during the 2022 edition when Justin Thomas outshined Will Zalatoris in the 3-hole Aggregate Playoff.

Qualification criteria for the tournament

A total of 156 players compete for the Major. With limited space for professional golfers, there are certain criteria to ensure the eligibility of their participation:

1. All former winners of the PGA Championship.


2. Winning one of the other three major championships (the Masters, the U.S. Open, or the Open Championship) in the past five years.


3. Winners of the last three editions of the Players Championship.


The top three on the OWGR’s International Federation Ranking List as of the last week of April (since 2023).
Winner of the previous year’s Senior PGA Championship.
The top 15 finishers and ties from the previous year’s PGA Championship.
The top 20 finishers from the current season’s PGA Professional Championship.
The top 70 players who are eligible and have earned the most PGA Championship points from the AT&T Byron Nelson through the Wells Fargo Championship (penultimate events leading to the PGA Championship).
Playing members of the last named U.S. and European Ryder Cup teams, provided they remain in the top 100 on the Official World Golf Rankings as of the first week of May.
Winners of PGA TOUR co-sponsored or approved tournaments whose victories are considered official, from the previous year’s Charles Schwab Challenge through the current season’s AT&T Byron Nelson.
If necessary to complete the field, those players beyond the top 70 players who are eligible and who have earned the most PGA Championship points from last year’s AT&T Byron Nelson through the current season’s Wells Fargo Championship (penultimate event to the PGA Championship) in order of their position on such a list.

Most successful golfers in PGA Championship history, and their accomplishments

Jack Nicklaus, who has won the PGA Championship a total of five times, is the golfer with the most titles. Nicklaus won the PGA Championship for the first time in 1963 and then followed victories in 1971, 1973, 1975, and 1980. However, along with Nicklaus, Walter Hagen also holds the same amount of PGA Championship titles (5).

Hagen won the Major in 1921 for the first time, and then won it consecutively from 1924 to 1927. To this day, Hagen’s four straight wins remain the most consecutive wins in the tournament's history in Match Play format. Meanwhile, Tiger Woods’ back-to-back victories in 1999-2000 and 2006-2007 hold the record for most consecutive wins in the stroke play era.

A year after Walter Hagen’s first victory in 1921, Gene Sarazen became the youngest PGA Championship winner. Sarazen won the Major in 1922 when he was aged 20 years, 174 days old. Nearly a century after Gene’s historic triumph, Phil Mickelson won his sixth Major at the 2021 PGA Championship. The win made Mickelson the oldest PGA Championship winner at the age of 50 years, 11 months old.

Details of the PGA Championship 

Being the second Major of the golf calendar year and usually held in the spring season, fans adore the PGA Championship. The Major has always offered some enticing moments throughout its 104-year history. The winner of the tournament receives the Wanamaker Trophy, named after one of the founders of the Professional Golf Association of America (PGA), Rodman Wannamaker. The champion keeps the trophy until the next year’s event.

In 1925, the then-winner Walter Hagen lost the trophy. However, the Wannamaker Trophy was later found in a cellar in Los Angeles in 1930. The PGA Championship was initially played as a match play until 1956 when the format was shifted to stroke play. Venues for the Major are pre-planned nearly a decade ago.

The prize money for the PGA Championship is one of the highest offerings in Major tournaments alongside the Masters. Since its inception in 1916, there have only been three instances such as 1917, 1918, and 1941 when the PGA Championship was suspended due to World War I and World War II respectively.