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The PGA Championship is an annual golf tournament conducted
by the Professional Golfers Association of America as part
of the PGA TOUR. The PGA Championship is one of the four major
championships in men's golf, and it is the golf season's final
major, played in August (customarily the 4th weekend after
the The Open Championship, but being advanced a week in 2008
because of local scheduling conflicts).
Winning the PGA gives a golfer several guarantees which make
his career a little bit easier. PGA champions are automatically
invited to play in the other three majors (The
Masters, US
Open and The Open
Championship) for the next five years, and are exempt
from qualifying for the PGA Championship for life.
They also receive membership on the PGA TOUR for the following
five seasons and invitations to THE PLAYERS Championship for
five years.
The first PGA Championship was in 1916 at Siwanoy Country
Club in Bronxville, New York. The trophy was donated by Rodman
Wanamaker, and is known as the Wanamaker Trophy. It
was initially a match play event, and it moved to a stroke
play format in 1958. The first winner, Jim Barnes, received
$500 (US) in 1916, while 2006 winner Tiger Woods received
$1.224 million (US).
The PGA is the only major which does not invite leading amateurs
to compete, and the only one which reserves 20 out of 156
spots for club 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-50 players who are not already
qualified.
List of qualification criteria:
- 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 last year's PGA Championship and ending two
weeks prior to this year's PGA Championship).
- Members of the last 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).
The 2008 PGA Championship will be played at Oakland Hills
Country Club. Thanks to Rees Jones' recently completed
work at Oakland Hills Country Club, the field for the 90th
PGA Championship will face a South Course that has been lengthened
by 346 yards and now features narrower fairways and more-penal
bunkers.
Founded in 1916, Oakland Hills Country Club continues to
play a significant role in the history of golf in the United
States and in assisting with establishing Michigan as a premier
golf destination. The site of 16 national and major championships
(6 U.S. Opens, two U.S. Senior Opens, U.S. Women's Amateur,
U.S. Men's Amateur, Western Open, Carling World Open; the
35th Ryder Cup in 2004; and three PGA Championships, including
the 90th PGA Championship in 2008), the membership is proud
of their heritage and how these Championships benefit the
local and state economy as well as its neighbors.
The championship South Course at Oakland Hills Country Club,
which played to a par-70 and 6,974 yards in hosting the 1996
U.S. Open, has been lengthened by 346 yards to 7,445 today.
Jones was able to restore the test of golf required for major
championships without moving any of Oakland Hills' daunting
greens.
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Hole #1
An excellent starting hole for the 90th PGA Championship,
the opening tee shots will be hit from an elevated tee
to a landing area framed by bunkers left and right. The
hole usually plays downwind, leaving a short-iron approach
to the first of many undulating greens at Oakland Hills.
The most difficult hole locations are front left, behind
a bunker, and the back right plateau. |
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Hole #2
A birdie is very possible on this slight dogleg left par
5, if the player's drive can avoid the fairway bunkers
that guard both sides of the fairway 250 to 320 yards
from the tee. The green is protected in front by six bunkers
and has a center crown that makes for a treacherous putting
surface. The most difficult hole locations are back and
middle right. |
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Hole #3
This first par 3 on the South Course is a classic. The
green runs diagonally from right to left and is surrounded
by five bunkers. The farther back the hole location, the
more difficult the shot because the green narrows to a
small terrace.
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Hole #4
This is a dogleg left with four bunkers protecting the
inside of the dogleg and three bunkers to the right. The
whole has been lengthened by 16 yards with last bunker
being a carry of 328 yards. The second shot is downhill
to a green protected by frontal bunkering. A small plateau
runs from front left to back left, making any left-side
hole locations very difficult.
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Hole #5
This is the first of two long par fours on the front nine,
with trees guarding the left side of the fairway and bunkers
lining the entire right side. There is a ridge at 280
yards that must be carried to have your ball run downhill
towards to the creek, which crosses diagonally and is
approximately 350 yards from the tee. The second shot
will be one of the most difficult on the golf course because
of a downhill lie and a green protected by a new frontal
bunker. Players will need to adapt to a green that has
many contours and is very fast from back to front. The
most difficult hole location is front right, which is
protected by a bunker and an overhanging elm tree. |
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Hole #6
This is the shortest par 4 on the course. Most players
will keep the driver in the bag and hit a fairway metal
or long iron from the tee, thereby taking the bunkers
to the left of the fairway landing area out of play. Although
this hole has the deepest green on the course, the putting
surface is split into two tiers, with the higher portion
demanding an accurate short iron to a terrace that is
only 12 yards wide. The option of using a shorter tee
to allow players to try and drive the green would provide
for a very exciting hole for the 90th PGA Championship. |
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Hole #7
This hole is a slight dogleg with a new back tee that
has added 38 yards to the hole. The landing area is
protected by four bunkers left, from there the fairway
slopes downhill to the enlarged pond on the right starting
at 260 yards and extending to 355 yards from the tee.
The green is long and narrow, set diagonally with bunkers
flanking both sides of the green. The most difficult
hole locations are front and back left.
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Hole #8
The toughest driving hole on the first nine has bunkers
pinching another undulating fairway on each side of the
landing area, 265 to 340 yards from the tee. The uphill
approach demands a long iron to a large green, protected
by bunkers both left and right that have been deepened
and moved closer to the putting surface. |
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Hole #9
The longest of Oakland Hills' excellent par 3’s,
it has been lengthened by 38 yards and will require a
hybrid or fairway metal to what has been the most difficult
hole on the front nine in Championship golf at Oakland
Hills. The green slopes severely from back to front and
the contouring is very severe. Both the front left plateau
and back right are protected by bunkers and make for difficult
hole locations. |
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Hole #10
Donald Ross started his routing of Oakland Hills with
the 10th and 11th holes. The tee shot from the elevated
10th tee, probably a 3-wood, should avoid not only the
four bunkers that line the landing area (one left, three
right), but also a steep slope beyond the bunkers that
could "kick" the ball into the thick rough.
The second shot is uphill to a green guarded by a bunker
left and a deep bunker right. The green has a crown in
the middle and slopes severely downhill to the right hand
bunker. The hole will require a mid-iron and the right-side
hole location behind the bunker will be the most difficult. |
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Hole #11
This most picturesque hole at Oakland Hills has an elevated
tee to a valley below. There is a large hill 265 yards
from the tee that separates the fairway into two distinct
landing areas with three deep fairway bunkers on the right
side. A tee shot that carries the hill will leave a short
iron where club selection will be crucial, as the back
tier is four feet higher than the front.
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Hole #12
The tee on the longest hole of the South Course stands
40 feet above the landing area, with 5 new bunkers left
of the fairway, the last one being 389 yards from the
back tee and trees guarding the right. To go for the green
in two, players must favor the left side of the fairway
off the tee. Three deep bunkers protect the front of the
green and the putting surface has a steep ridge running
from back left to front right. The most difficult hole
location is front right. |
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Hole #13
One of the finest short holes, it offers a multitude of
interesting problems. The tee and green are both slightly
elevated with the tee being higher than the green. The
green contours are classic Donald Ross, with a distinct
hollow in the front approximately four feet below the
upper surface. All hole locations on the top plateau,
which is only 8 to 10 yards in depth, makes club selection
critical. |
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Hole #14
The first of five difficult finishing holes, this long
par 4 is without a single fairway bunker. However, it
is guarded on both sides by trees to a fairway that has
been narrowed to 25 yards from tee to green. The hole
features an unbelievable fall-away green with a large
swale running from front right to back left. Front bunkers
protect both the front left terrace and the right terrace.
The front right hole location is the most difficult on
the golf course.
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Hole #15
This hole is a severe dogleg from right to left with trees
protecting the entire left side. There are two bunkers
located directly in the center of the fairway beginning
at 240 and extending to 280 yards form the tee. The smart
play would be to lay up short of the first bunker leaving
a 7 or 8 iron to the green. The inverted saucer-shaped
green has crowns and contours, and is flanked by five
bunkers, three on the left and two on the right. |
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Hole #16
This dogleg right is the signature hole at Oakland Hills.
Players must keep the ball in the fairway by avoiding
water right and trees left. The second shot is one of
the most intimidating shots at Oakland Hills. A short-iron
approach will be one to a wide, shallow green that has
a ridge running from front to back with water protecting
the green along the front and right side. Some players
may be tempted to use one extra club and take the water
out of play. They run the risk of catching one of the
three rear bunkers and leaving a difficult sand shot. |
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Hole #17
Robert Trent Jones Sr. considered this one of the country's
great par-3 holes. The players will probably hit a long
iron or hybrid to a green that is 30 feet above the tee
and is protected on all sides by deep bunkers. The green
has severe slopes with a ridge running from front right
to back center. A hole location on the back right makes
for one of the most challenging tee shots in championship
golf. |
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Hole #18
This has been the most difficult hole in the history of
Championship golf at Oakland Hills. Rees Jones has added
2 additional bunkers making a total of 7 bunkers protecting
this dogleg right par four, the fairway slopes right to
left making it difficult to hit. The long-iron second
shot is slightly uphill to the shallowest green at Oakland
Hills protected by four bunkers. A large mound through
the center separates the green in to two small targets
with the left being the most difficult.
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