Why is the PGA Championship golf’s forgotten major?

The PGA Championship lacks the firepower and interest that the other three majors have. With that said, as the 92nd edition of golf’s final major rolls around this week, here are 10 reasons why it is the forgotten major:

1. This year will mark the 92nd time it’s been played. Compare that number to the 110 U.S. Opens and 137 British Opens that have been held. It lacks the history of each of these two events.
2. The PGA is older than the Masters, which has been held 73 times, but it also doesn’t have the tradition of that tournament either. The Masters is played at Augusta National every year and has timeless traditions that include the Champion’s Dinner, the green jacket ceremony, Amen Corner on Sunday and much more. Plus I don’t remember Carl Spackler hitting the flowers at Bushwood Country Club, imagining himself winning the PGA.
3. The PGA is played on easier versions of U.S. Open courses. Hazeltine, Oakland Hills, Southern Hills, Medinah, Baltusrol, Oak Hill and Winged Foot have all hosted PGA Championships in the past 13 years and each of them have hosted a U.S. Open at some point.
4. It has oftentimes been the easiest major of the year. The Masters will occasionally produce a low score but the PGA has had Tiger shoot 18-under twice in the past 10 years, while David Toms shot 15-under in 2001, the lowest aggregate score (265) in a major.
5. It used to be a match play event. From 1916-1957 the PGA Championship was sometimes a 32-man field as well as a 128-man field in a bracket format to determine the champion. Since 1958 it has been a stroke play event, making it arguably a 52-year-old golf tournament. (That’s younger than Tom Watson.)
6. The last nine years of the tournament have produced winners like David Toms, Rich Beem, Shaun Micheel and Y.E. Yang, which with all due respect were not household names at the time of their win.
7. There have been great players that haven’t won it but it hasn’t hampered their careers at all. Tom Watson (who won eight majors), Arnold Palmer (seven), Bobby Jones (seven), Nick Faldo (six) and Seve Ballesteros (five) combined for zero PGA titles but are all in the Hall of Fame. But, on the other hand, one major has eluded the careers of Sam Snead, Lee Trevino, Byron Nelson and Raymond Floyd. Snead never won the U.S. Open, Trevino never won the Masters, and Nelson and Floyd never won the British Open.
8. It has lacked the indelible moments that the other three majors have produced. Who could forget Jack winning at age 46, Tiger destroying the field at 21 or Phil breaking through for his first major win at Augusta? Who could forget Watson’s chip-in on No. 17 at Pebble Beach, Francis Ouimet beating two Goliaths or Hogan’s win after a near-fatal car accident at the U.S. Open? Who could forget Watson and Nicklaus’ Duel in the Sun at Turnberry, Jean Van de Velde’s collapse at Carnoustie or Doug Sanders’ missed two-footer at St. Andrews in the British Open? What has the PGA given us – Sergio Garcia’s scissor-kick when he lost to Tiger?
9. Golf’s “fifth major”, the PLAYERS, may be just as big of a deal. It has been deeply associated with TPC Sawgrass, with the most recognizable par 3 in golf and it has just as good of a field as a major championship.
10. In 1953, the “Hogan Slam” was completed, giving “The Hawk” wins at the Masters, U.S. Open and British Open. The reason why he didn’t play in the PGA Championship – it overlapped the same week as the British Open.

And while all of these reasons provide evidence that the PGA Championship isn’t quite as big of a deal as the other three majors, it is still a leg of the Grand Slam, and still provides every golfer in the field one last shot for glory.

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