The PGA - How it all started
The idea of PGA, or the USPGA as the Englishmen call it, came from a departmental store owner, yes ladies and gentlemen. It was not a business man, nor a golfer but a store owner who put forward the idea of the PGA.
Rodman Wanamaker was a store owner back in the early 1900’s and he had some liking for the game of golf. It was he who decided that there should be regulatory authority that should govern all the golf tournaments.
It was Rodman who proposed the idea of giving cash prizes and trophies to the winners.
Wanamaker was so passionate and enthusiastic about this game of golf that one day he invited 35 individuals and proposed the idea of having a regulatory body under which the events will take place.
Among the guests were some of the top most golfers of that era and a few industry men. Wanamaker said that there should be a governing body in America that should be run along the lines of the World PGA Championship of Great Britain.
He said that there should be at least $2500 prize money, along with a trophy of suitable size and shape.
He proposed that event will take place along the likes of the Open Championship. In those times, there was no stroke play format, it was match play, and 36 holes were played instead of 72.
Then came World War I and things stopped. However, after that in America, there were many British people and they were quite dominant in the game of golf.
The Championship was shifted from match play to stroke play in 1968 and from then on, there has been no turning back. Then onwards, American dominance of the game started. We saw the likes of Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus emerging from nowhere.
When the modern era of golf started, the PGA Championship was one of the major events of the year and every one dreamed of winning it.
PGA Championship is played on a different course every year. The majors are not played on the same courses, their venues keep on changing.
This year’s PGA Championship was played at the Ocean Course at Kiawah Islands.
Tags: