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At the Taplow Club in New York City. On Jan. 16, 1916, a group of 35 individuals,
including legendary Walter Hagen, had a meeting which resulted in the
formation of the PGA of America. PGA Championship. The first PGA
Championship was played in 1916 at Siwanoy Country Club in Bronxville, N.Y.
and was won by British-born professional Jim Barnes.
The event featured 31 players and
the winner, earning $500 and a diamond medal. But it would be five years
before an American-born PGA Professional claimed the Championship. In 1958,
the format of the PGA Championship was changed from match play to stroke
play. Sense the new format of the PGA tour there have been many changes with
champions and prizes. In 1999, a 23-year-old named Tiger Woods became the
fifth youngest winner in PGA Championship history when he outlasted Spain's
19-year-old Sergio Garcia by one stroke at Medinah (Ill.) Country Club.
Rich Beem in 2002 won $990,000 for his victory in the PGA Championship,
which had over 900 media credentialed to cover the event, tens of thousands
of spectators in attendance, and millions watching on television around the
world. Over the past eight decades, the PGA Championship has developed into
one of the premier sporting events in the world.
The PGA Championship is considered
one of the toughest in all of golf to win. The PGA Championship features the
strongest field in major championship golf, and is contested at some of the
nation's best golf courses. The USGA demands two things of its Open venues:
that they be in immaculate condition, and that they offer a stiff test to
the best golfers in the world. The USGA selects sites several years in
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