From August 13 to 16, the Whistling Straits in Wisconsin will be home to the likes of Jordan Spieth, Jason Day, and Tiger Woods, who are all eyeing to win the 97th edition of the PGA Championship. You may be familiar with the event’s favorites, sleepers, and some of the experts’ picks, but are you sure you know pretty much everything about the last PGA major of the year? Read on for five things you might not be aware of about the 2015 PGA Championship.
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2015 PGA Championship: Five Things You Need To Know
Whistling Straits has hosted the event before
[sc:Other240banner ]Whistling Straits is no newbie when it comes to hosting major golfing tournaments. In fact, it has played host to two editions of the PGA Championship before. The first time the event was held there was in 2004, when Vijay Singh, at age 41, won a three-hole playoff to capture his second PGA Championship title. Then six years later, the tournament returned to Whistling Straits, where Martin Kaymer major by beating Bubba Watson in a playoff, too.
The trophy
The winner of each PGA Championship tournament gets the right to raise the Rodman Wanamaker Trophy. Like the NHL’s Stanley Cup, the Wanamaker has its winners’ names etched on it. Although they can’t keep the trophy for good, winners can spend limited time with the Wanamaker. Just take for example John Daly, who reportedly used the Wanamaker Trophy way back in 1991 to do John Daly things like drinking beer from it before returning it back to PGA of America.
More facts about the Wanamaker Trophy:
It is named after department store tycoon Rodman Wanamaker, who was a huge a golfing fan that helped create a professional golfers’ association in 1916.
The trophy is 28 inches high and has a 10.5-inch diameter. It also tips the scale at 27 pounds.
Major-less players are killing it in recent years
Since 2009, there were four times that the PGA Championship was won a player who hadn’t bagged a major before. Those four players are Yang Yong-eun (2009), Martin Kaymer (2010), Keegan Bradley (2011), and Jason Dufner (2013).
Not all of us can go to Wisconsin to watch the Jordan Spieth and company to compete in the last major tournament of the year in person. With that said, there are alternative ways to watch the even unfold. TNT and CBS will handle primary coverages. The first two rounds will be aired by TNT from 2 p.m. until 8 p.m ET. Rounds 3 and 4, meanwhile, will be shown by TNT from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. ET before CBS picks up the coverage up to 7 p.m. ET. The final round will be aired on August 16 by TNT from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. ET then CBS take it from there, as it covers the event from 2 p.m. ET until 7 p.m. ET.
The Course
Established in 1998 and located in Wisconsin, Whistling Straits is a 36-hole golf course designed by Pete Dye, a prominent course designer. Because it’s a link-style type of course, it’s normal to see a flock of Scottish blackface sheep roaming the terrains of Whistling Straits. The course features four stone bridges (at holes 1, 9, 10, and 18), and massive areas covered in sand dunes. There are also 22 acres of fairway, while the rough is 150 in total.
