The 2008 PGA Championship

August 7 - 10, 2008
Oakland Hills CC
Bloomsfield Township, Michigan
Par: 70 / Yardage: 7,395 yards
Purse: $7 million with $1.26 million going to the winner (last year's purse)
Defending Champions: Tiger Woods

List of Champions & Scores

Results & Scores 2007 PGA Championship

Box Score of 2007 PGA Championship

Tournament facts:

Tournament information:

After the inaugural tournament, the event took a two-year break from 1917 to 1918 because of World War I. The break in action didn't phase Jim Barnes, as he went on to win the PGA Championship in its return to the Tour in 1919. Since the two year hiatus, The PGA Championship has only seen one other break, that being in 1943 due to World War II. The biggest change in the event's history occurred in 1958, when the format of the event was changed from Match Play to 72-hole stroke play.

The famed Wanamaker trophy, awarded to the winner of the PGA Championship, can trace its routes back to the beginning of golf equipment. In the early part of the 20th Century, A.G. Spalding & Bros. was the predominant maker of golf equipment; however, Rodman Wanamaker sought to create a company that would rival Spalding in the golf industry. Though his plan ultimately failed, his dream will always me remembered as he was the one that first sponsored the PGA Championship and the trophy, which today bears his name..

Course information:

The course was highly regarded, and the USGA awarded the 1924 Open to the club. Twelve years later another Open was held at Oakland Hills, and in 1950 Robert Trent Jones was called in the remodel the course. Jones was not well known then, but after his revisions (he altered every hole), he became fa mous. The architect used it as a springboard to a career of designing hundreds of courses, and he became the person to call when you wanted a U.S. Open course remodeled. In the 12 years after the Oakland Hills Open, Jones rejuvenated five courses which held Opens (Baltusrol - 1954, Olympic - 1955, Oak Hill - 1956, Southern Hills - 1958, and Congressional - 1964).

Oakland Hills underwent minor changes while holding the 1961 and ’85 U.S. Opens, the 1972 and ’79 PGA Championships and the Ryder Cup in 2004.

For this year’s PGA Championship, Rees Jones was hired to make enhancements on the course that his father redid more than a half century ago. He lengthened 15 holes, narrowed several fairways, changed the depth, size and location of fairway bunkers on 12 holes, as well as made changes to greenside bunkers on eight holes. Additionally, changes were made to the ponds featured on the 7th and 16th holes, where the longer and more aggressive players will require a well-placed drive. There also was a dramatic makeover for the par-4 No. 11, which played 398 yards in 1996 and is now a 423-yarder featuring a carry over a rolling hill. Jones enlarged the fairway bunkers on the right and rebuilt them with deeper faces.

With these changes Oakland Hills will have some more of the bite that has been lost in the last decade because of technological advancements of golf equipment.

The Buzz:

Last year, when Woods won the PGA Championship, just under 32 million watched all or part of CBS' two-day coverage. The final round earned a 6.2 rating and was the third highest-rated golf telecast of the year. That won't be repeated this year no matter what happens.

Lots of storylines this week, the biggest is the fact that the PGA Championship is 92 years old but for the last 78 years a player from Europe hasn't won this event. Yes when Tommy Armour won the 1930 PGA at Fresh Meadow little did anyone think that a European drought would be this long. Now they have had a lot of close calls, in 2005 Thomas Bjorn was runner-up while Sergio Garcia in 1999 and Colin Montgomerie in 1995 were also runner-ups. The 30 that are playing are eager to win, with 8 of them having the memory of a European team victory in the Ryder Cup just four years ago.

Can they do it, yes. Lee Westwood was 2nd last week and 3rd two months ago at the U.S. Open. In both cases he was a single stroke away from a playoff. Last week also saw the reemergence of Darren Clarke who finished T6th and Paul Casey who was T8th. Miguel Angel Jimenez, who has been solid all year was T10th. Ian Poulter is also playing well and we can't forget about players like Henrik Stenson and of course Sergio Garcia. So don't be surprised to see a European victory this year.

Others to look for is of course Phil Mickelson. He has hit the ball well all year, just hasn't made the putts, last week was another case on the back nine in which Mickelson didn't make the putts when he needed and it cost him the championship. In talking with Butch Harmon, he feels that Mickelson is ready to win this week just breaking his mini-drought of majors.

One Harmon player that can't seem to catch a break is Adam Scott. At the U.S. Open Scott was hampered by a broken finger, this week it's a high fever and throat ailment, the same problems he experienced at the Masters. On Tuesday Scott was practicing with Butch Harmon so maybe he is getting better for this week. Still follow the old saying, "Beware of the sick and injuried." This week is also the last week for getting Ryder Cup points. The men on the bubble on the American team are Boo Weekley 8th) and Steve Stricker (9th). They are being chased by Woody Austin (10th) and Hunter Mahan (11th). Captain Azinger will get 8 players on Sunday evening and wait three more weeks before making his four wild card picks after the Deutsche Bank Championship. With around 2,500 points available for a win just about anyone with points can qualify.

Lastly there are two weeks left to qualify for FedEx Cup points, but the reality is that nobody really cares. With the top-25 heavy in marquee value nobody really gives a hoot for the race to get into the top-144. Most of the guys from 120 to 144 will be scrambling to just keep there Tour cards and the only marquee name not in the top-144 is Davis Love III. I would say that the race for the top 144 is probably one of the most over-hyped media events in sports in decades, there is no too ways about it the PGA Tour needs to reformat this for some excitment.

Here are some things to look for this week:

Photo: © PGA of America The 16th Hole of Oakland Hills Country Club, home of the 2008 PGA Championship..

Oakland Hills is one of the greatest courses in the country and is one of the toughest. For those watching on TV look at how tough driving is, you hit it in the rough and pay a plenty, if you hit it in a fairway bunker hope to just make par. Bunkers on most courses on the PGA Tour are not very penal, but they are at Oakland Hills, they are deep and tough to maneuver. The greens are also true Donald Ross masterpieces, lots of undulations and breaks that are tough to see.

• Key stat for the winner:
  Important to see who is the best total driver of the ball going into the week and then checking to see who hits the most greens.
• Since the greens are small they will also be tough to not only hit but hold. Sharp iron play will also help along with the imagination when you do get in trouble. But as we have seen in the last six PGAs with winners as diverse as Rich Beem, Shaun Micheel, Vijay Singh, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods anything can happen. The key is to be peaking about Wedneday right before the start of the championship. That’s what happened to Beem, Micheel, Singh, Mickelson and Woods so look for someone that is playing well.
• Scrambling will be at a premium , look for good chippers like Phil Mickelson or a Sergio Garcia to have a great advantage here.
• Putting is always a key in winning but this year with greens that are a bit smaller than average the longest putt will be from 40 feet, thus giving players more chances to make putts.
• There is also the unknown factor in which the course could yield low scores to an unknown player. In 13 of the last 20 PGAs, the winner has claimed his first major in the PGA Championship so this could be a good omen for a Sergio Garcia, Justin Rose or Luke Donald. Rich Beem and Shaun Micheel weren’t household names when they won, so you never know if that will get repeated.
• Weather will not play a factor like it did last year, with heat and humidity taking its toll on the players. The temperature is suppose to be in the mid 80s on Thursday followed by a cooling trend in when the weekend may see just 75 degrees.
• So at the end of the day, who is the favorite this week? Of course we can point to Phil Mickelson, Padraig Harrington and Sergio Garcia but it's not the same feeling as it is with Tiger in the field.
• So what will it take to win? It’s very interesting to see who has won at Oakland Hills in the last 57 years. Ben Hogan, Gene Littler, Andy North and Steve Jones have won Opens there, Gary Player and David Graham have won PGA Championships plus Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus have won Senior Opens. So what do all of these players have in common? All of them were great players in their era, didn’t hit the ball long distances but had precision working the ball into the fairway and hitting lots of greens. This is a course in which experience and smarts is what it takes to win. If a player can also putt well, he will be the champion. So you can see why a Padraig Harrington, Phil Mickelson, Jim Furyk or Vijay Singh will be the favorites.
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