It’s often derided as golf’s “fourth major,” but over the last 30 years, the PGA Championship has provided more Sunday drama than the Masters, U.S. Open or British Open. Consider the following and that memorable wins by Davis Love III (1997), Vijay Singh (2004), Phil Mickelson (2005), and Tiger Woods (2006, 2007) didn’t make the cut:
10. David Toms (2001)
At the Atlanta Athletic Club, Toms, holding a one-stroke lead over Phil Mickelson, was 209 yards from the lake-guarded 18th green and decided to lay up. But the strategy worked as he made a 12-foot putt for par to win his only major title.
9. Lee Trevino (1984)
After failing to win a major for a 10-year span, Trevino ignored back trouble and age (44) at Shoal Creek. He was the first player to break 70 all four rounds in the PGA, winning by four shots. It would be his sixth major and 29th — and last — PGA Tour win.
8. Shaun Micheel (2003)
It was one of the greatest clutch shots in golf history — Micheel’s 7-iron from the rough on the 72nd hole at Oak Hill nearly rolled in the cup. The tap-in birdie gave him a 2-stroke win, his only one in 329 PGA Tour starts to date.
7. Tiger Woods (1999)
Woods was the winner by one stroke at Medinah over precocious 19-year-old Sergio Garcia, who scissor-kicked his way to stardom. It was the second major for Woods and would begin a flood of them as he would win five of the next six.
6. Y.E. Yang (2009)
After going 14-for-14 in majors when leading after three rounds, Tiger Woods finally was beaten. Yang took the lead on the 14th hole at Hazeltine, chipping in for an eagle from 80 feet, becoming the first player from Asia to win a major.
5. Steve Elkington (1995)
At Riviera, Colin Montgomerie played the best major of his career, shooting 68-67-67-65 – 267 and making birdies on the last three holes. But it still wasn’t enough as he was beaten on the first playoff hole, Elkington draining a 30-foot birdie putt.
4. Jack Nicklaus (1980)
Many thought Nicklaus was done. After turning 40, his T33 at the Masters was his worst finish at Augusta. But he won the U.S. Open, then two months later, at Oak Hill, blew away the field by seven shots to tie Walter Hagen’s record of five PGA titles.
3. Bob Tway (1986)
On the 72nd hole at Inverness, Tway drained a shot from the bunker and Greg Norman missed a putt to get in a playoff. It was the fourth time in 1986 that Norman entered the final round of a major with the lead and he closed the deal just once (British).
2. John Daly (1991)
Entering the final round with a two-stroke lead, no one expected the unknown — who got into the tournament as the ninth alternate — to win. But with his “grip it and rip it” mantra, Daly kept bombing Crooked Stick into submission in a three-shot victory.
1. Tiger Woods (2000)
In a riveting duel at Valhalla with journeyman Bob May, Woods made a late charge to tie. Then, in a three-hole aggregate playoff, Woods made one of the most iconic putts of his career, a 30-footer for birdie, chasing his ball and pointing its way into the hole.
