PGA Championship Betting Odds at WagerWeb Sportsbook

» Events » PGA Golf

PGA Championship Golf betting odds at WagerWeb Sportsbook

PGA Championship

The PGA Championship (referred to as the US PGA Championship outside of North America) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers Association of America as part of the PGA Tour.

The PGA Championship is one of the four major championships in men's golf, and it is the golf season's final major, played in August (customarily the 4th weekend after the The Open Championship, but being advanced a week in 2007 and 2008 because of local scheduling conflicts). It is an official money event on the PGA Tour the European Tour, and the Japan Golf Tour, with a purse in 2006 of $6.8 million (apprx. €5.3 million).

In line with the other majors, winning the PGA gives a golfer several privileges which make his career much more secure, if he is not already one of the elite of the sport.

PGA champions are automatically invited to play in the other three majors (The Masters, U.S. Open and The Open Championship) for the next five years, and are exempt from qualifying for the PGA Championship for life. They also receive membership on the PGA Tour for the following five seasons and invitations to The Players Championship for five years.

The Championship has been held at a large number of venues, some of the early ones now quite obscure, but currently it is usually staged by one of a small group of celebrated courses, each of which has also hosted several other leading events.

History

The first PGA Championship was held in 1916 at Siwanoy Country Club in Bronxville, New York. The winner, Jim Barnes, received $500 (US). 2006 winner Tiger Woods received $1.224 million (US). The champion is also awarded the Wanamaker Trophy, which was donated by Rodman Wanamaker.

Initially a match play event, the tournament changed to stroke play in 1958. Network broadcasters, preferring a large group of well-known contenders on the final day, are sometimes accused of pressuring tournament organizers to make the format change.

Qualification

The PGA Championship was established for the purpose of providing a high profile tournament specifically for professional golfers at a time when they were generally not held in high esteem in a sport that was largely run by wealthy amateurs. This origin is still reflected in the entry system for the Championship. It is the only major which does not invite leading amateurs to compete, and the only one which reserves a large number of places, 20 out of 156, for club professionals. The PGA Tour is now independent of the PGA of America, and it is an elite organisation of tournament professionals, but the PGA Championship is still run by the PGA of America, which is mainly a body for club and teaching professionals. The PGA Championship is the only major that does not explicitly grant entry to the top 50 players in the Official World Golf Rankings, although it invariably invites all top-50 players who are not already qualified.

List of qualification criteria:

All former PGA Champions.
Winners of the last five U.S. Opens.
Winners of the last five Masters.
Winners of the last five Open Championships.
The last Senior PGA Champion.
The low 15 scorers and ties in the previous PGA Championship.
The 20 low scorers in the last PGA Professional National Championship.
The 70 leaders in official money standings (starting one week prior to last year's PGA Championship and ending two weeks prior to this year's PGA Championship).

Members of the last United States Ryder Cup Team.

Winners of tournaments co-sponsored or approved by the PGA Tour since the previous PGA Championship (does not include pro-am and team competitions).
The PGA of America reserves the right to invite additional players not included in the categories listed above.

The total field is a maximum of 156 players. Vacancies are filled by the first available player from the list of alternates (those below 70th place in official money standings).

Winners of the last 16 years

Year	Champion	Country	Venue	Location of venue	Winner's Score
2006	Tiger Woods	United States	Medinah Country Club, Course No. 3	Medinah, Illinois	69-68-65-68-270 (-18)
2005	Phil Mickelson	United States	Baltusrol Golf Club, Lower Course	Springfield, New Jersey	67-65-72-72-276 (-4)
2004	Vijay Singh	Fiji	Whistling Straits, Straits Course	Sheboygan, Wisconsin	67-68-69-76-280 (-8)
2003	Shaun Micheel	United States	Oak Hill Country Club, East Course	Rochester, New York	69-68-69-70-276 (-4)
2002	Rich Beem	United States	Hazeltine National Golf Club	Chaska, Minnesota	72-66-72-68-278 (-10)
2001	David Toms	United States	Atlanta Athletic Club, Highlands Course	Duluth, Georgia	66-65-65-69-265 (-15)
2000	Tiger Woods	United States	Valhalla Golf Club	Louisville, Kentucky	66-67-70-67-270 (-18)
1999	Tiger Woods	United States	Medinah Country Club, Course No. 3	Medinah, Illinois	70-67-68-72-277 (-11)
1998	Vijay Singh	Fiji	Sahalee Country Club	Sammamish, Washington	70-66-67-68-271 (-9)
1997	Davis Love III	United States	Winged Foot Golf Club, West Course	Mamaroneck, New York	66-71-66-66-269 (-11)
1996	Mark Brooks	United States	Valhalla Golf Club	Louisville, Kentucky	68-70-69-70-277 (-11)
1995	Steve Elkington	Australia	The Riviera Country Club	Pacific Palisades, California	68-67-68-64-267 (-17)
1994	Nick Price	Zimbabwe	Southern Hills Country Club	Tulsa, Oklahoma	67-65-70-67-269 (-11)
1993	Paul Azinger	United States	Inverness Club	Toledo, Ohio	69-66-69-68-272 (-12)
1992	Nick Price	Zimbabwe	Bellerive Country Club	St. Louis, Missouri	70-70-68-70-278 (-6)
1991	John Daly	United States	Crooked Stick Golf Club	Carmel, Indiana	69-67-69-71-276 (-12)
1990	Wayne Grady	Australia	Shoal Creek Golf and Country Club	Birmingham, Alabama	72-67-72-71-282 (-6)

Sportsbook Expert Columns
	Golf odds: The Players Championship - WagerWeb Sportsbook Sports Betting at WagerWeb Online Sportsbook Let's get this out of the way first and foremost heading into the PGA Tour's "fifth major" this weekend at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.: Tiger Woods is not playing.Thus, the chances of read full article...
	Golf odds: Byron Nelson Championship - WagerWeb Sportsbook Sports Betting at WagerWeb Online Sportsbook Just a few weeks ago, who would have guessed that South Africa's Trevor Immelman would headline the field at a PGA Tour event.Well, winning the Masters will do that, and Immelman now is one of the big name read full article...
	Golf odds: Verizon Heritage - WagerWeb Sportsbook Sports Betting at WagerWeb Online Sportsbook The big news in golf this week is that Tiger Woods, two days after finishing second in the Masters, had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee for the second time in five years and will miss at least four w read full article...
	Golf odds: The Masters - WagerWeb Sportsbook Sports Betting at WagerWeb Online Sportsbook Let's not even pretend this year's Masters is about anyone other than Tiger Woods, who has four green jackets already and nine wins in his last 11 worldwide starts.No to mention eight top-10 Masters finish read full article...