Friday, August 1, 2014

PGA Championship's world-class field

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – The PGA of America announced today that the top 100 players in the Official World Golf Ranking have committed to play in the 96th PGA Championship, Aug. 7-10, at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky. Barring any withdrawals before the opening round, this would be the first time any major championship would feature every one of the top 100 world-ranked players.

Perennially touted by many as the strongest field in golf, the PGA Championship has featured the most top 100 world-ranked players of any event in golf since 1994. The field for the 96th PGA Championship includes 29 major champions, 70 international players representing 24 countries, and all three of the year’s major championship winners. They will compete for the coveted Wanamaker Trophy as Valhalla hosts the PGA Championship for the third time.

The PGA of America announced 154 members of the 156-player field for Valhalla, with two more completing the field based on the results this weekend of the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational and the Reno-Tahoe Open.

 Defending Champion Jason Dufner heads 15 PGA Champions in the field. Dufner, who captured his first major championship last year at Oak Hill, is joined by Rich Beem (2002), Keegan Bradley (2011), Mark Brooks (1996), John Daly (1991), Padraig Harrington (2008), Martin Kaymer (2010), Davis Love III (1997), Rory McIlroy (2012), Shaun Micheel (2003), Phil Mickelson (2005), Vijay Singh (1998, 2004), David Toms (2001), Tiger Woods (1999, 2000, ’06, ’07), and Y.E. Yang (2009).

Kaymer and McIlroy also won the 2014 U.S. Open and 2014 Open Championship, respectively. Over the first two rounds at Valhalla, Kaymer, McIlroy, and Bubba Watson (2014 Masters) will be placed in the traditional grouping of the winners of the first three major championships of the season.

As the only major championship with an all-professional field, the PGA Championship also features 20 PGA Club Professionals, who earned berths in the field through their performances in June at the PGA Professional National Championship in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

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