Kitchenaid Senior PGA Championship Primer: Storyline, History, TV, Field

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The second major of the PGA Tour Champions 2016-17 season is upon us, with the 78th KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship. For the first time it will visit the Washington, DC area and the Trump National Golf Club in Potomac Falls, VA.

 


History

The Senior PGA Championship is the oldest tournament on the senior circuit. The championship was born in 1937 on the grounds of another of golf’s majors, at the invitation of one of the game’s greatest players.

 
At the suggestion of renowned amateur Bobby Jones, the inaugural Senior PGA Championship was played at Augusta National Golf Club three years after the first Masters Tournament.

It was established in the fall of 1937 to provide an opportunity to PGA members ages 50 and over to compete with their peers. The purse was $2,000. To find better weather conditions, the event moved to Florida in 1940 and was played in various cities in the Sunshine State through 2000.

The championship was held at PGA National Golf Club in Palm Beach Gardens, FL, from 1982 to 2000. Beginning in 2001, the tournament moved to some of the great golf courses in the United States.


The Course

Designed by Tom Fazio in 1991 and redesigned again in 2014, the Championship Course boasts views of the nearby Potomac River on 13 of 18 holes.

 
The course will play at par-72, 7,130 yards for the championship. Two of the courses signature holes are No. 13, a 544-yard, par-5 and No. 15, a 175-yard par-3.


Useless Factoid: Lucky 7

  • 7 – The field includes seven former Ryder Cup Captains: Tom Kite (1997), Tom Lehman (2006), Tom Watson (1993, 2014) and Corey Pavin (2010). The European captains include Bernhard Langer (2004), Ian Woosnam (2006) and Colin Montgomerie (2010).
  • 7 – The field includes seven World Golf Hall of Fame Members: Hale Irwin, Bernhard Langer, Colin Montgomerie, Tom Watson, Mark O’Meara, Sandy Lyle and Tom Kite. Ian Woosnam will join that select group later this year.
  • 7 – Former Winners of the (DC-based) Kemper Open: TPC Avenel: Tom Kite (1987), Tom Byrum (1989), Gil Morgan (1990), Billy Andrade (1991), Lee Janzen (1995) and Steve Stricker (1996). Congressional CC: Craig Stadler (1981 and 1982).

The Skinny

Tournament: KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship
Title Sponsor: KitchenAid
Dates: May 25-28
Course: Trump National Golf Club
Where: Potomac Falls, VA
Distance: par-72, 7,130 yards
Architect: Tom Fazio (1991, 2014)
Format: 72 hole competition, 36 hole cut (top 72 and ties)
Trophy: Alfred S. Bourne Trophy
Purse: $2,800,000
Winning Share: $504,000
Website: PGA.com/seniorpga/
Facebook: Facebook.com/PGAcom
Twitter: Twitter.com/PGAcom


Live TV Coverage

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Weather Report

Rain will increase once again this evening as a frontal system and low pressure area cross over the mid-Atlantic state. Rain will taper off temporarily Thursday morning, but scattered showers and storms will redevelop during the afternoon/early evening hours. A weak ridge of high pressure will provide improving conditions for Friday and much of Saturday before yet another storm system takes aim on the region.
(Forecast prepared by on-site meteorologist Willis Young.)


Defending Champion

Rocco Mediate matched Kenny Perry’s Senior PGA Championship record for the lowest 18-hole score a year ago and tied the lowest score ever posted in a men’s major when he fired a 9-under-par 62.

 
Perry posted his score in the final round of the 2012 event at Harbor Shores. Mediate’s 72-hole total of 19-under-par 265 set a record, eclipsing Sam Snead’s previous mark (1973) by three strokes


Recent Champions

2016 Rocco Mediate – (Harbor Shores, Benton Harbor, MI)
2015 Colin Montgomerie – (French Lick Resort, French Lick, IN)
2014 Colin Montgomerie – (Harbor Shores, Benton Harbor, MI)
2013 Khoki Idoki – (Bellerive Country Club, St. Louis, MO)
2012 Roger Chapman – (Harbor Shores, Benton Harbor, MI)
2011 Tom Watson – (Valhalla Golf Club, Louisville, KY)
2010 Tom Lehman – (Colorado Golf Club, Parker, CO)


Storyline: Langer Seeks Records

Following his successful defense of the Regions Tradition last weekend at Greystone, and senior major win No. 8, Bernhard Langer enters Trump National as THE STORY.

 
Should Langer prevail at this week’s KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship, he would become the first player to have won all five major championships on PGA TOUR Champions.

It would also be his ninth major championship on Tour, taking over the top spot in that category from Jack Nicklaus. It would also mark the fourth time in his career he has won multiple major championships in a year. He also did so in 2010, 2014 and 2016.

Langer has posted five top-10 finishes in eight previous starts in this championship. His best showing came in his first start in 2008 at Oak Hill CC in Rochester, NY. He was the 54-hole leader by one stroke over Jay Haas and Jeff Sluman, but was undone by a 6-over-par 41 on the front nine.

His final-round 6-over-par 76 left him one shy of eventual champion Haas. Langer was also T3 in 2014 and 2016.


The Full Field

Past winners of the Senior PGA Championship
(2016) MEDIATE, Rocco – Jacksonville, Florida
(2014, 2015) MONTGOMERIE, Colin – SCOTLAND
(2013) IDOKI, Kohki – Hyogo, JAPAN
(2012) CHAPMAN, Roger – Ascot, ENGLAND
(2011, 2001) WATSON, Tom – Overland Park, Kansas
(2010) LEHMAN, Tom – Scottsdale, Arizona
(2009) ALLEN, Michael – Paradise Valley, Arizona
(2008) HAAS, Jay – Greer, South Carolina
(2005) REID, Mike – Provo Canyon, Utah
(2004, 1998, 1997, 1996) IRWIN, Hale — Paradise Valley, Arizona

Top 35 finishers from 2016 Senior PGA Professional Championship (Club Pros)
BERRY, Donald – Brooklyn Park, Minnesota (CP)
BRITTON, Bill – Colts Neck, New Jersey (CP)
BROWN, Mark – Oyster Bay, New York (CP)
CHAPMAN, Walt – Knoxville, Tennessee (CP)
COSTON, Jeff – Blaine, Washington (CP)
ESTES, Jim – Germantown, Maryland (CP)
FIEGER, Gene – Naples, Florida (CP)
FLEMING, Tim – Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (CP)
FORSTER, George – Villanova, Pennsylvania (CP)
GOMES, Rick – Tequesta, Florida (CP)
HOUTTEMAN, Lee – Glen Arbor, Michigan (CP)
HEASLIP, Daniel – Naples, Florida (CP)
HENDLEY, Stuart – Midland, Texas (CP)
KEPPLER, Stephen – Marietta, Georgia (CP)
LARDON, Brad – Santa Fe, New Mexico (CP)
LEE, John – Naples, Florida (CP)
LEWIS, Timothy – Hampton, Virginia (CP)
MCCORKLE, Todd – Birmingham, Alabama (CP)
MCGRATH, Brendan – Centreville, Virginia (CP)
MCNABB, David – Malvern, Pennsylvania (CP)
NORTHERN, Michael – Colorado Springs, Colorado (CP)
RAULERSON Jr., Charles – Fleming Island, Florida (CP)
ROTH, J.R. – Farmington, New Mexico (CP)
SCHUESSLER, Rea – Gulf Shores, Alabama (CP)
SCHULLER, Richard – Chester, Virginia (CP)
SCHNEITER, Steve – Sandy, Utah (CP)
STEVENS, Craig – Dallas, Georgia (CP)
STULL, Stephen – Richland, Washington (CP)
SOWINSKI, Gary – San Diego, California (CP)
THOMAS, Craig – White Plains, New York, (CP)
THOMPSON, Robert – Huntsville, Texas (CP)
TOUMA, Ricky – Olney, Maryland (CP)
TUCKER, Jerry – Stuart, Florida (CP)
ULRICH, Gus – Whispering Pines, North Carolina (CP)

Former U.S. Ryder Cup team members
BECK, Chip – Lake Forest, Illinois
CALCAVECCHIA, Mark – Jupiter, Florida
FAXON, Brad – Palm Beach Gardens, Florida
FUNK, Fred – Ponte Vedra, Florida
GILDER, Bob – Scottsdale, Arizona
GREEN, Ken – West Palm Beach, Florida
JANZEN, Lee – Orlando, Florida
KITE, Tom – West Lake Hills, Texas
LEHMAN, Tom – Scottsdale, Arizona
LEVI, Wayne – Naples, Florida
MAGGERT, Jeff – The Woodlands, Texas
MIZE, Larry – Columbus, Georgia
O’MEARA, Mark – Houston, Texas
PATE, Jerry – Pensacola, Florida
PATE, Steve – Westlake Village, California
PAVIN, Corey – Santa Monica, California
PERRY, Kenny – Franklin, Kentucky
ROBERTS, Loren – Germantown, Tennessee
SIMPSON, Scott – Kailua, Hawaii
TOMS, David – Shreveport, Louisiana
VERPLANK, Scott – Edmond, Oklahoma
Top 15 finishers from 2016 Senior PGA Championship
JOBE, Brandt – Argyle, Texas
PAREL, Scott – Augusta, Georgia
MCCARRON, Scott – La Quinta, California
FROST, David – SOUTH AFRICA
TRIPLETT, Kirk – Scottsdale, Arizona
SPITTLE, Rod – CANADA
BYRUM, Tom – San Antonio, Texas

Other qualifiers for the 2017 Senior PGA Championship
AMES, Stephen – Vancouver, CANADA
ANDRADE, Billy – Bristol, Rhode Island
ARMOUR III, Tommy – Dallas, Texas
ATLEVI, Magnus – Hjarup, SWEDEN
AUSTIN, Woody – Derby, Kansas
BLAKE, Jay Don – St. George, Utah
BOSSERT, Andre – Zollikerberg, SWITZERLAND
BRADLEY, Michael – Lithia, Florida
BREHAUT, Jeff – Los Altos, CA
BROADHRST, Paul – Nuneaton, ENGLAND
BROOKS, Mark – Fort Worth, Texas
BROWN, Simon – ENGLAND
BROWNE, Olin – Tequesta, Florida
BRYANT, Bart – Winter Garden, Florida
CARINS, Brian – Walled Lake, Michigan
CARTER, Jim – Scottsdale, Arizona
COCHRAN, Russ – Paducah, Kentucky
DALY, John – Dardanelle, Arkansas
DAWSON, Marco – Merritt Island, Florida
DAY, Glen – Little Rock, Arkansas
DODD, Stephen – Barry Island, WALES
DUNLAP, Scott – Sarasota, Florida
DURANT, Joe – Pensacola Beach, Florida
EALES, Paul – Southport, ENGLAND
ELLIOTT, Tim – Melbourne, AUSTRALIA
ESTES, Bob – Austin, Texas
FLESCH, Steve – Union, Kentucky
FORSMAN, Dan – Provo, Utah
FOWLER, Peter – Vaucluse, AUSTRALIA
FRANCO, Carlos – PARAGUAY
GAGE, Bobby – Boynton Beach, Florida
GARWOOD, Doug – Stevenson Ranch, California
GLASSON, Bill – Stillwater, Oklahoma
GOLDING, Philip – ENGLAND
GOODES, Mike – Browns Summit, North Carolina
GOYDOS, Paul – Coto De Caza, California
HAMILTON, Todd – Westlake, Texas
HARWOOD, Mike – Melbourne, AUSTRALIA
JENKINS, Tom – Newport Beach, California
JIMENEZ, Miguel Angel – SPAIN
KELLY, Jerry – Madison, Wisconsin
KENDALL, Skip – Windermere, Florida
KINGSTON, James – Rustenburg, SOUTH AFRICA
LANE, Barry – Henley, ENGLAND
LANGER, Bernhard – GERMANY
LINHART, Pedro – Arcos Cadiz, SPAIN
LOWERY, Steve – Birmingham, Alabama
LUNA, Santiago – Madrid, SPAIN
LYLE, Sandy – Balquhidder, SCOTLAND
MANSON, Gordon – Doebriach, AUSTRIA
MARTIN, Miguel Angel – Boadilla del Monte, SPAIN
MARKS, Gary – New Malden, ENGLAND
MARKSAENG, Prayad – THAILAND
MAYFAIR, Billy – Scottsdale, Arizona
MUROTA, Kiyoshi – Saitama, JAPAN
NIEPORTE, John – Boca Raton, Florida
OLDCORN, Andrew – Edinburgh, SCOTLAND
OLAZABAL, Jose Maria’ – San Sebastian, SPAIN
PARNEVIK, Jesper – SWEDEN
PARRY, Craig – Sydney, AUSTRALIA
PERNICE Jr, Tom – Murrieta, California
PETROVIC, Tim – Austin, Texas
PRICE, Phillip – Newport, ENGLAND
QUINN, Fran – Holden, Massachusetts
RIEGGER, John – Henderson, Nevada
SAKIYAMA, Takeshi – Tochigi, JAPAN
SANDELIN, Jarmo – Stockholm, SWEDEN
SAUERS, Gene – Savannah, Georgia
SHORT JR, Wes – Austin, Texas
SINDELAR, Joey – Horseheads, New York
SINGH, Vijay – Fiji
SMITH, Jerry – Scottsdale, Arizona
SLUMAN, Jeff – Chicago, Illinois
SUTHERLAND, Kevin – Sacramento, California
TAMURA, Naoyuki – Hiroshima, JAPAN
THELEN, Tim – College Station, Texas
TOLEDO, Esteban – Mexicali, MEXICO
TWAY, Bob – Edmond, Oklahoma
WALDORF, Duffy – New Smyrna Beach, Florida
WESSELINGH, Paul – Stafa, SWITZERLAND
WILSON, Rodney – Sunnyvale, California
WOLSTENHOLME, Gary – Kendal, ENGLAND
WOOD, Willie – Edmond, Oklahoma
WOOSNAM, Ian – Channel Islands, ENGLAND


Credit: PGA Communciations, PGA Tour Media, Getty Images


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