What is the US PGA Championship?

From its inception in 1916, the US PGA Championship continues to be one of the most respected tournaments in golf.

The US PGA Championship is one of the four major championships in men’s professional golf. The other three recognised major tournaments are the Masters, the US Open, and The Open Championship.

 It is a tournament organised by the Professional Golfers’ Association of America - an organisation of golf professionals.

Both Walter Hagen and Jack Nicklaus share the record for the most US PGA Championship victories with five each.

Scottie Scheffler won the tournament in 2025, as he captured the title at Quail Hollow Golf Club in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The American added his name to a list of the game’s greats to have won the tournament. Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods have also won the event.

The PGA Championship Explained

Played in May, it is the second men’s major in the calendar. It follows the Masters, which is played a month before.

This year, it will start on May 14^th and conclude on May 17^th.

Unlike the Masters, it is played at a different golf course each year. It rotates amongst some of the top courses in the United States. The 2026 iteration will be contested at Aronimink Golf Club.

Like with most professional golf tournaments, it lasts for four days from Thursday through to Sunday.

Players compete over 72 holes, playing 18 holes on each day, with a cut being introduced after the second day’s play. Players outside of the top 70 and ties on the leaderboard after two rounds will miss the cut, and don’t play in the final two rounds.

The player with the lowest score at the close of Sunday’s play wins the Wanamaker Trophy.

One of the things that makes the US PGA Championship special is that it allows PGA of America members to play.

Those PGA of America members who work as teaching/club professionals can qualify to compete against the game’s biggest stars, through a qualifying event called the PGA Professional Championship.

Originally, the tournament was played in a match play format.

There is where golfers compete against each other head-to-head to win individual holes. The player with the lowest score on the hole wins that hole.

That was changed to stroke play in 1958, which counts the total number of shots each player takes across the four days.