Golf’s second major of the year begins on Thursday as the 104th PGA Championship will take place at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Southern Hills isn’t a stranger to big golf events. It is the first course to host five different PGA Championships (1970, 1982, 1994, 2007, 2022).
It has also hosted the men’s U.S. Open three times as well as the U.S. Amateur, the U.S. Senior Amateur, the U.S. Junior Amateur, and the U.S. Women’s Amateur. The U.S. Women’s Amateur was won by the incredible Babe Zaharias in 1946, while the 2007 PGA Championship was won by Tiger Woods. It was at this course where Tiger has his personal low score in a major when he shot a 63 in the second round during that 2007 win. It could have been a 62, but his 18-foot putt on 18 ringed the cup.
Back in April at The Masters, six former Bulldogs competed (I don't count Patrick Reed), and five made the cut. Three Dawgs: Russell Henley, Sepp Straka, and Hudson Swafford had the best finish all at a tie for 30th place. Eight former Bulldogs are in the field this year at the PGA Championship. There were nine, but Harris English is still recovering from right hip surgery. He has not competed on the PGA Tour since January but is eyeing a comeback at the U.S. Open.
Georgia golfers have had mixed results at Southern Hills. The best year for former Dawgs there was for the 1977 U.S. Open, where both Terry Diehl and Lyn Lott finished tied for seventh. Diehl had a share for the lead after the first round. In the 1982 PGA Championship, both Chip Beck and Billy Kratzert missed the cut. Beck redeemed himself at the 1994 U.S. Open and finished tied for 25th. In the 2001 U.S. Open, Franklin Langham finished tied for 72nd. Bubba Watson, making his PGA Championship debut in 2007, missed the cut, as did fellow Dawg Ryuji Imada. Most recently in the 2009 U.S. Amateur, Brian Harman lost in the first round to Chris Ward in 19 holes.
A Georgia golfer has never won the Wanamaker Trophy, but a few have come close. Here is a look at the best finishes by a Bulldog at this prestigious major.
Here is a deeper look at the Bulldogs in the field this week:
BRIAN HARMAN – Official World Golf Ranking (55th)
Harman has played 16 events this season and has made the cut in 12 of them, including three top 10s. The lefty’s best finish this season happened in January at The American Express, where he finished tied for third. Earlier this month, he finished tied for ninth at the Wells Fargo. Harman missed the cut at last year’s PGA Championship by one stroke. He bogeyed the 18th hole in the second round. It was his first bogey or worse since the fifth hole that day.
RUSSELL HENLEY – Official World Golf Ranking (43rd)
Henley has made the cut in 14 of 15 PGA Tour events this season. His one exception was the RBC Heritage last month. Last season, he made 19 of 25 cuts. Of his 14 made cuts this season, his best finish was a runner-up in a playoff at Sony Open in Hawaii. It was one of two top 10 finish this season. Last year at the PGA Championship, Henley finished nine over par. He started the tournament with an opening round 78 (six over), but turned it around by shooting a two under par, 70 in the second round. That round he had three birdies and one double bogey.
CHRIS KIRK – Official World Golf Ranking (101st)
Kirk has played in 16 PGA Tour events this season and has made the cut in ten of them. He has five top 25s, including finishing in the top ten twice. Both top tens happened in back-to-back weeks, as he finished tied for seventh at the Honda Classic late February, and then tied for fifth at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in early March. He has shot an opening round score in the 60s in eight of 16 tournaments this season. Last season at the PGA Championship, Kirk missed the cut. It was his first time competing in a major since 2018.
KEVIN KISNER – Official World Golf Ranking (29th)
Kisner had a season of ups-and-downs. He has made just nine of 15 cuts on the PGA Tour. However, in four of the nine, he has finished in the top ten. In fact, of those four, he has a runner-up (WGC Dell Tech Match Play) and a third-place finish (Sony Open in Hawaii). Last year at the PGA Championship, he missed the cut. In seven PGA Championships, he has missed the cut three times, but has a top-20 finish in the other four.
KEITH MITCHELL – Official World Golf Ranking (80th)
Mitchell has made the cut in 12 of 17 PGA Tour events this season. He has four top tens including a third-place finish early on at the CJ Cup at Summit. In that tournament, he opened up with a 62 en route to a 22 under finish. This is only the third time he has ever played at the PGA Championship, with the last time being in 2020.
SEPP STRAKA – Official World Golf Ranking (53rd)
Straka has played in 22 PGA Tour events this season and made the cut in 14. Three of the six missed cuts occurred during his first three events of the season. Back in February, he won his first PGA Tour event at the Honda Classic. Two months later, he finished tied for third at the RBC Heritage. Straka has only played in three majors as a professional, including one PGA Championship.
HUDSON SWAFFORD – Official World Golf Ranking (85th)
Swafford has made the cut in 11 of 19 PGA Tour events this season. In January, he won his third career PGA Tour event when he won The American Express out in La Quinta, California. In those four rounds, he made an eagle, 29 birdies, and eight bogeys. He has played just two PGA Championships in his career and is still looking for his first made cut.
BUBBA WATSON – Official World Golf Ranking (73rd)
Watson is still the only Bulldog with a major, and he has won two (2012 and 2014 Masters). This season, he has played in eight PGA Tour events and made the cut in five. His best finish was last month, when he finished tied for fourth at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. He has shot under par in each of his last seven rounds. This is his 16th PGA Championship, and his first was here at Southern Hills. He missed the cut that year by shooting 79, 79. He did make six birdies in those two rounds including his very first hole. Last year, he finished in 80th and his last round shot an 80.
Here are the groups for the first two rounds of the PGA Championship and Thursday’s tee times. Tulsa, Oklahoma is in the central time zone.
These are the times in terms of the location. Add an hour for eastern time zone!!!
