99 of the world’s top 100 players have arrived in Rochester, New York, for the 95th playing of the PGA Championship. The final major of the year returns to a venue synonymous with major championships, and one that is among the most difficult tests in the United States; Oak Hill Country Club.
Oak Hill Country Club was established in 1901, with the famous East Course, which shall serve as the rebellious canvas for the players this week, opened in 1924. Designed by Donald Ross, the legendary architect of 413 courses in the United States, the East Course would quickly gain traction among the minds of the golfing elite. By 1949, it would stage its first major championship, the U.S. Amateur, won by Charles Cole, who would later finish second in the 1961 Masters Tournament.
With the U.S. Open Championship coming to Oak Hill in 1956, Robert Trent Jones Sr removed many of Ross’ features in a revamp. Nonetheless, that U.S. Open was a success, with Cary Middlecoff claiming victory for a second time by one shot from Julius Boros and Ben Hogan.
The U.S. Open returned twelve years later, and on this occasion it represented the emergence of one of the game’s most popular characters. Lee Trevino, a 27-year-old from Texas, would win his first major, and indeed PGA Tour title, with an immense performance over the four rounds at Oak Hill, becoming the first player in the history of the U.S. Open to post all rounds in the 60s. In doing so he also tied the record total of 275 set by Jack Nicklaus the previous year at Baltusrol. Coincidentally, it was Nicklaus who finished second to Trevino, four shots back. This U.S. Open would also become the first leg of one of the most intriguing rivalries of the era, with Nicklaus finishing runner-up to Trevino for the first of four occasions in major championships.
However, despite winning his first major, Trevino’s personal highlight of that week occurred in the scorer’s tent after the conclusion of the tournament: “The highlight of that week was meeting Arnold Palmer for the first time,” Trevino said. “I was sitting there signing my card and he came over, shook my hand, and said ‘Nice going, young man.’ Man, that was something.”
In 1980, the PGA of America would bring their Championship to Oak Hill for the first time, and it was Jack Nicklaus who would claim a 17th major championship in a seven shot route of the field. At the age of 40, many believed this victory was a final glorious chapter in the major career of the Golden Bear, who by this stage had essentially entered a state of semi-retirement, playing a reduced schedule on the Tour. However, that didn’t stop Nicklaus from winning the U.S. Open two months earlier at Baltusrol, before claiming his dominant victory at Oak Hill’s East Course.
Looking ahead to this week’s 95th PGA, Nicklaus believes that it will be a very-wide open Championship: “The player has to suit his game to the golf course and the guys that can adapt to it are the guys that always have been the good players," Nicklaus said. "I mean, Mickelson will adapt well to it. Tiger will adapt well to it. I think there are a lot of guys that will adapt well to it. You have so many good players today that I think will like Oak Hill, will enjoy playing the golf course and could have an opportunity to win. To try to pick one of them out of there is pretty difficult right now.”
Oak Hill has also played host to senior major championships, with the 2008 Senior PGA completing the set of majors that gives the club the distinction of being the only one in the United States to have hosted all of the men’s major championships that are available to it.
The U.S. Open would return in 1989, with Curtis Strange becoming the first player since Ben Hogan to win a second consecutive title. Strange had won the previous year at Brookline, would shoot a final round of 70 which was enough to overcome a three shot deficit on Tom Kite, who would struggle to a 78.
In 1995, a competition of a different nature, and intensity, was to arrive at the gates of Oak Hill. The 31st Ryder Cup Matches arrived in earnest, with European Captain Bernard Gallacher leading the side for a third and final time. His opposite number was Lanny Wadkins, who had been hoping to retain the Cup that had initially been won in 1991, before Tom Watson’s U.S. Team claimed victory away from home at the Belfry in 1993. Going into the singles down by two points, Europe would attempt to successfully overcome a deficit for the first time in their history. It didn’t start well, with the once talismanic Seve Ballesteros desperately struggling for form against Tom Lehman. In truth, a 4&3 defeat to American was testament to Ballesteros’ recovery skills and tenacity, as any other player would have been shaking hands just after the turn. The tide began to turn in Europe’s favour though, with victories for Howard Clark, Mark James, David Gilford, Colin Montgomerie, Nick Faldo and Sam Torrance putting the continental side on the verge of history. It all went down to the penultimate match between Jay Hass, and the unheralded Irish rookie Philip Walton. The 33 year-old would claim victory of the American and signal the celebrations as Europe came come from behind to win the Cup for the first time in history. (A feat only matched in 2012 at Medinah).
Eight years after that dramatic Sunday, further extraordinary scenes were to occur as the 85th PGA Championship came to Oak Hill. On this occasion, contrary to previous winners at the venue in Rochester, it was Shaun Micheel, a near unknown, who would claim his first (and to date, only) title on the PGA Tour. The 34-year-old went into the final round tied for the lead at 4-under with Chad Campbell. In an exciting final day, Micheel found himself on the brink of a life changing victory while standing on the edge of the 18th fairway. He pulled a seven-iron from the bag, flushed it, and the amassed crowds witnessed one of the shots of the decade as Micheel’s ball landed to within three inches of the hole. Micheel’s career has never matched these heady heights again, with injury, illness and personal trauma halting his progression as a player. However, he will return this week and lay eyes on the plaque that now sits on the sport where he played that miraculous winning shot.
In 2013, a major championship returns to one of the greatest major venues in the United States. Players this week at the 95th PGA Championship can expect an extremely difficult test, with significant graduated rough and overhanging trees providing a constant hazard to wayward shots. For many purists, such a setup undermines the design of a course, with “chop out rough” not particularly conducive to exciting play. However, at 7,163 yards on the scorecard, Oak Hill is no longer the beast it once was, but with the fairways only 25-28 yards wide, there is little margin for error. One statistic that would indicate the difficulty of this layout would be the notable fact that in the last five majors at Oak Hill, a total of just ten players have finished under-par for the week.
Whoever lifts the Wanamaker Trophy on Sunday will have come through a true major championship test.