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This week sees the final major championship of the year taking place at the Hazeltine National Golf Club in Minnesota. This is the championship of The Professional Golfers' Association of America, the largest working sports organisation in the world with over 28,000 members.
Over the past nine decades the PGA Championship has developed into one of the premier sporting events in the world, but as with most events, it has come from humble beginnings.
In January 1916, 34 other golf professionals joined the legendary Walter Hagen in an exploratory meeting at the Taplow Club in New York to lay the building blocks for the foundation of the organisation we see today.
It was there that the idea for a national championship was conceived. Department store magnate Lewis Rodman Wannamaker, who hosted the meeting, would provide a trophy for the competition, as well as an initial purse of $2,580 (BD972) for the match-play event. On April 10 that year they formed the PGA and six months later the inaugural PGA Championship was held at Siwanoy Country Club, NY.
James Barnes was the first man to lift the Wannamaker Trophy and went on to defend his title three years later after the tournament was cancelled in 1917 and 1918 due to World War I. Following the break for the war, the organisation and the tournament continued to grow.
Hazeltine has been the scene of many major championships in both the professional and amateur games. Totton P. Heffelfinger, a former president of the United States Golf Association, wanted to create a golf club that would host major championships while providing a pure golf experience for its members. Hazeltine National Golf Club is the result of his quest.
After early designs by another architect, Robert Trent Jones created a long and demanding layout to test the best players in golf. The course was opened for play in 1962. Over time, Jones modified many holes to adapt it to the needs of major championship play. In advance of the 1991 US Open Championship, his son Rees Jones made changes to the design, and he continues to work with the club to maintain the competitive standard.
The 1970 US Open was won by Tony Jacklin at Hazeltine, the last European to have earned the championship, which could be a sign for Europe's challenging elite this week! The course went on to stage the US Open again in 1983 and 1991 following major renovations.
The PGA of America brought the PGA Championship to Hazeltine in 2002, the first of three events that it will host at the course. Rich Beem won the championship by holding off a charging Tiger Woods, who birdied the last four holes. It was one of the most memorable finishes in championship history.
Following the return of the PGA Championship this year, the premier event in international team competition, the Ryder Cup Matches, will be contested at Hazeltine in 2016.
So who will be challenging this week? Ireland's Padraig Harrington is defending the title he won at Oakland Hills a year ago, but he will have his work cut out over a hungry field searching for the last chance of major success until next April.
As for picking a winner, it is a tough one to call outside of the perpetual favourite, Mr Woods. The PGA Championship often delivers a few surprises and a few surprise winners, Rich Beem for example, the last winner at Hazeltine, so be ready for some new names to be announced.
After narrowly missing out to Padraig last year, Sergio Garcia will really be up to go one better and I for one would love to see the sublimely talented Spaniard open his major account with the Wannamaker Trophy on Sunday afternoon.
