2021 PGA Championship

2021 PGA Championship
Tournament information
DatesMay 20–23, 2021
LocationKiawah Island,
South Carolina
32°36′43″N 80°01′23″W / 32.612°N 80.023°W / 32.612; -80.023
Course(s)Kiawah Island Golf Resort
Ocean Course
Organized byPGA of America
Tour(s)
Statistics
Par72
Length7,876 yards (7,202 m)
Field156 players, 81 after cut
Cut149 (+5)
Prize fund$12,000,000
€9,808,513
Winner's share$2,160,000
€1,765,532
Champion
United States Phil Mickelson
282 (−6)
Location map
Kiawah Island is located in the United States
Kiawah Island
Kiawah Island
Location in the United States
Kiawah Island is located in South Carolina
Kiawah Island
Kiawah Island
Location in South Carolina
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The 2021 PGA Championship was the 103rd PGA Championship, held May 20–23 in South Carolina at Kiawah Island Golf Resort's Ocean Course on Kiawah Island. It was the second major championship at the Ocean Course; the PGA Championship in August 2012 was won by Rory McIlroy.

Without spectators at the previous edition in August 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the PGA of America announced in February 2021 that 10,000 fans would be admitted daily.[1]

Phil Mickelson won his second PGA Championship and sixth major, two strokes ahead of runners-up Brooks Koepka and Louis Oosthuizen. Aged fifty years and eleven months, he became the oldest to win a major, a distinction previously held by Julius Boros, the winner of the PGA Championship in 1968 at age 48.

Venue

Main article: Kiawah Island Golf Resort

Course layout

The Ocean Course – 2021 PGA Championship
Tee Rating/Slope 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Out 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 In Total
Par 4 5 4 4 3 4 5 3 4 36 4 5 4 4 3 4 5 3 4 36 72
Yards 396 557 390 484 207 490 579 198 514 3,815 447 593 484 497 238 466 608 223 505 4,061 7,876
Round 1 401 559 381 453 220 469 551 198 497 3,729 441 571 467 494 206 458 606 214 474 3,931 7,660
Round 2 381 543 387 451 223 500 571 178 492 3,726 453 582 474 471 198 467 600 198 486 3,929 7,655
Round 3 396 561 376 485 195 487 553 207 497 3,757 429 590 462 481 215 468 598 207 493 3,943 7,700
Round 4 402 562 293 479 214 445 563 191 469 3,618 440 569 450 464 230 469 583 231 503 3,939 7,557

Source:[2][3][4][5]

Lengths of the course for previous majors:

Field

The field for the PGA Championship is sometimes regarded as the strongest in professional golf, routinely having the highest "strength of field rating" of the year according to the Official World Golf Ranking. A number of qualification criteria are used to determine the field, which includes past PGA champions, recent major winners, top finishers in the 2020 PGA Championship, Ryder Cup players, tournament and leading money winners on the PGA Tour, and twenty PGA club or teaching professionals. The PGA of America also issue invitations to players outside of these criteria,[6] which is generally seen to include the top one hundred in the world rankings.[7]

Criteria

This list details the qualification criteria for the 2021 PGA Championship and the players who qualified under them; any additional criteria under which players qualified is indicated in parentheses.[6][7]

1. All past winners of the PGA Championship.[a]

2. Recent winners of the Masters Tournament (2017–2021)

3. Recent winners of the U.S. Open (2016–2020)

4. Recent winners of The Open Championship (2015–2019)

5. Recent winners of The Players Championship (2019–2021)

6. The leading 15 players, and those tying for 15th place, in the 2020 PGA Championship

7. The leading 20 players in the 2021 PGA Professional Championship

8. The 70 leading PGA Championship Points[b] earners from the 2020 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational (and Barracuda Championship) through the 2021 Wells Fargo Championship (May 9, 2021)

9. Playing members of the 2018 Ryder Cup teams, who are ranked within the top 100 on the Official World Golf Ranking as of May 9, 2021

10. Winners of official tournaments on the PGA Tour from the 2020 Wyndham Championship until the start of the championship

11. PGA of America invitees[c]

12. If necessary, the field is completed by players in order of PGA Championship points earned (per 8.)[12][7]

Alternates (per category 12):

  1. Tom Hoge (78th in standings) – replaced Wolff[11]
  2. Wyndham Clark (82nd) – replaced Singh[9]
  3. Brandon Hagy (83rd) – replaced Molinari[10]

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, May 20, 2021

Corey Conners made six birdies and only one bogey in a round of 67 (−5) to take a two-shot lead after the first round. Two-time champion Brooks Koepka, despite making a double-bogey on his opening hole of the tournament, was part of a six-way tie for second at three-under that also included 2011 champion Keegan Bradley.[13][14]

Defending champion Collin Morikawa opened with a two-under round of 70 and was tied for eighth with seven other players, including 2005 champion Phil Mickelson.[15] Mickelson made four bogeys over his first six holes before rebounding with four birdies on the back nine.[16] Rory McIlroy, who won by eight shots the last time the tournament was held at Kiawah Island in 2012, shot a three-over 75 and was tied for 77th after the first 18 holes.[17][18]

Place Player Score To par
1 Canada Corey Conners 67 −5
T2 United States Keegan Bradley 69 −3
Australia Cameron Davis
England Sam Horsfield
Norway Viktor Hovland
United States Brooks Koepka
United States Aaron Wise
T8 South Africa Branden Grace 70 −2
South Korea Im Sung-jae
Scotland Martin Laird
United States Phil Mickelson
United States Collin Morikawa
United States Kevin Streelman
United States Cameron Tringale
United States Gary Woodland
Source:[19]

Second round

Friday, May 21, 2021

Phil Mickelson made five birdies over his last nine holes, including a 23-foot putt on the ninth (his 18th), to share the 36-hole lead with Louis Oosthuizen at five-under. At the age of 50, Mickelson became the oldest player to lead the PGA Championship after the second round since Sam Snead in 1966. He also became the sixth player to hold the lead in a major championship in four different decades.[20][21]

Oosthuizen was five-under on his round before making his only bogey at the 18th to fall into a tie with Mickelson. Two-time champion Brooks Koepka made two eagles and got into a share of the lead at six-under before bogeys at the 15th and 17th; he shot 71 (−1) to finish a shot off the lead.[22]

Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama was also five-under for the round and one back before making bogey on 18. His four-under 68 tied Oosthuizen for lowest round of the day.[23] First-round leader Corey Conners bogeyed five of his first six holes and shot 75 (+3) to fall into a tie for seventh place, three shots back.[24]

The 36-hole cut came at 149 (+5). Notables to miss the cut included Dustin Johnson and Justin Thomas, the two top players on the World Golf Rankings, as well as Cameron Tringale, who began the round inside the top 10 but shot 10-over 82 after suffering through a 12-over-par 48 on the back nine Friday (his front nine). Tringale rebounded with a 2-under 34 on the front, but the cut was 5-over and he missed by three.[25]

Place Player Score To par
T1 United States Phil Mickelson 70-69=139 −5
South Africa Louis Oosthuizen 71-68=139
3 United States Brooks Koepka 69-71=140 −4
T4 South Africa Christiaan Bezuidenhout 71-70=141 −3
South Africa Branden Grace 70-71=141
Japan Hideki Matsuyama 73-68=141
T7 England Paul Casey 71-71=142 −2
Canada Corey Conners 67-75=142
South Korea Im Sung-jae 70-72=142
United States Kevin Streelman 70-72=142
United States Gary Woodland 70-72=142

Third round

Saturday, May 22, 2021

Phil Mickelson, tied for the lead at the start of the round, went four-under on the front nine and added another birdie on the 10th to open up a five-shot lead at 10-under. At the 12th, he hit his tee shot into a sandy area and had to chip out into the fairway, making his first bogey in 20 holes. His drive on the 13th went into the water hazard to the right of the fairway, leading to a double-bogey that dropped his lead to just one shot. He made par on his last five holes to finish with a two-under round of 70 and seven-under for the tournament.[26][27]

Brooks Koepka, meanwhile, holed birdie putts from 11 feet on the 10th and 20 feet on the 12th and was three-under on the back nine to tie Mickelson at seven-under. At the 18th, however, he failed to get up-and-down from behind the green and made bogey to fall to six-under, one behind Mickelson.[28]

Louis Oosthuizen, playing in the final group with Mickelson, also drove into the water on 13 and made bogey, then three-putted from 25 feet on the 17th for another bogey. He shot even-par 72 and finished two back of the lead at five-under.[29]

At 50, Mickelson became the oldest 54-hole leader in PGA Championship history, and the oldest in any major since Tom Watson at the 2009 Open Championship.[30]

Place Player Score To par
1 United States Phil Mickelson 70-69-70=209 −7
2 United States Brooks Koepka 69-71-70=210 −6
3 South Africa Louis Oosthuizen 71-68-72=211 −5
4 United States Kevin Streelman 70-72-70=212 −4
T5 South Africa Christiaan Bezuidenhout 71-70-72=213 −3
South Africa Branden Grace 70-71-72=213
T7 United States Bryson DeChambeau 72-71-71=214 −2
Chile Joaquín Niemann 71-72-71=214
United States Gary Woodland 70-72-72=214
T10 England Paul Casey 71-71-73=215 −1
Canada Corey Conners 67-75-73=215
South Korea Im Sung-jae 70-72-73=215
Source:[19]

Final round

Sunday, May 23, 2021

Summary

Phil Mickelson, at the age of 50, became the oldest golfer to win a major championship, shooting a one-over 73 to finish two shots ahead of Brooks Koepka and Louis Oosthuizen.[31]

Mickelson began the round with a one-shot lead over Koepka, but fell from atop the leaderboard after making bogey on the first while Koepka made birdie to grab the lead.[32] Mickelson regained the lead with a birdie on the par-five second hole as Koepka suffered a double-bogey. At the par-three fifth, Mickelson found a sandy area off the tee but holed his shot for a birdie. Even-par making the turn, he led Koepka and Oosthuizen by two.[33]

Mickelson extended his lead on the 10th, holing a 12-foot putt for birdie. When Koepka made bogey on both 10 and 11, Mickelson opened up a four-shot lead. Oosthuizen, meanwhile, fell from contention after hitting his third shot on the 13th into the water and making double-bogey. He came back with a birdie at the par-five 16th and shot 73, finishing at four-under for the tournament.

Koepka was four-over between holes 7–13 before making birdies on the 15th and 16th, joining Oosthuizen at four-under after a two-over 74. Mickelson saw his lead cut in half after also finding the water with his approach on 13, settling for a bogey before dropping another shot on the 14th. At the 16th, he hit a 366-yard drive, the longest of any player on that hole all tournament, and got up-and-down from over the green for a birdie to get to seven-under.[34] Despite making a bogey on the par-three 17th after having to chop out of thick rough, he tapped in for par on the 18th to win his second PGA Championship and sixth major championship.[35][36]

Final leaderboard

Champion
Crystal Bowl winner (leading PGA Club Pro)
(c) = past champion
Top 10
Place Player Score To par Money ($)[37]
1 United States Phil Mickelson (c) 70-69-70-73=282 −6 2,160,000
T2 United States Brooks Koepka (c) 69-71-70-74=284 −4 1,056,000
South Africa Louis Oosthuizen 71-68-72-73=284
T4 England Paul Casey 71-71-73-71=286 −2 462,250
Republic of Ireland Pádraig Harrington (c) 71-73-73-69=286
United States Harry Higgs 72-71-73-70=286
Republic of Ireland Shane Lowry 73-71-73-69=286
T8 Mexico Abraham Ancer 74-72-76-65=287 −1 263,000
United States Tony Finau 74-72-70-71=287
United States Rickie Fowler 71-76-69-71=287
United States Collin Morikawa (c) 70-75-74-68=287
Spain Jon Rahm 72-75-72-68=287
England Justin Rose 72-75-73-67=287
United States Scottie Scheffler 72-74-71-70=287
United States Kevin Streelman 70-72-70-75=287
United States Will Zalatoris 71-74-72-70=287
Source:[19]

Scorecard

Final round

Hole 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Par 4 5 4 4 3 4 5 3 4 4 5 4 4 3 4 5 3 4
United States Mickelson −6 −7 −6 −6 −7 −6 −7 −7 −7 −8 −8 −8 −7 −6 −6 −7 −6 −6
United States Koepka −7 −5 −5 −5 −5 −6 −5 −5 −5 −4 −3 −3 −2 −2 −3 −4 −4 −4
South Africa Oosthuizen −5 −5 −5 −5 −4 −4 −5 −5 −5 −4 −4 −5 −3 −3 −3 −4 −4 −4
England Casey −1 −2 −3 −3 −2 −2 −3 −3 −2 −2 −1 −2 −1 −1 −1 −2 −2 −2
Republic of Ireland Harrington +1 −1 −2 −1 E E −1 −1 −2 −2 −2 −2 −2 −3 −2 −2 −2 −2
United States Higgs −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 −1 −2 −2 −2 −2 −2 −2 −2 −2 −2 −2 −2 −2
Republic of Ireland Lowry +2 +1 E +1 E +1 +1 +1 E E E −1 −1 −1 −1 −2 −2 −2

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

Eagle Birdie Bogey Double Bogey
Source:[19]

Media

ESPN and CBS have the media rights to the 2021 PGA Championship. This marks the second year of the media rights deal signed in October 2018, replacing the old deal with TNT and CBS. In the UK and Ireland, Sky Sports broadcast the event. This is the 31st consecutive PGA Championship on CBS Sports.

Notes

  1. ^ The following former champions did not enter:[8] Paul Azinger, Mark Brooks, Jack Burke Jr., Steve Elkington, Dow Finsterwald, Raymond Floyd, Al Geiberger, Wayne Grady, David Graham, Don January, Davis Love III, John Mahaffey, Larry Nelson, Bobby Nichols, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Nick Price, Jeff Sluman, Dave Stockton, Hal Sutton, David Toms, Lee Trevino, Bob Tway, Lanny Wadkins.
  2. ^ PGA Championship Points are based on official PGA Tour money earned.
  3. ^ The PGA of America usually invite all players ranked inside the top 100 of the Official World Golf Ranking. Twelve players with a world ranking of over 100 on May 9, 2021 were given invitations; ten of these had rankings between 101 and 122, while Schwartzel had a ranking of 157 and Stricker was ranked 233.[7]

References

  1. ^ Porter, Kyle (February 23, 2021). "2021 PGA Championship will include limited number of fans in attendance at Kiawah Island in May". CBS Sports. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
  2. ^ "The Ocean Course". pgachampionship.com. PGA of America. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
  3. ^ "PGA Championship | Hole Locations". PGA Tour. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
  4. ^ Dethier, Dylan (May 20, 2021). "Kiawah Island Ocean Course's actual yardage? The PGA host is shorter than it could be". Golf.com. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
  5. ^ Blondin, Alan (May 23, 2021). "Mickelson magic! Lefty secures PGA Championship to become oldest to win golf major". The Charlotte Observer. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
  6. ^ a b "Masters Champion Dustin Johnson Among 12 Players to Punch Their Tickets to the 2021 PGA Championship". PGA of America. October 15, 2020. Archived from the original on November 17, 2020. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
  7. ^ a b c d Bolton, Rob (May 11, 2021). "2020-21 Qualifiers for majors, The Players, WGCs". PGA Tour. Archived from the original on May 12, 2021. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
  8. ^ "Rory McIlroy wins Wells Fargo Championship for third time in career". PGA of America. May 10, 2021. Archived from the original on May 11, 2021.
  9. ^ a b Beall, Joel (May 17, 2021). "PGA Championship 2021: Vijay Singh withdraws with back injury". Golf Digest. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
  10. ^ a b Beall, Joel (May 20, 2021). "PGA Championship 2021: Francesco Molinari withdraws with back injury". Golf Digest. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
  11. ^ a b Leonard, Tod (May 12, 2021). "Matthew Wolff's season gets stranger with his withdrawal from PGA Championship". Golf Digest. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
  12. ^ "PGA Championship points". PGA Tour. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
  13. ^ Dethier, Dylan (May 20, 2021). "We should have known the PGA Championship would start like this". Golf.com. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
  14. ^ Stanley, Adam (May 20, 2021). "'Why not me?' Canadian Corey Conners leads the PGA Championship — adding to hometown joy with Ontario courses reopening". Toronto Star. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
  15. ^ Rapaport, Daniel (May 20, 2021). "PGA Championship 2021: After Round 1, Kiawah seems like perfect golf course for Collin Morikawa". Golf Digest. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
  16. ^ Romine, Brentley (May 20, 2021). "Jon Rahm pokes fun at Phil Mickelson after Lefty's stellar Day 1 finish at PGA". Golf Channel. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
  17. ^ Salituro, David (May 20, 2021). "Brooks Koepka, Rory McIlroy go in opposite directions at PGA Championship". Fansided.com. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
  18. ^ "US PGA: Corey Conners takes early lead with Brooks Koepka in contention". Guardian. 21 May 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2021.
  19. ^ a b c d "PGA Championship: Leaderboard". ESPN. May 21, 2021. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
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  21. ^ Lavner, Ryan (May 21, 2021). "Mirage or impending miracle? Phil Mickelson has everyone pondering at the PGA". Golf Channel. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
  22. ^ Hennessey, Stephen (May 21, 2021). "PGA Championship 2021 live updates: Brooks Koepka's hot stretch sends him up leader board on Day 2". Golf Digest. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
  23. ^ Hayes, John (May 21, 2021). "Matsuyama a major player again". The Athletic. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
  24. ^ Weeks, Bob (May 21, 2021). "Conners battles back from bumpy start at the PGA". TSN.ca. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
  25. ^ Patterson, Chip (May 21, 2021). "2021 PGA Championship missed cuts: Justin Thomas out, Dustin Johnson reaches milestone not hit since 1997". CBS Sports. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
  26. ^ Melton, Zephyr (May 22, 2021). "Phil Mickelson claims 54-hole lead heading into Sunday at the PGA Championship". Golf.com. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
  27. ^ DiMeglio, Steve (May 22, 2021). "Phil Mickelson turns back the clock, owns 54-hole lead at PGA Championship". Golfweek. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
  28. ^ Patterson, Chip (May 22, 2021). "2021 PGA Championship: Brooks Koepka leads seven golfers who can catch Phil Mickelson at Kiawah Island". CBS Sports. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
  29. ^ Herrington, Ryan (May 22, 2021). "PGA Championship 2021 live updates: Phil Mickelson grabs the 54-hole lead over Brooks Koepka". Golf Digest. Retrieved May 22, 2021.
  30. ^ Ray, Justin [@JustinRayGolf] (May 22, 2021). "Phil Mickelson: oldest 54-hole leader/co-leader in PGA Championship history. 6th man since 1900 to lead a major through 54 holes at age 50 or older; 1st since Tom Watson at 2009 Open (age 59)" (Tweet). Retrieved May 22, 2021 – via Twitter.
  31. ^ Berhow, Josh (May 23, 2021). "Breaking: Phil Mickelson wins 2021 PGA Championship, becomes oldest major-winner in history". Golf.com. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
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  33. ^ Schreiber, Max (May 23, 2021). "Highlights: Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka with frenetic front nine on final day of PGA". Golf Channel. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
  34. ^ "Mickelson crushes 366-yard drive on 16th hole". ESPN.com. May 23, 2021. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
  35. ^ Hennessey, Stephen (May 23, 2021). "PGA Championship 2021 live updates: Phil Mickelson wins the 103rd PGA Championship at Kiawah Island, becomes oldest major winner ever". Golf Digest. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
  36. ^ "US PGA Championship: Phil Mickelson becomes oldest major winner with sixth title". BBC Sport. 23 May 2021. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  37. ^ "2021 PGA Championship prize money, purse: Payouts, winnings for each golfer from record $12 million pool". CBSSports.com. Retrieved 2021-05-23.