- Collin Morikawa played the final 36 holes of the 2020 PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park in 129 strokes (65-64). It was the lowest score over the final 36 holes of a 72-hole tournament in major championship history, eclipsing the mark of 130 shared by Tom Watson (1977 Open Championship at Turnberry), Ian Baker-Finch (1991 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale), Anders Forsbrand (1994 Open Championship at Turnberry), Marc Leishman (2015 Open Championship at St. Andrews) and Tiger Woods (2018 PGA Championship at Bellerive CC).
- Morikawa was tied for 25th place after the second round of the 2020 PGA Championship. The only PGA Championship winner to come back from further down the leaderboard after 36 holes than Morikawa was Padraig Harrington, who was tied for 26th place after 36 holes at Oakland Hills CC in 2008, before firing a pair of 66s on the weekend.
- Morikawa won the PGA Championship in his first attempt. Over the last 60 years the only other players to win the PGA Championship in his first time playing the event were Bob Tway (1986 at Inverness Club), John Daly (1991 at Crooked Stick CC), Shaun Micheel (2003 at Oak Hill CC) and Keegan Bradley (2011 at Atlanta Athletic Club).
- Morikawa was 23 years old, 182 days old when won the Wanamaker Trophy last August. During the PGA Championship’s stroke play era (since 1958) only two players won it at a younger age than Morikawa: Rory McIlory (23 years, 97 days in 2012 at Kiawah Island Resort) and Jack Nicklaus (23 years, 177 days in 1963 at Dallas AC).
- Rory McIlroy, who won this championship here at Kiawah Island Resort in 2012, could become only the second player to win the PGA Championship twice at the same venue. Tiger Woods won at Medinah CC in both 1999 and 2006.
- McIlroy won the 2012 PGA Championship at Kiawah Island Resort by eight shots, which is the largest margin of victory in this championship’s history. Prior to 2012, the record was held by Jack Nicklaus, who won the 1980 PGA Championship at Oak Hill by seven strokes.
- Thanks to wind gusts around 30 mph, the scoring average in the second round of the 2012 PGA Championship at Kiawah Island Resort was 78.09 – the highest field average for any round in PGA Championship history.
- During the 2012 PGA Championship at Kiawah Island Resort, 14 of the 18 holes played over par for the Championship. The most difficult holes, by number of strokes over par, were #13 (+170, 4.38 stroke average), #18 (+167, 4.37), #10 (+156, 4.35), #14 (+145, 3.32) and #9 (+145, 4.32). The four holes that the field played under par for the week were #16 (-96, 4.79), #2 (-88, 4.80), #1 (-6, 3.99) and #3 (-3, 3.99).
- Two of the par-5s on the course played over par for the championship (#11, +27, 5.06; and #7, +15, 5.03). Since that time, no PGA Championship has had even one par-5 play over par for the week!
- Rory McIlroy was the only player in the 2012 PGA Championship at Kiawah Island Resort to play the par 3s, 4s and 5s under par. He played them at -3, -2 and -8, respectively.
- At the 2012 PGA Championship at Kiawah Island Resort, only two of the top 20 finishers were under 30 years old. Winner Rory McIlroy was 23 and Keegan Bradley, who finished t-3rd, was 26. Nine years later, its hard to imagine a major championship in which only two 20-somethings could finish in the top 20. Consider that at the 2020 PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park, 10 players under the age of 30, including the champion, finished among the top 20. At the 2021 Masters, five of the top six finishers and 12 of the top 20, were in their 20s.
- Players ranked 100 or higher in the Official World Golf Rankings have won just as many PGA Championships as players who were ranked #1 in the world entering the event. John Daly (1991, 169th OWGR), Shaun Micheel (2003, 169th), Y.E. Yang (2009, 110th) and Keegan Bradley (2011, 108th) all won this championship ranked at 100 or higher. Tiger Woods won this event three times as the top golfer in the world (2000, 2006, & 2007) and Rory McIlroy did that once (2014).
- Since McIlroy’s victory in 2014, here’s how the OWGR #1 golfer has fared at this championship: Rory McIlroy (2015, Whistling Straits GC, 17th place), Jason Day (2016, Baltrusol GC, 2nd), Dustin Johnson (2017, Quail Hollow, t-13th), Dustin Johnson (2018, Bellerive CC, t-27th), Dustin Johnson (2019, Bethpage State Pk, 2nd), Justin Thomas (2020, TPC Harding Park, t-37th).
- In regards to Rory McIlroy and Kyoung-Hoon Lee, the last player to win a major in his next start following a PGA TOUR victory was Jordan Spieth, who won the 2017 Open Championship at Royal Birkdale at the end of July after winning his previous PGA TOUR start at the Travelers Championship a month earlier. The last player to do that in back to back weeks, was Rory McIlroy, who won the 2014 PGA Championship at Valhalla a week after winning the WGC Bridgestone Invitational in early August.
- Francesco Molinari, who withdrew prior to the start of the 2020 PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park has made the cut at each of the last 11 PGA Championships in which he has participated. It’s the longest current streak ahead of Jason Day, Brooks Koepka and Hideki Matsuyama, all of whom have made eight PGA Championship cuts in a row. The only other European-born player to make the cut in 10 or more consecutive PGA Championships during the event’s stroke play era is Nick Faldo, who made 10 cuts in a row, from 1987 to 1996.
- Webb Simpson has made the cut in each of the last 15 majors in which he has competed -- the longest current streak ahead of Louis Oosthuizen (12) and Xander Schauffele (12).
- The most strokes under par at the majors since 2017: Brooks Koepka (-83), Dustin Johnson (-36), Jordan Spieth (-30), Justin Rose (-27), Hideki Matsuyama (-26) and Xander Schauffele (-26).
- Koepka has three more majors this year, including the PGA Championship, to improve on his five-year cumulative strokes-under-par total. He already holds that record, posting minus-90 at the majors over the five calendar years from 2015-2019. Tiger Woods is second on the list, carding minus-84 at the majors from 1998-2002. Koepka was also 83-under par at the majors from 2016-2020. Next on the list is Jordan Spieth, who shot 79-under par at the majors from 2015-2019.
- It’s mind-boggling to consider that 100-under-par over a five-year period is within the realm of possibility for Koepka, who will need to average roughly six-under par per tournament over the last three majors of 2021 to accomplish that feat.
- Dustin Johnson finished second at the 2019 PGA Championship at Bethpage State Park and t-2nd at the 2020 PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park. He’s the third player to finish runner-up at the PGA Championship twice in a row. Jack Nicklaus did that in 1964 and 1965; and Sam Snead lost the Match Play final of this Championship in both 1938 and 1940 (he did not compete in 1939).
- Best active players without a major on his resume? Here is a list of the most Top-10 finishes at major tournaments without a victory among those currently under 50 years old: Lee Westwood (19 Top 10s in major championship play, 48 years old), Matt Kuchar (12, 42 y/o), Rickie Fowler (11, 32 y/o), Paul Casey (10, 43 y/o), Tony Finau (9, 31 y/o) and Brandt Snedeker (9, 40 y/o). Other notables: Xander Schauffele (8, 27 y/o), Jon Rahm (6, 26 y/o), Marc Leishman (6, 37 y/o).
- Jordan Spieth, who finished second to Jason Day at the 2015 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits, needs a PGA Championship to complete the career grand slam. Two other golfers were a PGA Championship short of attaining the career grand slam: Arnold Palmer (four Masters, two Open Championships and one U.S. Open) and Tom Watson (five Open Championships, two Masters and one U.S. Open). Spieth has won each of the other three major championships once.
- Spieth has five top-five finishes on the PGA TOUR during the 2021 calendar year, including a win at the Valero Texas Open in early April. The only other player with as many top-five finishes as Spieth since January 1 is Viktor Hovland (also five). Xander Schauffele is next on the list with four.
