Associated Press
Web Posted: Thursday, Aug. 12, 2004
Event: 86th PGA Championship.
Dates: Aug. 12-15.
Site: Whistling Straits
Length: 7,514 yards
Par: 36-36 -- 72.
Format: 72 holes, stroke play.
Playoff: Three holes, stroke play.
Purse: TBA ($6 million in 2003).
Winner's share: TBA ($1.08 million in 2003).
Field: 156 professionals (25 club pros).
Defending champion: Shaun Micheel.
The Course: Built in 1998 by Pete Dye, Whistling Straits emulates the seaside links courses with two miles of shoreline on Lake Michigan, bluffs, massive sand dunes and natural fescue lining the fairways. At 7,514 yards, it is the longest course ever for a major championship. Three of the par 4s are at least 500 yards.
Ryder Cup: This is the final tournament for U.S. players to earn points for the Ryder Cup. Hal Sutton will announce his two captain's picks the day after the PGA Championship.
Last year: While not many knew who he was, no one will forget the shot that clinched the PGA for Micheel. With a one-shot lead over Chad Campbell, he hit a 7-iron from 175 yards that stopped 2 inches from the cup on the final hole at Oak Hill for a tap-in birdie and two-shot victory. Micheel closed with a 70 and finished at 4-under 276. He became the second straight surprise winner at a major. Micheel had been 0-for-163 on the PGA Tour and was No. 169 in the world ranking.
Cheeseheads: The PGA Championship returns to Wisconsin for the first time since Gene Sarazen won at Blue Mounds Country Club in Milwaukee in 1933.
Tiger Tales: Tiger Woods is trying to avoid his second consecutive year without a major. He is playing in Wisconsin for the first time since his professional debut as a 20-year-old in the 1996 Greater Milwaukee Open.
Notable: The last two defending champions have missed the cut.
Quotable: "I heard that if the wind blew, the golf course was going to be extremely difficult to play. I heard a lot more crying than that, but I'll tone it down for you." -- Jim Furyk on Whistling Straits.
Television (times EDT): Thursday-Friday, 1-7 p.m., TNT. Saturday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m., TNT; 2-7 p.m., CBS.
© 2004 Associated Press
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