The PGA Championship

Tournament Info for: 2004 PGA Championship
Date:	August 12 - 15, 2004
Site:	Whistling Straits
Champion:	Vijay Singh
Purse:	$6,250,000.00
Field:	156
Cut at:	146
Par:	36 - 36 - 72 (7,536 yards)
Players Advanced:	73

The U.S. Army used to use the acres now named Whistling Straits for anti-aircraft artillery practice. For 95 of the top 100 world ranked players who competed in the 86th PGA Championship at the Straits Course at Whistling Straits, the course that Pete Dye designed and owner Herb Kohler promoted to the world may have felt at times like an artillery range. On Sunday, with the golf world tuned in and some 44,000 fans charged to a new level, Vijay Singh was the straightest shooter and the last man standing in line for a Wanamaker Trophy. He earned a PGA Championship record $1.125 million from a $6.25 million purse. Singh earned his third major championship, and first PGA Championship since 1998, the hard way. He finished with a PGA Championship record 4-over-par 76, which is the third highest overall closing round by a major championship winner, and a 72-hole total of 8-under-par 280. Singh made his only birdie of the day, but a most timely one, sinking a five-foot putt on the No. 10 hole – the first of a three-hole cumulative score playoff – to defeat Justin Leonard and Chris DiMarco. Singh parred the closing playoff holes, a treacherous par-3 17th and an even dicier 18th, a 500-yard, par-4 nicknamed “Dyeabolical.” Leonard held a two-stroke lead over Singh and DiMarco with three to play in regulation but bogeyed No. 16, missing a five-footer, and No. 18, failing on a 12-footer. Leonard finished with a 75 and DiMarco had a 71, while 36 players out of the final 73 finished under par. Singh is the fourth oldest to win a PGA Championship at 41 years, five months and 23 days. His closing 76 was the highest score by a major championship winner since Reg Whitcombe’s 78 at Royal St. George’s in the 1938 British Open. The all-time highest score was Fred Herd’s 84, which was enough to win the 1898 U.S. Open. Singh becomes the fourth different player since 1980 to collect five or more wins in a season, joining Tiger Woods (1999, 2000, ’01, ’02, ’03), Nick Price (1994) and Tom Watson (1980).

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