Pádraig Harrington won his second consecutive major and third overall, two strokes ahead of runners-up Ben Curtis and Sergio García. He earned $1.35 million for the victory, and became the first European-born winner of the PGA Championship in 78 years, last accomplished in the match play era by Tommy Armour of Scotland in 1930 (by then a naturalized U.S. citizen). Harrington was the first winner from Ireland, and the first European to win The Open Championship and the PGA Championship in the same year.
It was the ninth major championship contested at the South Course and the first in twelve years, when Steve Jones won the 1996 U.S. Open. The PGA Championship returned to "The Monster" for the first time in 29 years; the 1979 event was won by David Graham.
Tiger Woods, the two-time defending champion, did not compete due to rehabilitation for a season-ending knee surgery following his playoff victory in the U.S. Open in June.
The following is the qualification criteria that was used to select the field.[2] Each player is listed according to the first category by which he qualified, but other categories are shown in parentheses:
7. 20 low scorers in the 2008 PGA Professional National Championship
Sam Arnold, Ryan Benzel, Bradley Dean, Eric Dugas, Frank Esposito, Jr., Jim Estes, Kyle Flinton, Scott Hebert, Vince Jewell, Rick Leibovich, David Long, Eric Manning, Brad Martin, Jeff Martin, Alan Morin, Curt Sanders, Sonny Skinner, Tim Thelen, Tim Weinhart, Don Yrene
A lengthy weather delay forced a few pairings to complete their first round on Friday morning. It was clear though on Thursday that Robert Karlsson and Jeev Milkha Singh would share the 18-hole lead after shooting matching 68s. Sergio García, still looking for his first major championship, headed up a group of five that shot one-under 69s. Phil Mickelson shot an even-par 70 to place him in an eight-way tie for eighth. Retief Goosen appeared to be piecing together a fabulous opening round when he birdied four of his first seven holes to get to -4. His fortunes would change, however, as he shot six-over the rest of the way to drop four strokes off the lead after the first day. Like Goosen, 2008 Open Champion, Pádraig Harrington, got off to a flying start by birdieing his first three holes. Unfortunately for him, he shot four-over the rest of the way to finish his round with a 71. Kenny Perry was forced to withdraw due to the effects of an eye problem that began plaguing him earlier in the week.[10]
At the midway point of the 90th PGA Championship, the only golfer under par was J. B. Holmes. Holmes, whose best finish at a major was a tie for 25th at the Masters earlier in 2008, shot a two-under 68 to post a -1 after 36 holes. He was as many as three shots under par for the tournament, but bogeyed two of his final four holes. Ben Curtis and Justin Rose shared the best round of the day with three-under 67s to settle into a tie for second at even par with Charlie Wi. After withdrawing from the Open Championship, 2001 PGA Championship winner, David Toms, regained his form by shooting a one-under 69 to put himself in a tie for fifth with Henrik Stenson. Sergio García shot a three-over 73 to place himself in a seven way tie for seventh. García appeared as if he would be higher on the leaderboard at the close of the day, but he double-bogeyed the 17th hole. Phil Mickelson bogeyed two of his final four holes to finish in a seven way tie for 14th going into the weekend.
Seventy-three golfers would survive the cut which was set at 148 (+8). The winner at Bridgestone the previous week and world #4, Vijay Singh, was the most notable golfer to miss the cut when he five-putted his last hole. World #8, Adam Scott, world #9, Stewart Cink, 2007 PGA Championship runner-up, Woody Austin, and 2008 Masters champion, Trevor Immelman, were also among those who missed the cut.[11]
At 2:16 pm EDT, scattered thunderstorms halted play before the leaders had a chance to begin their round. It appeared as if some golf was going to be played Saturday afternoon, but around 6:30 pm play was officially suspended for the day due to the persistent threat of thunderstorms. Andrés Romero was among those who had the chance to complete their round, and he posted a tournament low, five-under 65 to finish three strokes off the lead.[12]
Third round play resumed Sunday at 7:15 am. The 2003 Open Champion, Ben Curtis stormed into the lead with birdies at four of his first six holes, and despite a bogey at the 18th hole, Curtis shot two-under 68 for a one stroke lead after 54 holes. Second round leader J. B. Holmes remained in contention with an even par 70 to place himself in a tie for second with Henrik Stenson. 2007 and 2008 Open Champion, Pádraig Harrington shot a four-under 66 to shoot up the leaderboard into a tie for fourth. Also among those at +1 was Sergio García, who shot a one-under 69. South Korean, Charlie Wi shot a one-over 71 to place himself in the three way tie for fourth. Andrés Romero, who completed his round Saturday, woke up much higher on the leaderboard as his five-under 65 put him four strokes off the lead and in a tie for seventh. Former PGA Champions David Toms and Phil Mickelson sat five and six strokes off the lead respectively.[13]
With the third round concluding Sunday morning due to the thunderstorms on Saturday afternoon, the final round began at 12:30 pm EDT, in groups of three on split tees: the top half of the remaining field began at the first hole, and the remainder started at the tenth.[14]
Pádraig Harrington claimed his second consecutive major championship and third in the last six majors, two strokes ahead of runners-up Ben Curtis and Sergio García. Harrington shot his second straight 66 (−4), and like his victory three weeks earlier at Royal Birkdale, he won with tremendous play on the back nine. Harrington birdied three of four holes at one point to erase a three-stroke deficit. He made three critical putts at each of the final three holes to seal the victory, which included an 18-foot (5.5 m) par putt on the 72nd hole to make García's upcoming par putt meaningless. Harrington became the first European since 1930 to win the PGA Championship, and only the fourth golfer to win the Open Championship and PGA Championship in the same year.
García flew out of the gate with a birdie and eagle on the first two holes. He went the first 15 holes without registering a bogey allowing him to play with the lead most of the day. However, his fortunes would change when he found the water at the 16th hole. He would lose sole ownership of the lead on this hole, and ultimately the tournament after failing to match the crucial putts made by Harrington. This marked the second time that Garcia has lost a major to Harrington going down the stretch after his playoff defeat to Harrington at the 2007 Open Championship. Curtis held at least a share of the lead until he bogeyed the final two holes on the front nine. He would come back and tie García briefly for the lead when he birdied the 14th hole. Curtis even found a way to earn par on the 16th despite his drive landing on the platform in front of a hospitality tent. However, he bogeyed two of his final four holes to finish two strokes off the lead.
Camilo Villegas had his best major finish with a tie for fourth, which was his second top 10 finish at the 2008 majors. He backed up his 67 earlier in the third round with a two-under 68 to finish four strokes behind Harrington. J. B. Holmes, who was one shot back to start the final round, triple bogeyed the first hole en route to an 11-over-par 81. Henrik Stenson had his second straight top 5 at the majors despite shooting a two-over 72 to fall into a tie with Villegas. Steve Flesch found the cup from the fairway on the 18th to become the first on the day to birdie the hole. He finished by himself in sixth place and recorded his second top 10 finish at the majors in 2008. Phil Mickelson birdied three of his first four holes to put himself in contention, but did not birdie another hole and fell into a tie for seventh with Andrés Romero. Romero was unable to back up the 65 he shot in the third round and never mustered up a challenge for the leaders.
Pádraig Harrington
