2015 PGA Championship
Tournament information
DatesAugust 13–16, 2015
LocationKohler/Haven, Wisconsin
43°51′04″N 87°44′06″W / 43.851°N 87.735°W / 43.851; -87.735
Course(s)Whistling Straits
Straits Course
Organized byPGA of America
Tour(s)
Statistics
Par72 [1]
Length7,501 yards (6,859 m)
Field156 players, 77 after cut
Cut146 (+2)
Prize fund$10,000,000[2]
€9,213,193
Winner's share$1,800,000[2]
€1,658,375
Champion
Australia Jason Day
268 (−20)
Location Map
Whistling Straits is located in the United States
Whistling Straits
Whistling Straits
Location in the United States
Whistling Straits is located in Wisconsin
Whistling Straits
Whistling Straits
Location in Wisconsin
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The 2015 PGA Championship was the 97th PGA Championship, held August 13–16 on the Straits Course of Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wisconsin (the course is physically in Haven but holds a Kohler mailing address due to its Kohler Company ownership).[3] It was the third PGA Championship at Whistling Straits, which previously hosted in 2004 and 2010, as well as the United States Senior Open in 2007, all held on the Straits Course.

Jason Day won his first major championship title with a total score of 268 (−20), at the time the lowest score in relation to par ever recorded in a major (a mark since equaled by Henrik Stenson during his win at the 2016 Open Championship, Dustin Johnson at the 2020 Masters Tournament, and Cameron Smith at the 2022 Open Championship).[4] Jordan Spieth, attempting to win his third major of the year, finished in second place three strokes behind. The second-place finish allowed Spieth to surpass Rory McIlroy as number one in the Official World Golf Ranking.[5] Day was the fifth Australian to win the PGA Championship, the first in twenty years.

Course layout

Main article: Whistling Straits

Straits Course

Hole Name Yards Par Hole Name Yards Par
1 Outward Bound 408 4 10 Voyageur 361 4
2 Cross Country 593 5 11 Sand Box 563 5
3 O' Man 181 3 12 Pop Up 143 3
4 Glory 489 4 13 Cliff Hanger 404 4
5 Snake 603 5 14 Widow's Watch 397 4
6 Gremlin's Ear 355 4 15 Grand Strand 518 4
7 Shipwreck 221 3 16 Endless Bite 569 5
8 On the Rocks 507 4 17 Pinched Nerve 223 3
9 Down and Dirty 446 4 18 Dyeabolical 520 4
Out 3,803 36 In 3,698 36
Source:[1][6] Total 7,501 72

Previous course lengths for major championships

Field

The following qualification criteria were used to select the field. Each player is listed according to the first category by which he qualified with additional categories in which he qualified shown in parentheses.

1. All former PGA Champions

2. Last five U.S. Open Champions

3. Last five Masters Champions

4. Last five Open Champions

5. Current Senior PGA Champion

6. 15 low scorers and ties in the 2014 PGA Championship

7. 20 low scorers in the 2015 PGA Professional National Championship

8. Top 70 leaders in official money standings from the 2014 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational to the 2015 Quicken Loans National

9. Members of the United States and European 2014 Ryder Cup teams (provided they are ranked in the top 100 in the Official World Golf Ranking on August 2, 2015)

10. Winners of tournaments co-sponsored or approved by the PGA Tour since the 2014 PGA Championship

11. Vacancies are filled by the first available player from the list of alternates (those below 70th place in official money standings).

12. The PGA of America reserves the right to invite additional players not included in the categories listed above[9][10]

Alternates (category 11)

  1. Martin Laird – took spot reserved for WGC-Bridgestone Invitational winner
  2. Sean O'Hair – replaced Graham DeLaet[7]
  3. Carl Pettersson – replaced Gary Woodland[8]

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, August 13, 2015

2015 PGA Championship entrance sign

Dustin Johnson recorded five birdies and an eagle and opened with a round of 66 (−6) for a one-stroke lead. This was the third consecutive major championship in which Johnson has held at least a share of the lead after the first round. David Lingmerth birdied five out of his first seven holes on the way to a round of 67 (−5) and is a stroke behind.[11] Defending champion Rory McIlroy, playing his first tournament since the U.S. Open after an ankle injury, opened with a round of 71 (−1), as did Masters and U.S. Open champion Jordan Spieth.[12][13]

Place Player Score To par
1 United States Dustin Johnson 66 −6
2 Sweden David Lingmerth 67 −5
T3 Australia Jason Day 68 −4
United States Harris English
United States Russell Henley
United States J. B. Holmes
Australia Matt Jones
United States Matt Kuchar
New Zealand Danny Lee
United States Scott Piercy
Source:[14]

Second round

Friday, August 14, 2015
Saturday, August 15, 2015

Whistling Straits clubhouse during the 2015 PGA Championship

Play was suspended at 5:28 p.m. CDT due to thunderstorms with Jason Day and Matt Jones tied for the lead at nine-under par. David Lingmerth was the clubhouse leader at seven-under. Hiroshi Iwata tied a major championship record with a round of 63 (−9), the 27th time that had been achieved in a major and 13th time at the PGA Championship.[15][16]

Place Player Score To par
1 Australia Matt Jones 68-65=133 −11
2 Australia Jason Day 68-67=135 −9
3 England Justin Rose 69-67=136 −8
T4 United States Tony Finau 71-66=137 −7
India Anirban Lahiri 70-67=137
Sweden David Lingmerth 67-70=137
T7 United States Scott Piercy 68-70=138 −6
United States Jordan Spieth 71-67=138
United States Brendan Steele 69-69=138
T10 South Africa George Coetzee 74-65=139 −5
United States Harris English 68-71=139
United States Russell Henley 68-71=139
United States J. B. Holmes 68-71=139
United States Dustin Johnson 66-73=139
Source:[14]

Third round

Saturday, August 15, 2015

Following the completion of the second round on Saturday morning, the third round began at 9:15 a.m. CDT. After a round of 66 (−6), which included eight birdies and an eagle to offset a double bogey at the 15th, Jason Day built a two-stroke lead after 54 holes. Day carried at least a share of the lead into the final round for the third consecutive major championship, the first since Phil Mickelson in 2006 to do so. Jordan Spieth birdied six out of his last eight holes for a bogey-free round of 65 (−7) to move into second place. Branden Grace had the low round of the day with a 64 (−8) and jumped from 28th at the start of the round to a tie for third.[17]

Place Player Score To par
1 Australia Jason Day 68-67-66=201 −15
2 United States Jordan Spieth 71-67-65=203 −13
T3 South Africa Branden Grace 71-69-64=204 −12
England Justin Rose 69-67-68=204
5 Germany Martin Kaymer 70-70-65=205 −11
T6 United States Tony Finau 71-66-69=206 −10
Australia Matt Jones 68-65-73=206
T8 United States Dustin Johnson 66-73-68=207 −9
India Anirban Lahiri 70-67-70=207
T10 United States J. B. Holmes 68-71-69=208 −8
United States Billy Horschel 72-68-68=208
United States Matt Kuchar 68-72-68=208
Source:[14]

Final round

Sunday, August 16, 2015

Jason Day set a major championship scoring record on the way to a three-stroke victory and his first career major. After a round of 67 (−5) he finished the tournament at 20-under-par, breaking the previous major scoring record set by Tiger Woods at the 2000 Open Championship. Jordan Spieth, looking to join Woods and Ben Hogan with three major victories in a year, began the final round two strokes behind but was never able to close that deficit, finishing three shots behind. Spieth finished the year 54-under-par at the majors, also surpassing Woods' record from 2000. Branden Grace and Justin Rose also got to within two shots of the lead but fell from contention after double bogeys at the 10th and 13th, respectively.[18][19]

Final leaderboard

Champion
Crystal Bowl winner (leading PGA Club Pro)
(c) = past champion

Note: Top 15 and ties qualify for the 2016 PGA Championship; top 4 and ties qualify for the 2016 Masters Tournament

Place Player Score To par Money ($)
1 Australia Jason Day 68-67-66-67=268 −20 1,800,000
2 United States Jordan Spieth 71-67-65-68=271 −17 1,080,000
3 South Africa Branden Grace 71-69-64-69=273 −15 680,000
4 England Justin Rose 69-67-68-70=274 −14 480,000
T5 United States Brooks Koepka 73-69-67-66=275 −13 367,500
India Anirban Lahiri 70-67-70-68=275
T7 South Africa George Coetzee 74-65-70-67=276 −12 293,000
United States Dustin Johnson 66-73-68-69=276
United States Matt Kuchar 68-72-68-68=276
T10 United States Tony Finau 71-66-69-71=277 −11 243,000
United States Robert Streb 70-73-67-67=277
Source:[14]

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 3 4 5 4 3 4 4 4 5 3 4 4 4 5 3 4
Australia Day −15 −16 −16 −16 −17 −18 −19 −18 −18 −18 −19 −19 −19 −20 −19 −20 −20 −20
United States Spieth −13 −13 −14 −13 −14 −15 −15 −15 −14 −15 −15 −15 −16 −16 −16 −17 −17 −17
South Africa Grace −12 −12 −13 −13 −14 −15 −16 −16 −16 −14 −14 −14 −15 −15 −14 −14 −15 −15
England Rose −12 −12 −12 −12 −13 −14 −14 −14 −14 −15 −16 −16 −14 −14 −14 −15 −15 −14
United States Koepka −7 −8 −8 −8 −8 −9 −9 −10 −10 −11 −12 −12 −11 −11 −12 −14 −13 −13
India Lahiri −10 −10 −10 −10 −11 −12 −12 −12 −13 −12 −13 −13 −13 −13 −13 −14 −14 −13
South Africa Coetzee −7 −7 −7 −6 −6 −7 −7 −7 −8 −9 −10 −10 −10 −10 −11 −12 −13 −12
United States Johnson −5 −6 −5 −4 −5 −6 −7 −7 −7 −8 −10 −11 −11 −11 −11 −13 −12 −12
United States Kuchar −8 −9 −9 −9 −10 −11 −11 −11 −10 −11 −13 −13 −12 −12 −12 −12 −12 −12

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

Eagle Birdie Bogey Double bogey Triple bogey+
Source:[14]

References

  1. ^ a b "PGA Championship: course tour". PGA of America. 2015. Retrieved August 11, 2014.
  2. ^ a b "PGA Championship Facts and Format". PGA of America. June 18, 2015. Retrieved June 29, 2015.
  3. ^ "2015 PGA Championship". PGA of America. Retrieved August 11, 2014.
  4. ^ Crouse, Karen (August 17, 2015). "Jason Day Wins P.G.A. Championship for First Major Title". The New York Times. Retrieved August 16, 2015.
  5. ^ Harig, Bob (August 16, 2015). "Jordan Spieth surpasses Rory McIlroy to become No. 1 in world ranking". ESPN. Retrieved August 16, 2015.
  6. ^ "The Straits, hole-by-hole". Whistling Straits. Retrieved August 11, 2014.
  7. ^ a b "Graham DeLaet withdraws from PGA Championship". Toronto Star. August 10, 2015.
  8. ^ a b Lavner, Ryan (August 13, 2015). "Woodland (neck) WDs from PGA; Pettersson in". Golf Channel. Archived from the original on August 15, 2015. Retrieved August 13, 2015.
  9. ^ "2015 PGA Championship Field". PGA of America. July 23, 2015. Retrieved July 27, 2015.
  10. ^ "2015 PGA Championship Field". PGA of America. August 3, 2015. Retrieved August 4, 2015.
  11. ^ Murray, Scott (August 13, 2015). "US PGA Championship 2015: first round – as it happened". The Guardian. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
  12. ^ "Dustin Johnson shoots 6-under 66 in first round". ESPN. August 13, 2015. Retrieved August 13, 2015.
  13. ^ Kaduk, Kevin (August 13, 2015). "Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy survive 'tough' opening round at PGA". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved August 13, 2015.
  14. ^ a b c d e "PGA Championship: Leaderboard". ESPN. August 16, 2015. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  15. ^ Lavner, Ryan (August 14, 2015). "Second-round play suspended because of weather". Golf Channel. Archived from the original on August 15, 2015. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
  16. ^ Harig, Bob (August 14, 2015). "Jordan Spieth in PGA contention after shooting 67 in 2nd round". ESPN. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
  17. ^ "Jason Day's 6 under leads round of low scores in PGA Championship". ESPN. Associated Press. August 15, 2015. Retrieved August 15, 2015.
  18. ^ "Jason Day wins first major, notches scoring record". ESPN. Associated Press. Retrieved August 17, 2015.
  19. ^ Murray, Scott (August 17, 2015). "US PGA Championship 2015: Jason Day wins - as it happened". The Guardian. Retrieved August 19, 2015.

External links

2015 Men's major golf championships
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