A record 65 European Tour Members will be in the field when the final Major of the year tees off at the US PGA Championship at Hazeltine Golf Club in Minnesota next week. It will be the highest number of Members competing in an American Major, beating the previous record – at the US Open in June this year – by ten.
Defending champion Padraig Harrington will lead the European Tour Members as he attempts to recapture the form which won him the title last year following his Open Championship triumph a month earlier. The Irishman finished in a tie for 65th at The Open at Turnberry this year after several months spent making significant alterations to his swing, but he is confident he is starting to feel the benefits of his hard work. He will attempt to emulate Tiger Woods, the only modern-day player to win back to back US PGA Championship titles – in 1999 and 2000 and in 2006 and 2007.
Four European Tour Members – Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy, Italian Francesco Molinari, Spaniard Alvaro Quiros and Englishman Chris Wood – will be making their debuts in a US PGA Championship.
Wood impressed again this year’s Open Championship, finishing tied for third following his fifth-place finish as an amateur a year earlier. The 21 year old only gained his European Tour card nine months ago when he graduated from Qualifying School so to now be competing alongside the world’s best underlines his progress.
Last year’s runner-up Sergio Garcia is also in the field, as is World Number Three and Race to Dubai leader Paul Casey and in-form German Martin Kaymer, who won back to back European Tour titles last month.
For the full field clickhere
