Five things to know: US PGA Championship

The US PGA Championship returns to Kiawah Island for the first time since Rory McIlroy’s second Major title victory in 2012. Here are your five things to know…

The longest course in Major history

The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, which was designed by Pete and Alice Dye, will make history this week as the longest Major championship venue in history.

At 7,876 yards, the course will play 135 yards longer than previous record holder Erin Hills, which hosted the 2017 U.S. Open.

The course is famed for its beauty, built on a two and a half mile stretch of beach in South Carolina, but also for the test it presents as witnessed at the 2012 US PGA Championship, when the scoring average of the par 72 course was 74.6.

And while it only opened in 1991, the Ocean Course holds plenty of history. Built specifically for the Ryder Cup that year, the venue has also hosted the 2007 US Senior PGA Championship and the World Cup of Golf.

The last trip to Kiawah Island

The US PGA Championship heads back to Kiawah Island for the first time since McIlroy earned his second Major title by eight shots in 2012.

It was a tournament where weather affected play over the weekend, leaving the Northern Irishman to finish out his third round on Sunday morning. He then closed with a final round 66 to complete his eight shot victory, breaking Jack Nicklaus’ record for the largest winning margin in the PGA Championship, and returning to World Number One.

The 32-year-old arrives at this year’s US PGA following a recent victory on the PGA TOUR, and is one of just 18 European Tour members in the field who also played in 2012. That year, seven of the top ten were Europeans, including David Lynn in second place and Ian Poulter, Justin Rose and Carl Pettersson in a tie for third.

Morikawa defends

Collin Morikawa became just the ninth player in history to win on their US PGA Championship debut last year, making a timely eagle at the 16th to earn his maiden Major title by two over Paul Casey and Dustin Johnson.

And although he has spent a few weeks away from competition in the run-up to the year’s second Major, Morikawa still arrives at Kiawah following a spell of good form. He recently captured his first World Golf Championship at the WGC – Workday Championship at The Concession, secured a top 20 at the Masters in April, and has four further top tens this season.

Making their debut

At Kiawah Island this week, five European Tour players will be making their Major Championship debut.

John Catlin, who won his third European Tour title in less than 12 months at the Austrian Golf Open, was the first to be extended a US PGA Championship exemption in April.

Garrick Higgo then secured his spot through his position in the top 100 of the Official World Golf Ranking (51st) thanks to two victories in three weeks during the Canary Islands Swing.

Frenchman Antoine Rozner and South African Daniel van Tonder, who both triumphed on Tour this season, also qualified through their ranking, entering this week at 74th and 79th respectively.

Kalle Samooja earned his way into the field thanks to an impressive Canary Islands Swing, where he finished in a tie for third and a tie for ninth during two weeks in Tenerife.

And while those five players will be teeing up in their first Major, there are also a number of European Tour members making their first trip to a US PGA Championship. That list is made up of recent winner Dean Burmester, in addition to Aaron Rai, Thomas Detry, Jason Scrivener, Rasmus Højgaard, Sam Horsfield, Sami Välimäki, Takumi Kanaya and Will Zalatoris

History for Range finders

For the first time in Major history, distance measuring devices will be allowed during this week’s tournament at Kiawah Island.

It will be the first of three Majors administered by the PGA of America, with the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship and KPMG Women’s PGA Championship also allowing the use of such distance-measuring devices.

The announcement, which marks an effort to speed up play, was made in February.

“We’re always interested in methods that may help improve the flow of play during our Championships,” said Jim Richerson, President of the PGA of America.

“The use of distance-measuring devices is already common within the game and is now a part of the Rules of Golf. Players and caddies have long used them during practice rounds to gather relevant yardages.”