PGA Release – August 04, 2018: Bellerive Country Club, the site of many historic moments in golf, will welcome the deepest all-professional field of the year, Aug. 9-12, at the 100th PGA Championship. Anirban Lahiri and Shubhankar Sharma feature amongst the star studded field competing for the final major of the season.
The 156-player roster includes 98 of the top 100 players and 113 of the top 116 players in the current Official World Golf Rankings. The field features 33 major champions, 68 international players representing 26 countries, and all three of this year’s major champions. They will compete for the Rodman Wanamaker Trophy as Bellerive hosts the PGA Championship for the second time following Nick Price’s triumph in 1992.
Defending Champion Justin Thomas, the world’s No. 3-ranked player, heads 16 past PGA Champions in the field. He is joined by Rich Beem (2002), Keegan Bradley (2011), John Daly (1991), Jason Day (20115), Jason Dufner (2013), Padraig Harrington (2008), Martin Kaymer (2010), Davis Love III (1998),Rory McIlroy (2012, ’14), Shaun Micheel (2003), Phil Mickelson (2005), Vijay Singh (1998, 2004), Jimmy Walker (2016), Tiger Woods (1999, 2000, ’06, ’07) and Y.E. Yang (2009).
The 33 major champions competing at Bellerive own a combined 63 major championships. Along with the past PGA Champions, they are: Stewart Cink, Jim Furyk, Sergio Garcia, world-No.1-ranked Dustin Johnson, Zach Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Francesco Molinari, Louis Oosthuizen, Patrick Reed, Justin Rose, Charl Schwartzel, Adam Scott, Webb Simpson, Jordan Spieth, Henrik Stenson, Bubba Watson and Danny Willett.
Bellerive Country Club hosted its first major championship in 1965, when Gary Player captured the U.S.Open. In addition to Price’s PGA Championship in 1992, Bellerive also hosted the 2013 KitchenAidSenior PGA Championship when Japan’s Kohki Idoki became golf’s first Asian male major champion.
The PGA Championship field also includes 20 PGA Club Professionals, led by reigning PGA Professional Champion Ryan Vermeer, a PGA Director of Instruction at Happy Hollow Club in Omaha, Nebraska. The 20 earned a berth in June at the 51st PGA Professional Championship at Bayonet Black Horse in Seaside, California.
Since 1994, the PGA Championship has continually featured the strongest field in all of golf as measured by the Official World Golf Rankings. It has brought together the most international competitors to the United States. The field will be finalized following this weekend’s WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and the Barracuda Championship.
Golf’s best professionals began competing for the PGA Championship’s Wanamaker Trophy in 1916. PastChampions include both the legendary and recent stars of the game: Walter Hagen, Gene Sarazen, Byron Nelson, Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, Phil Mickelson, Padraig Harrington, Rory McIlroy, Jason Day and Justin Thomas.
