The PGA Championship, traditionally, is the lowest-scoring major. Xander Schauffele’s 21-under-par victory at Valhalla demonstrated just how easily the world’s best players can pick apart the event.
However, the PGA proves its worth in other ways. Tiger Woods says the PGA Championship has the best field in golf, and with the entry criteria heavily favouring elite players, whoever wins the year’s second major must beat the best.
Furthermore, Valhalla aside, the PGA Championship is usually played at some of the United States’ most testing venues: Kiawah Island, Southern Hills and Bethpage Black, to name a few.
Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester is another PGA Championship venue which is held in high esteem.
PGA Championship: What Justin Thomas said about Oak Hill Country Club
A four-time host of the PGA, Oak Hill has become a regular feature on the rota. Most recently, Brooks Koepka won at the Rochester course in 2023.
Before the event two years ago, defending champion Justin Thomas was asked to share his thoughts on the course, and the two-time major winner claimed Oak Hill reminded him of the brutish Winged Foot, a traditional US Open venue.
“This place reminds me a little bit of a Winged Foot just in terms of the greens — not the severity of the greens,” Thomas said.
“They’re not like Winged Foot; nothing is. But just the designs of them and some of the pin locations and how the fairways kind of canter against the slopes or whatever you want to call it. Yeah, it’s a really good golf course.
“I love the way the courses look up here, just the definition of the fairway to the rough and the cutting of the bunkers, and I love the square — the kind of sharp edges on the greens.”
Speaking before the 2003 PGA Championship, Tiger Woods claimed Oak Hill was one the best courses in the world.
Is Oak Hill one of the hardest PGA Championship venues?
Oak Hill is certainly one of the more challenging PGA Championship venues. Koepka’s winning total of nine under was 11 strokes less than Schauffele’s score at Valhalla.
During the 2013 PGA edition at the Rochester venue, Jason Dufner won his maiden major title at ten under and by no means picked tore the course apart.
Ten years prior, during the 2003 event, Shaun Micheel finished at four under, two strokes clear of Chad Campbell in what was one of the highest-scoring PGA Championships of all time.
Jack Nicklaus also won his final PGA at the historic New York course, finishing six under and seven strokes clear of Andy Bean. The Golden Bear was the only player under par, which perhaps indicates just how difficult the course can be.
Receive exclusive golf news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
