2015 PGA Championship


The 2015 PGA Championship was the 97th PGA Championship, held August 13–16 on the Straits Course of Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wisconsin. 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, at the time the lowest score in relation to par ever recorded in a major. 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]. Day was the fifth Australian to win the PGA Championship, the first in twenty years.

Course layout

Straits Course
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 Open (golf)|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
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.
12. The PGA of America reserves the right to invite additional players not included in the categories listed above
Alternates
  1. Martin Laird – took spot reserved for WGC-Bridgestone Invitational winner
  2. Sean O'Hair – replaced Graham DeLaet
  3. Carl Pettersson – replaced Gary Woodland

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, August 13, 2015
Dustin Johnson recorded five birdies and an eagle and opened with a round of 66 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 and is a stroke behind. Defending champion Rory McIlroy, playing his first tournament since the U.S. Open after an ankle injury, opened with a round of 71, as did Masters Tournament|Masters] and U.S. Open champion Jordan Spieth.
PlacePlayerScoreTo par
1

Second round

Friday, August 14, 2015

Saturday, August 15, 2015
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, the 27th time that had been achieved in a major and 13th time at the PGA Championship.
PlacePlayerScoreTo par
1

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, 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 to move into second place. Branden Grace had the low round of the day with a 64 and jumped from 28th at the start of the round to a tie for third.
PlacePlayerScoreTo par
1

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 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.

Final leaderboard

Note: Top 15 and ties qualify for the 2016 PGA Championship; top 4 and ties qualify for the 2016 Masters Tournament
PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney
1

Scorecard

Final round
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Par453454344453444534