May 8, 2024 Beijing Time – Tiger Woods is heading to Valhalla. The PGA of America has announced the field for next week’s PGA Championship, with two spots reserved for the winners of this week’s Wells Fargo Championship and the RBC Heritage. Among the participants is 15-time major champion Woods, who claimed victory at the 2000 PGA Championship held at Valhalla.
Woods, after extending his consecutive cuts made record (24) at last month’s Masters, mentioned his intention to visit Valhalla, where he won the 2000 PGA Championship, defeating Bob May in a memorable playoff. That victory came during Woods’ peak, as it marked his third consecutive major title, preceding his “Tiger Slam” with a win at the 2001 Masters. Woods has captured the PGA Championship four times, with the most recent in 2007, one of his 82 PGA Tour victories.
Woods also participated in the 2014 PGA Championship at Valhalla but missed the cut after shooting 74-74. Rory McIlroy won that year’s PGA Championship, which remains his most recent major triumph. Valhalla first hosted the PGA Championship in 1996, won by Mark Brooks. Woods did not compete in 1996; it was the final major before he turned professional.
Qualification for the PGA Championship is determined by several clear categories, including but not limited to PGA Tour champions from the past 12 months, previous PGA Championship winners, and the top 70 players, based on official earnings, from the rolling 12-month period since the previous PGA Championship.
The field also includes 21 PGA Club Professionals, comprising the top 20 finishers from last week’s PGA Professional Championship, plus Michael Block, who earned a return invitation after finishing tied for 15th in last year’s event, where he aced the par-3 15th hole at Oak Hill in the final round. The tournament invites the top 15 (and ties) from the previous year’s competition.
Special invitations are extended to notable players who don’t meet standard eligibility criteria. Sweden’s Tim Widing, who has won the last two Korn Ferry Tour events, secured a special invitation. Widing triumphed at the Lecom Suncoast Classic and the Veritex Bank Championship, amassing a combined score of -51, with a -31 at the Veritex Bank Championship, setting a new 72-hole scoring record on the Korn Ferry Tour.
(PGA TOUR)