AS THE PGA CHAMPIONSHIP BEGINS, here is a look at A.W. Tillinghast, the man who created this year's championship course, Bethpage Black on Long Island.
Tillinghast was flamboyant in nearly every way, earning a million dollars designing golf courses across the United States in the Roaring Twenties. He outspent his vast earnings and was more or less broke when the Great Depression rocked the United States and the world.
The PGA of America gave Tillinghast a job that helped save himself and rejuvenate golf. The golf organization sent him around the country to help PGA pros improve their golf courses during a time when money was scarce.