LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The PGA Championship spent a good half-century holding down an August spot on the calendar. From 1969 to 2018 — with a couple one-year exceptions — the championship was an awkward appendix to the major season. The PGA lacked the elegant elitism of the Masters, the muscular brawn of the U.S. Open or the historical gravitas of the Open Championship, so it’s had to scope out other ways to separate itself from its three major brethren.
Some of its attempted slogans were awkward, like “Glory’s Last Shot,” which obviously no longer applies. Others were, well, simply factual — “The strongest field in golf” is in fact true, when you invite more than 150 of the world’s best, that’ll outdo all smaller fields.