The Senior PGA Championship, established in 1937, is the oldest of the five major championships in men's senior

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

. It is administered by the

Professional Golfers' Association of America The Professional Golfers' Association of America (PGA of America) is an American organization of professional golfer, golf professionals that was founded in 1916. Consisting of nearly 29,000 members, the PGA of America's undertaking is to est ...

and is recognized as a major championship by both

PGA Tour Champions PGA Tour Champions (formerly the Senior PGA Tour and the Champions Tour) is a men's professional senior golf tour, open to golfers age 50 and over, administered as a branch of the PGA Tour. History and format The Senior PGA Championship, f ...

and the

European Senior Tour The European Senior Tour, currently branded as the Legends Tour, is a professional golf tour for male golfers aged 50 and over, run by the PGA European Tour. The tour was titled as the Staysure Tour for the 2018 and 2019 seasons after UK-based ...

. It was formerly an unofficial money event on the European Senior Tour, but since 2007 has been an official money event. Winners gain entry into the next

PGA Championship The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. The PGA is one of the four men's major golf champi ...

. The winners prior to

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

, the first season of the senior tour, are not considered major champions of this event by the PGA Tour Champions. The lower age limit is 50, which is the standard limit for men's senior professional golf tournaments. Like its PGA Tour counterpart, the Senior PGA Championship allows club professionals to enter. The tournament committee gives former winners of the

PGA Professional National Championship The PGA Professional Championship is a golf tournament for golf club professionals and teachers who are members of the Professional Golfers' Association of America. It has been held by the PGA of America since 1968, when touring professionals spl ...

a one time invitation upon turning 50 years of age and the top 35 club professionals who qualify through the Senior PGA Professional National Championship.

History

The inaugural event was played in 1937 at

Augusta National Golf Club Augusta National Golf Club, sometimes referred to as Augusta National, Augusta, or the National, is a golf club in Augusta, Georgia, United States. It is known for hosting the annual Masters Tournament. Founded by Bobby Jones and Clifford Rob ...

, with 54-year-old

Jock Hutchison Jack Falls "Jock" Hutchison (June 6, 1884 – September 27, 1977) was a Scottish-born professional golfer who was based in the United States. Early life Hutchison was born in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland, the son of William and Helen (née Fa ...

winning the 54-hole event on Thursday, December 2. The second edition at Augusta was reduced to 36 holes due to rain, but had an 18-hole playoff on December 9 to decide the winner, Fred McLeod. The next edition was moved to

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

in January, No tournaments were held in 1943 and 1944 due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The event returned in 1945 at the PGA National Golf Course, where it stayed until 1962. The event moved to different courses in Florida through

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

. Due to scheduling moves, two tournaments were played in 1979 and 1984 and none in 1983, and 1985. It moved from winter to mid-April in

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

and when it rotated to various sites in

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

, it became a late spring event, played in late May or early June. It was a 36-hole event until 1954; after four years at 54 holes, it became a 72-hole event in 1958. In the past, the event has had long spells of playing on a single host course, but currently it is played on a different course each year. In 2011, the PGA of America and Whirlpool Corporation commenced an agreement which designated the KitchenAid brand as official home appliance brand of the PGA and presenting sponsor of the Senior PGA Championship. Harbor Shores Golf Club in Benton Harbor, Michigan, was designated as the championship's home course, hosting in alternate years starting in 2012. The Championship was canceled in 2020 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In 2014, the Whirlpool extended their arrangement through 2018, with KitchenAid becoming the title sponsor of the event. A further extension through 2024 was agreed in 2018, which proved to be the last.

Eligibility

Here is who may be eligible to compete in the Senior PGA Championship (provided they meet the age requirement): *Any past winner of the Senior PGA Championship *Any past winner of a regular major championship *Any past member of the United States

Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States, with hosting duties alternating between venues in Europe and the United States for each edition. The cup is named after the English businessman S ...

team *The top 15 finishers in the previous year's Senior PGA Championship *The top 50 on the

money list (previous year and current year) *Any winner of a PGA Tour Champions event since the last Senior PGA Championship *The top 35 finishers from the Callaway Golf Senior PGA Professional National Championship *Any winner of the previous five U.S. Senior Opens *The winner of the previous five Senior Open Championship *The top eight players from the previous year's

Order of Merit *The top four players from the previous year's Japanese Seniors Tour Order of Merit *A one-time exemption for those who have just turned 50 and have won a

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...

Japan Golf Tour The Japan Golf Tour () is a prominent professional golf tour. It was founded in 1973 and as of 2006, it offered the third-highest annual prize fund out of the regular (that is not for seniors) men's professional tours after the PGA Tour and the ...

, or

European Tour The European Tour, currently titled as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons, and legally the PGA European Tour or the European Tour Group, is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European ...

event in the last 5 years *The top 30 on the career money list, both PGA Tour Champions and combined PGA Tour Champions and PGA Tour *A one-time exemption for former PGA Professional National Champions turning 50 *Invitations for those not meeting criteria above also are made

Tournament hosts

Winners

Source:

Multiple winners

The following men have won the Senior PGA Championship more than once, through 2021: *6 wins:

Sam Snead Samuel Jackson Snead (; May 27, 1912 – May 23, 2002) was an American professional golfer who was one of the top players in the world for the better part of four decades (having won PGA of America and Senior PGA Tour events over six decades) an ...

(1964, 1965, 1967, 1970, 1972, 1973) *4 wins:

Hale Irwin Hale S. Irwin (born June 3, 1945) is an American professional golfer. He was one of the world's leading golfers from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s. He is one of the few players in history to win three U.S. Opens, becoming the oldest ever U.S. ...

(1996, 1997, 1998, 2004) *3 wins: Eddie Williams (1942, 1945, 1946), Al Watrous (1950, 1951, 1957),

Gary Player Gary James Player (born 1 November 1935) is a South African retired professional golfer who is widely considered to be one of the greatest golfers of all time. During his career, Player won nine major championships on the regular tour and nine ...

(1986, 1988, 1990) *2 wins:

(1937, 1947),

Gene Sarazen Gene Sarazen (; born Eugenio Saraceni, February 27, 1902 – May 13, 1999) was an American professional golfer, one of the world's top players in the 1920s and 1930s, and the winner of seven major championships. He is one of six players (alon ...

(1954, 1958),

Paul Runyan Paul Scott Runyan (July 12, 1908 – March 17, 2002) was an American professional golfer. Among the world's best players in the mid-1930s, he won two PGA Championships and is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame. Runyan was also a golf instruc ...

(1961, 1962),

Julius Boros Julius Nicolas Boros (March 3, 1920 – May 28, 1994) was an American professional golfer noted for his effortless-looking swing and strong record on difficult golf courses, particularly at the U.S. Open. Early life and amateur career Born in ...

(1971, 1977),

Don January Donald Ray January (November 20, 1929 – May 7, 2023) was an American professional golfer, best known for winning the 1967 PGA Championship. Early life Born in Plainview, Texas, January graduated from Sunset High School in Dallas. He was a ...

(1979, 1982),

Arnold Palmer Arnold Daniel Palmer (September 10, 1929 – September 25, 2016) was an American professional golfer who is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most charismatic players in the sport's history. Since embarking on a professional career in ...

(1980, 1984),

Lee Trevino Lee Buck Trevino (born December 1, 1939) is an American retired professional golfer who is regarded as one of the greatest players in golf history. He was inducted to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1981. Trevino won six major championships and ...

(1992, 1994),

Jay Haas Jay Dean Haas (born December 2, 1953) is an American professional golfer formerly of the PGA Tour who now plays on the PGA Tour Champions. Early life and amateur career Haas was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and grew up in Belleville, Illinois ...

(2006, 2008), Tom Watson (2001, 2011),

Colin Montgomerie Colin Stuart Montgomerie (born 23 June 1963) is a Scottish professional golfer. He has won a record eight European Tour PGA European Tour#Order of Merit winners, Order of Merit titles, including a streak of seven consecutive ones from 1993 to 1 ...

(2014, 2015)

Winners of both PGA Championship and Senior PGA Championship

The following men have won both the

and the Senior PGA Championship, the majors run by the PGA of America: