Quail Hollow Club • Charlotte, North Carolina • May 15–18, 2026
The Wanamaker Trophy. The largest major field. The second major of the season.
The PGA Championship is the second of golf's four major championships, played in May and organized by the PGA of America — a separate body from the PGA Tour that represents club professionals across the United States.
The Championship was founded in 1916 when Rodman Wanamaker, a department store magnate, donated a trophy and prize money to launch a national championship for professional golfers. That trophy — the Wanamaker — remains the prize today. It's one of the largest and most ornate in sports.
The PGA Championship has the largest field of any major at around 156 players, with the most open qualifying criteria. Club professionals can qualify through their club pro events, and hundreds of aspiring tour players attempt to qualify through 36-hole sectional qualifiers held around the world.
The Wanamaker Trophy is so large and heavy that winners often struggle to lift it during the presentation — a running tradition that has become part of the championship's lore.
The 2026 PGA Championship is held at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina. The course previously hosted the 2017 PGA Championship, where Justin Thomas won his first major title with a seven-under-par final round. The back nine finishing stretch — known as "The Green Mile" for its tree-lined difficulty — is among the most demanding stretches in championship golf.
No active player has dominated the PGA Championship like Brooks Koepka. He won back-to-back in 2018 and 2019, and added a third title at Oak Hill in 2023 while playing on LIV Golf — proving that the best LIV players can still win major championships. His record in this specific event is unlike anything in modern golf.
Past PGA Championship winners are exempt for five years from their victory. All past US Open, Masters, and Open Championship winners from the last five years are also exempt.
Top 100 players in the OWGR at the time of the championship are invited — the most generous ranking-based exemption of any major, which allows more of the world's best to participate.
Twenty club professionals qualify through a dedicated PGA Club Pro Championship, making the PGA Championship the only major with a formal pathway for club pros who teach and run golf programs rather than competing full-time.
| Year | Champion | Country | Score | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Scottie Scheffler | USA | TBD | Valhalla Golf Club, KY |
| 2023 | Brooks Koepka | USA | -9 | Oak Hill CC, NY (while on LIV Golf) |
| 2022 | Justin Thomas | USA | -5 | Southern Hills CC, OK (playoff vs. Mito Pereira) |
| 2021 | Phil Mickelson | USA | -6 | Kiawah Island, SC — oldest major champion at 50 |
| 2020 | Collin Morikawa | USA | -13 | Harding Park, CA — first major in his career |
| 2019 | Brooks Koepka | USA | -8 | Bethpage Black, NY — second consecutive PGA |
| 2018 | Brooks Koepka | USA | -16 | Bellerive CC, MO — first PGA Championship |
| 2017 | Justin Thomas | USA | -8 | Quail Hollow Club, NC — same course as 2026 |