Fansided

10 best moments in PGA Championship history

By Luke Norris

CHARLOTTE, NC - AUGUST 10: The Wanamaker Trophy is seen during the first round of the 2017 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Club on August 10, 2017 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)
CHARLOTTE, NC - AUGUST 10: The Wanamaker Trophy is seen during the first round of the 2017 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Club on August 10, 2017 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images) /
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ROCHESTER, NY – AUGUST 05: A plaque is seen in the rough on the 18th hole to commemorate the 7-iron shot that Shaun Micheel struck from 174 yards during the 2003 PGA Championship during a practice round prior to the start of the 95th PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club on August 5, 2013 in Rochester, New York. (Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images)
ROCHESTER, NY – AUGUST 05: A plaque is seen in the rough on the 18th hole to commemorate the 7-iron shot that Shaun Micheel struck from 174 yards during the 2003 PGA Championship during a practice round prior to the start of the 95th PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club on August 5, 2013 in Rochester, New York. (Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images) /

10. Shaun Micheel sticks a 7-iron in 2003

We’re going to bookend this list with a pair of surprise winners and it starts with one of the biggest surprise winners not only in the history of the PGA Championship, but perhaps in the history of major championship golf.

Coming into the 2003 PGA Championship at Oak Hill, 34-year-old Shaun Micheel had spent his entire career looking for a win on the PGA Tour. He turned pro in 1992 out of Indiana University but struggled to keep status for a long time, not picking up his first professional win until the 1998 Singapore Open on the Asian Tour. He followed that up in 1999 with a win on the Nike Tour (now known as the Web.com Tour) but that PGA Tour win just hadn’t happened for him. He was ranked 169th in the world coming into Oak Hill and this was just his third appearance in a major championship.

Micheel started nicely with a one-under round of 69 and was just three shots back of leaders Phil Mickelson, who was still looking for his first major win at this time, and Australian Rod Pampling. Micheel’s second-round 68 gave him a two-stroke lead heading into the weekend but he was tied with Chad Campbell going into Sunday’s final round at four-under.

The two battled all day long with Micheel taking a three-shot lead at one point. However, a costly bogey at the 17th cut his lead to one coming to the 482-yard, par-4 finishing hole. He hit a solid drive down the left side, leaving him a 7-iron in from 175 yards and it became one of the most famous 7-iron shots in history. Knowing he had struck the ball well, Micheel yelled at the ball to “be right” and it certainly was. It took a hop on the front of the green and rolled to two inches, giving him the biggest and last win of his career.

Shaun Micheel holds the record of most starts on the PGA Tour (392 heading into the 2018 PGA Championship) whose only win is a major championship.

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