2003 PGA Championship winner, leaderboard, storylines, and more at Oak Hill

Looking back at the 2003 PGA Championship winner, leaderboard and more with the storylines from the second PGA at Oak Hill Country Club.

The PGA Championship is going to be held at historic Oak Hill Country Club for the fourth time in the event’s history in 2023. After an extensive redesign and rennovation of the classic Donald Ross course, it should be much different than the previous major championships that we’ve seen at the venue.

Though this is the fourth trip to Oak Hill for the PGA Championship, it’s the third time in 21 years that the PGA of America has taken their flagship event to Rochester, NY, previously holding it at this course for the 2003 and 2013 PGA Championship tournaments.

That 2003 tournament, in particular, is one to remember, though. It resulted in one of the biggest underdog victories in golf history. So let’s take a look back at the 2003 PGA Championship winner, leaderboard and the storylines through the week to help us learn anything we can for 2023.

2003 PGA Championship winner: Who won at Oak Hill?

Shaun Micheel was the winner of the 2003 PGA Championship, the second time the venue had been played at Oak Hill, and one of the most unlikely major champions in golf history. 34 years old at the time, he shocked the world with his victory as he entered as a 250-1 underdog according to oddsmakers, putting into context how much of a stunner the win was for him.

Interestingly enough, Micheel was such a shocking winner because he largely didn’t come close in any other major, never finishing inside the Top 20 at The Masters, Open Championship or US Open, nor did he finish better than T24 in any other PGA. Moreover, his win at Oak Hill was his only career victory on the PGA Tour, though he did notch wins on the Asian Tour and Nike Tour in the late 1990s.

With the return to Oak Hill for the second time, Micheel is in the opening group on the first tee for the 2023 PGA Championship.

2003 PGA Championship leaderboard

Here’s a look at how the leaderboard turned out at Oak Hill for the 2003 PGA Championship when it was played here.

1. Shaun Micheel -4
2. Chad Campbell -2
3. Tim Clark -1
4. Alex Cejka E
T5. Ernie Els +2
T5. Jay Haas +2
T7. Fred Funk +4
T7. Loren Roberts +4
T7. Mike Weir +4
T10. Billy Andrade +5
T10. Charles Howell III +5
T10. Kenny Perry +5
T10. Niclas Fasth +5
T14. Robert Gamez +6
T14. Tim Herron +6
T14. Scott McCarron +6
T14. Rod Pampling +6
T18. Carlos Franco +7
T18. Jim Furyk +7
T18. Toshi Izawa +7
T18. Rocco Mediate +7
T18. Kevin Sutherland +7

The tough conditions that week led to some of the biggest names in the field to fade over the weekend, even though they made the cut. Tiger Woods shot +12 for the week and +3 in both of the weekend rounds, Phil Mickelson was +7 for the weekend to drop to T23, and Vijay Singh meanwhile was +9 on Sunday alone to fall to T34.

2003 PGA Championship major storylines

With Tiger having won The Masters and US Open back-to-back in 2002, his best finish in a major entering the PGA Championship in 2003 was a T4 the previous month at the British Open. As such, plenty of eyes were on him to make some noise. Jim Furyk was hot at the time after his win at the US Open earlier in the year, while Mike Weir was the winner at Augusta and Ben Curtis stunned at The Open Championship.

The first round of action at Oak Hill saw Phil Mickelson, who still had not won a major at 33 years old, jump out to a tie for the lead with Rod Pampling with a 4-under round. However, Billy Andrade was just one stroke off the pace with Lee Janzen and Mike Weir two strokes behind. That first round on Thursday was also interrupted by widespread blackouts in the northeast, but that didn’t slow down Lefty to begin the tournament.

It was eventual champion Shaun Micheel, who was three strokes off the lead after shooting -1 in the first round, who jumped out in front on a day when most everyone struggled, shooting a 2-under 68 to take a two-stroke lead over Andrade and Weir. It was Mickelson who faded the hardest, shooting 5-over for the round to drop to T5 and four strokes off the pace.

Micheel continued his strong play, shooting another 1-under round of 69 but Chad Campbell fired off one of the rounds of the tournament with a 5-under 65 to tie him and Micheel at the top, three strokes clear of Weir (-1) and four clear of Tim Clark (E).

The even play of Micheel — literally as he shot a 70 on Sunday — proved to be the difference in a PGA Championship that featured immense volatility. While Campbell struggled a bit more to follow up his low round, he shot 2-over for the day while Micheel shot par, giving him the first and only major championship victory of his career.

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