The KPMG Women’s PGA Championship is the second oldest of the five current women’s majors, dating to 1955, but what is the history of the tournament?
Of the five women’s majors, only the US Women’s Open outdates the Women’s PGA Championship. It is also one of three majors that takes place in the United States.
Apart from the very first edition of the Women’s PGA, the tournament has been a four-day stroke play competition. The 1955 edition saw three rounds of stroke play, followed by match play on Sunday to determine the final order.
Americans would dominate the early years of the tournament, winning all bar four editions through to 1993. Since then, the history books have seen plenty of different flags for the winners.
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The tournament began life as the LPGA Championship, an event run solely by the LPGA Tour for the first six decades of its history.
Throughout those 60 years, there were a number of sponsorship changes, with Mazda, McDonald’s, AIG, Coca-Cola and Wegmans all in the title name.
There were also runs of the event being held at the same venue. The Jack Nicklaus Sports Centre in Ohio played host to the tournament for 12 consecutive years from 1978 to 1989.
DuPont Country Club (11), Pleasant Valley (7), Stardust Country Club (6), Bulle Rock (5), Bethesda Country Club (4), and Locust Hill Country Club (4) are the other venues to host the Women’s PGA Championship on more than two occasions.
Mickey Wright is the most successful golfer in the history of the Women’s PGA Championship. The American won the event four times, with victories in 1958, 1960, 1961 and 1963.
The last of those wins came at Stardust Country Club, where Wright finished the tournament 10-over, but still held on to win by two shots.
