Celebrating 100 years as Tiger goes for 15th major

The PGA Championship has all the trappings of a big celebration this year.

Thanks to a Sunday afternoon on the other side of the Atlantic, it feels even bigger.

This is the 100th edition of the only major championship restricted to professionals, and it’s a farewell to the muggy heat of summer. The PGA Championship is leaving its August date after some 40 years and moving to May. Jordan Spieth was always sure to get plenty of attention as he gets a second crack at trying to complete the career Grand Slam, a feat achieved by only five other players, never at the PGA Championship.

And now Tiger Woods is in focus like never before. Just the sight of his name atop the leaderboard in the final round of the British Open, even if it was there alone for only about 30 minutes, was enough to turn cynics into cheerleaders. Woods has gone 10 years, five surgeries and one divorce since his last major. He started the year with uncertainty about his health and his swing. He reaches the final major without a victory, but with a game that suggests another trophy — even the biggest variety — might not be far off.

He finished one shot behind at the Valspar Championship in March. He finished three shots behind at Carnoustie.

“I think that I went from just hoping to be able to play the tour,” Woods said. “Now that I feel that I can the play the tour, I certainly can win again. I’ve had an opportunity to win a couple times this year. I had a great chance at Valspar early in the year, and even a week ago (at the British Open) I had a great shot at it. Yeah, my game has gotten better and good enough where I feel like I can win again.”

The PGA Championship returns to Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis, Missouri, and a victory for Woods would be his fifth Wanamaker Trophy, tying the record held by Jack Nicklaus and Walter Hagen, and his 15th major championship.

Bellerive is a course Woods doesn’t know very well, and he’s not alone.

It last hosted the PGA Championship in 1992 when Nick Price won the first of his three majors. Bellerive also was the site of the BMW Championship in 2008, which Woods missed while recovering from knee surgery. Only 13 players from that event are in the field for the PGA.

Woods was last at Bellerive for the tournament it didn’t host — the American Express Championship in 2001, canceled because of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. That was the only time Woods played the course, a Tuesday practice round with Mark Calcavecchia in which a PGA Tour security official was filling him in on the attacks as he played.

“Pretty much everything was a blur,” he said when asked about his recollections of the golf course.

Justin Thomas is the defending champion and one of the few players who has seen Bellerive, back in June as part of his media promotion tour. Based on its spot on the schedule, the PGA Championship rarely allows time for players to get a preview.

The British Open ended on July 22, and players like world No. 1 Dustin Johnson and U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka went straight to Canada, and then Ohio for a World Golf Championship. Woods was in Switzerland on a holiday.