After an enthralling final day at the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship, here are some of the day's talking points from Oak Hill Country Club...
Comeback King of Oak Hill
For the second year in a row, the winner of the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship played in the penultimate group.
Paul Broadhurst was the victor in 2018, as he overturned a four-stroke deficit to win his second Senior Major at Harbor Shores, Michigan. This time, it was Ken Tanigawa who overturned Broadhurst, who valiantly defended his title.
Tanigawa started the day three strokes behind Broadhurst, but moved ahead after consecutive birdies on the 15thand 16thholes, eventually finishing one stroke ahead of Scott McCarron and two ahead of Broadhurst.
History against Broadhurst
Defending a Senior Major Championship is no mean feat. Over the last ten years, just three players have successfully defended a Senior Major crown.
The last was Bernhard Langer, who has completed the feat twice in that time: winning the Constellation Senior Players Championship in 2015, 2016 and 2017, and the Regions Tradition in 2016 and 2017.
Colin Montgomerie won back-to-back Senior PGA Championships in 2014 and 2015, while Tom Lehman defended the Tradition in 2012 after winning in 2011.
Oak Hill overcome – but only by three
Just three players finished the week at Oak Hill under par.
A far-cry from Jay Haas’s seven over par victory on this course in 2008, Tanigawa, McCarron and Broadhurst carded under par totals at this venue.
Tanigawa’s three under par total is the highest winning score at the Senior PGA Championship since 2002, when Fuzzy Zoeller finished two under par at Firestone Country Club.
First-timers on the rise
Four of the last five Senior Major Championships have been claimed by first-time winners.
The run started with David Toms’ victory at the U.S. Senior Open, followed by Vijay Singh winning the Senior Players. Miguel Angel Jiménez won two Senior Majors last season – his first at the Tradition and then The Senior Open Presented by Rolex.
Steve Stricker won his first just two weeks ago at the Tradition, followed by Tanigawa’s victory this weekend.
