PGA Championship: The Last Chance for an American to Claim a Major in 2011

There will no doubt be a feeling of anxiety amongst the officialdom of the PGA as they begin to realise that American domination of world golf could well be coming to an end.

The final "Major" of the year, the 2011 PGA Championship, gets under way at the Atlanta Athletic Club in three weeks time without an American in the "Major" winning group for the first time since 1994, when no American won one of the four biggest prizes in the sport.

This year, the traditional group, made up of the winners of the season's previous three "Majors" that tees off on day one of the PGA Championship, will comprise of US Masters Champion, Charl Schwartzel of South Africa, US Open Champion, Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland and Darren Clarke, British Open Champion also of Northern Ireland.

The lack of American presence is a particularly galling fact for the USPGA to deal with due to three of the four "Majors" being played on home soil.

The golfing world has not seen an American "Major" winner since Phil Mickelson won the Masters in 2010. Although fifteen months is not particularly a long time, six "Majors" have passed in that time and American golf fans are increasingly asking whether the wait for the next champion will stretch to two years and Augusta 2012, something previously unheard of.

To add to the tale of American woe, the last win in the PGA Championship by an American came in 2007 when Tiger Woods took his fourth title. Tiger also won in 2006 and it was Mickelson who took the honours in 2005.

There have been other recent American "Major" winners apart from Woods and Mickelson with Stewart Cink winning the British Open in 2009, Lucas Glover took the US Open also in 2009 and Zach Johnson won the Masters in 2007. All five, including Woods, should be in the field this year to try and arrest the diminishing reputation of US golfers amongst the current best in the world.

The current top rated American is Steve Stricker at No.5 in the World rankings, followed by Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Matt Kuchar who occupy positions six, seven and eight with Nick Watney in tenth place. However, it remains disappointing that no American has won one of the Championship events in 2011.  

This year’s PGA Championship will be the 93rd and is expected to include players from at least 22 different countries who between them will make up almost half of the 156 player field, the others will be looking to become the "savour" of golf in the US. David Toms from America was the last player to win the tournament at the Atlanta venue, when he took the title in 2001 and will be amongst the American contingent once again this year.