Most Unlikely Winners of The PGA Championship

The US PGA Championship is a major that has produced both its fair share of unlikely winners and some highly improbable finishes.

Here, we pick out six of the best.

John Daly, Crooked Stick, 1991

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Was there ever a more thrilling winner than 25-year-old John Daly. He only got into the field as ninth alternate when Nick Price withdrew as his wife gave birth. Daly’s "grip it and rip it" style proved to be a sensation as he launched massive drives and putted like a god for four days, beating Bruce Lietzke by four shots. Daly averaged around 300 yards from the tee at a time when such distances were unheard of. He held the massive crowds spellbound and was cheered every step of the way to victory. It seemed that a superstar had arrived on the scene. Although he would later win The Open at St Andrews, it did not quite work out that way for the man who became known as "The Wild Thing" - for good reason.

Shaun Micheel, Oak Hill, 2003

Micheel went into the 2003 US PGA ranked 169th in the world and making his 164th PGA Tour start, becoming one of the biggest underdogs to win a major in recent times. In the first two rounds, he shot 69-68 to take a two-shot lead over Billy Andrade and Mike Weir. Everybody expected him to fade. A third round 69 saw him tied for the lead with Chad Campbell, three clear of Weir. He shot a par 70 in the final round to defeat Campbell by two strokes. That season, he finished 32nd on the money list. In 2004, he made the top 100 on the PGA Tour money list for the second time in his career. His career high world ranking is 34th, achieved in 2004. And it turned out to be his only victory.

Rich Beem, Hazeltine, 2002

Beem won The International at Castle Rock in 2002 for his maiden PGA Tour success. Two weeks later he turned up for the PGA Championship at Hazeltine as a rank outsider. He shot a par 72 in the first round, but followed that with a six-under 66 in the second round to pull into a five-way tie for first place. In the third round, he again shot 72 and lay second, three strokes behind Justin Leonard. He was in uncharted territory. In the fourth round, Beem saw off Tiger Woods, who birdied his last four holes. Beem shot a 68 to hold off Woods by a shot and finished the week inside the top 20 in the world rankings. He wasn’t there for long.

YE Yang, Hazeltine, 2009

When Tiger Woods went into the final round of a major with the lead he always won. It was something that was taken as read. At Hazeltine in 2009 he took the lead after a first round of 67. He followed it with a 70 to share the lead with Ross Fisher and Lucas Glover and took a two-shot lead into the final round after a 71. But then the unthinkable happened. Woods struggled with his driver throughout the final round and his playing partner, YE Yang, gradually reeled him in. Tied on the short par-four 14th, Yang chipped in for eagle, giving him a lead he did not relinquish. He sealed the victory by drawing a 210-yard approach around a tree to within ten feet on the final hole, setting up a birdie against Woods' closing bogey and a winning margin of three strokes. He was the first Korean to win a men’s major.

Bob Tway, Inverness, 1986

Greg Norman started the final round with a four-shot lead and held on to that lead throughout the front nine. After a double-bogey at the 11th and a bogey at the 14th, he was tied with Bob Tway. They both parred the next three holes and were tied standing on the final tee. Tway put his approach shot in a greenside bunker, while Norman was just off the green on the fringe, 25 feet from the flag. Tway then stunned Norman by holing out from the sand for a birdie. Norman's attempt to tie missed, as did his par-saving putt. The Australian led all four majors in 1986 after the third round, but won only The Open. This would be the highlight of Tway’s career.

John Mahaffey, Oakmont, 1978

Mahaffey was a decent-enough PGA Tour player but was never somebody whose name figured when it came to majors. But in 1978 at Oakmont he produced a remarkable final-round performance, coming from seven shots behind Tom Watson with 14 holes to play. Ultimately, it all came down to a three-man playoff - Mahaffey, Watson and Jerry Pate. All three players made par on the first playoff hole. The drama ended on the second playoff hole when Pate missed the green, Watson missed a 30-foot birdie attempt and Mahaffey drained a 12-foot birdie putt to claim his only major title. Later in the year he also won the World Cup individual and team event where he was paired with Andy North.

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