Shaun Micheel ‘haunted’ by PGA Championship triumph

At Oak Hill 20 years ago, Shaun Micheel lifted the Wanamaker trophy, but upon reflection, he accepts it was a triumph that left some damage.

As a past champion, the 54-year-old returns to New York this week, and two decades on since his only PGA Tour win, Micheel has conceded the mental struggles that followed.

Speaking to the Evening Standard, the American admits he was never satisfied by winning his first event in a major championship.

“I was haunted by what happened to me in 2003,” he said. “I always wanted to validate my name on the trophy and my name amongst those hall-of-famers with another win.

“Each shot I hit was life and death. The trophy hung over my head and followed me everywhere.”

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Micheel, who was ranked 169th in the world at the start of the week, had no expectations of winning a PGA Championship, but his approach shot at the 18th hole told otherwise.

From 175 yards out on the fairway, Micheel struck a seven iron to just two inches to confirm his two-shot victory on four-under-par.

However, the ‘quest for perfection’ took over, and the burden of success weighed heavily on Micheel.

He said: “It’s been a difficult part of my personal life. That bled into my relationships, obviously with my wife and my family. If I didn’t play well, I didn’t want to be seen.

“When you win a major as your first Tour victory, you’re at a loss. Especially the way I finished; how could I upstage that? I had my walk-off moment.”

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The major champion set out to ‘only make the cut’ but held the lead all weekend before claiming his lone tour win, ahead of Chad Campbell and Tim Clark.

Phil Mickelson, Adam Scott, and Paul Casey all made the cut in 2003 and will join Micheel in heading back to Rochester this week for the second major of the year.

John Turnbull A graduate of the University of Stirling, John joined the bunkered team in 2023 as a Content Producer, with a responsibility for covering all breaking news, tour news, grassroots content and much more besides. A keen golfer, he plays the majority of his golf at Falkirk Golf Club. Top of his 'bucket list' is a round of Pebble Beach... ideally in the company of Gareth Bale.