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The PGA Championship, or USA PGA Championship as some call it, has been contested since 1916.
Back then, it was a matchplay event, rather than the 72-hole strokeplay format we see today. But who was the first golfer to win it?
The 1916 PGA Champion was a man called Jim Barnes. Barnes was an English golfer, who won the final by a score of 1-up, over his Scottish opponent, Jock Hutchison. That year, the event took place over Siwanoy Country Club in New York.
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This was Barnes’ first major victory, but he would go on to win four of them. The following two years, the PGA Championship wasn’t contested, but in 1919, Barnes defended his title when he won by a comfortable margin of 6&5 in the final.
Here’s the some of the early winners of the US PGA Championship:
1916: Jim Barnes
1919: Jim Barnes
1920: Jock Hutchison
1921: Walter Hagen
1922 & 1923: Gene Sarazen
1924, 1925, 1926, 1927: Walter Hagen
1928 & 1929: Leo Diegel
1930: Tommy Armour
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