Tiger Woods And Rory McIlroy Headline List Of Valhalla Past Winners

When the 2024 PGA Championship takes place at Valhalla Golf Club, it will mark the seventh marquee event the Kentucky venue has hosted since 1996.

Previously, three PGA Championships, two Senior PGA Championships and one Ryder Cup have been contested across the Louisville land with all but the team event being decided by the thinnest of margins - one stroke.

Almost all of the greats in the men's game have teed it up there, but only a handful have ever walked away triumphant at the end of a serious examination of their golf games.

Here are the five solo (and one team) winners at Valhalla Golf Club...

1996 PGA CHAMPIONSHIP - MARK BROOKS

Hosting its first Major, Valhalla opened up with a cracker in 1996 as Texas-born Mark Brooks came from behind to beat Kentucky favorite Kenny Perry in a playoff. 

Perry blew a two-stroke lead by bogeying his final hole in regulation and watching Brooks birdie the 18th some half an hour later. Brooks then birdied the first playoff hole as Perry found trouble via the left rough.

Afterwards, Brooks said: “I’ve learned a lot of about life through golf. That’s what today was all about. Fighting through the bad and knowing something good is at the end.”

2000 PGA Championship - Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods claimed his fifth Major and second PGA Championship victory via a playoff success over Bob May in 2000 at Valhalla. It was the lowest winning score at Valhalla by some way, too, at 18-under.

That year's PGA Championship also happened to be Jack Nicklaus' final appearance at the tournament, with the Golden Bear playing alongside Woods and Vijay Singh in the first two rounds.

After the 60-year-old missed the cut by one shot in Kentucky, Woods went on to lift the title by the same margin. Another of Woods' iconic moments occurred when the 15-time Major winner ran after and pointed at what turned out to be the decisive putt on the first of three playoff holes.

2004 Senior PGA Championship - Hale Irwin

From one dominant figure to another, Hale Irwin collected his fourth Senior PGA Championship title and seventh senior Major at Valhalla in 2004 by a single stroke.

At a tournament that was delayed by weather on five separate occasions, Irwin two-putted for birdie from 40 feet on the last to down Jay Haas - who later missed a birdie attempt from 10 feet. It was Irwin's 40th PGA Tour Champions win.

2008 RYDER CUP - TEAM USA

The final score read 16.5-11.5 in favor of Team USA at Valhalla, but the biennial team event may well be better remembered for a few other iconic moments along the way. 

There was Anthony Kim taking Sergio Garcia to the cleaners in the opening Singles match on Sunday but being so zoned-in he had no idea, Stewart Cink and Chad Campbell's momentum-stealing comeback over Justin Rose and Ian Poulter on the Friday, and Boo Weekley riding his driver like a horse - a la Happy Gilmore - on the first in his Sunday Singles match.

Ultimately, Team USA were just happy to have stopped three European victories on the trot.

2011 Senior PGA Championship - Tom Watson

2011 marked yet another playoff at Valhalla and yet another Senior PGA Championship for Tom Watson. The five-time Open Champion and his playoff rival David Eger both missed short putts to claim the trophy on the final hole of regulation, but it was Watson who stood tallest in the sudden death shootout.

Watson made it up and down out of the front bunker to win his second Senior PGA Championship with a birdie while Eger was inaccurate with a 10-foot attempt himself which would have forced another extra hole.

Afterwards, Watson said: "These young kids coming out there hitting the ball so much farther than I do and, you know, their nerves are pretty much still intact. They don’t have the aches and pains and I’ve been lucky with that, but I’m starting to get a few aches and pains and I feel very fortunate to have won. Very, very fortunate.”

2014 PGA Championship - Rory McIlroy

As the above picture shows, Rory McIlroy's fourth (and so far, latest) Major victory arrived in very dark conditions as the sun began to set and the weather conditions worsened at Valhalla. 

Phil Mickelson and Rickie Fowler trailed by two shots in the penultimate group and agreed to let McIlroy and his playing partner, Bernd Wiesberger hit their drives while they were still on the fairway - given the situation.

The tension was palpable, and it almost became too much for some to deal with when Mickelson nearly chipped in for eagle. But a birdie for Lefty was not enough to catch his rival and McIlroy sealed the deal as the sun was setting.

McIlroy said after: “I suggested we play up as a four. I didn’t know if they wanted to do that or not. You know, to get this thing finished and get this thing over and done with, and the guys let us play up with our drives and they didn’t need to do that. They could’ve just left us on the tee box there and just play normally, but they showed a lot of class and a lot of sportsmanship by doing that.”