On 30th July 1959, Manuel de la Torre became the first Spaniard in history to play the PGA Championship. That day the circle was closed. Our golf had finally debuted in the four Majors. Ángel de la Torre did it first in the Open and in the US Open and in that same year 1959 it was Ángel Miguel who first put the flag of Spain in the Masters of Augusta.
Next Thursday, 16th May 2024, David Puig will make his debut in the PGA Championship. He will be the last Spaniard to join the ranks in the PGA of America’s Major, number 17. It will have been 64 years, nine months and 21 days since that historic first time of Manuel de la Torre, who missed the cut at the Minneapolis Golf Club, in the second edition of the PGA Championship in stroke play format.
So far, a total of 16 Spaniards have played at least one edition of the PGA Championship. Not many in almost 65 years. It is, therefore, a very small and exclusive club. During this time, Sergio García has played it the most times, 24 editions, and also holds the best ever result of Spanish golf in this tournament, two second places in 1999 and 2008.
With 21 appearances is José María Olazábal, who reached the fourth position in the year 2000, curiously in one of the three editions that have already been played at the Valhalla Golf Club. From there, Miguel Ángel Jiménez played it 17 times and only, for now, Seve Ballesteros (13) and Manuel de la Torre (11) have more than ten participations.
On the verge of double digits are, for now, Pablo Larrazábal and Rafa Cabrera Bello, although both have more than enough margin to improve this figure. Then, the next in this particular ranking is Jon Rahm, who this year will play his eighth PGA Championship, while Gonzalo Fernández Castaño was in six, Álvaro Quirós in four, a figure that will reach this week Adrián Otaegui, Nacho Garrido and Jorge Campillo add up to three, Adri Arnaus has two and Manolo Piñero and José María Cañizares played it on a single occasion.
The best results of Spanish golf in the PGA Championship are the aforementioned second places of Sergio García, although Rahm already has a fourth in his power, Olazábal also reached fourth, Seve finished fifth in 1984 and Rafa Cabrera Bello and Miguel Ángel Jiménez also have a top 10 in 2018 and 1999, respectively.
In terms of earnings, Sergio García is also the player who has made the most of the PGA of America, with a total of $1,837,120, although Rahm is already hot on his heels with less than a third of his participations. The Barrika player already exceeds one million. The ones who have earned the least with this tournament are Piñero and Cañizares. Both played a single edition, missed the cut and took a cheque for a thousand dollars.
So, David Puig will be the 17th Spaniard to play the PGA Championship and the first to debut in this tournament since Adri Arnaus in 2022. The best stroke average of our golfers belongs to Jon Rahm with 70.69 strokes, followed by Sergio García (71.66), who are closely followed by Adrián Otaegui (71.75) and Rafa Cabrera Bello (71.96).
The lowest round of the Spaniards in a PGA Championship corresponds to José María Olazábal with 63 strokes, curiously in Valhalla, while Rafa Cabrera Bello has a 64, Jiménez a 65 and Rahm, Sergio, Seve and Larrazábal hold a valuable 66.
Let’s remember that Puig has received an invitation from the PGA of America recognising his performances on the Asian Tour.
