A municipal course own by the local council in San Francisco, TPC Harding Park is no stranger to hosting world-class events having previously crowned Rory McIlroy the winner of the 2015 WGC-Match Play Championship and Tiger Woods winner of the 2005 WGC-Championship.
The golf course first opened in 1925 and covers a 163-acre area along the shore of Lake Merced to the west of the city.
It grew in notoriety after hosting the US Amateur Public Links and the likes of Ken Venturi and Johnny Miller both played a lot of junior golf at the venue, with Venturi’s parents running the pro-shop on site.
In the 1960s, Harding Park became a regular stop on the PGA Tour and winners included Venturi, Gary Player and Billy Casper.
However, the PGA Tour soon left, deeming the facilities too outdated and the course condition worsened in the 1980s and 1990s as city budgets were cut.
The establishment reached its nadir when it was used as a car park to facilitate the 1998 US Open which was played at the nearby Olympic Club.
However, regeneration began in the early 2000s and the course has been returned to its former glory with over 400 yards of length added to bring it up to modern Championship course standards.
In 2009 it welcomed the Presidents Cup for the first time and the event is scheduled to go back there again in 2026.
Tighter Fairways
For this year’s US PGA Championship the fairways have been pinched slightly to test the best players in the world from the tee box, and they are dramatically framed by huge cypress and eucalyptus trees.
From the tips the course will measure 7,234 yards and plays to a par 70.
The rough will be juicy and the tournament will, as with most American-based Majors, likely produce a big-hitting winner.
This year, the event takes pride of place on the schedule.
Usually billed as ‘Glories Last Shot’ as the final Major of the season, the tournament finds itself spearheading the 2020 Majors with the US Open next month and the Masters pushed to November.
