Five Things to Know ahead of the 2024 PGA Championship

All eyes in the golf world are focused towards Louisville, Kentucky this week as the season's second Major Championship returns to Valhalla Golf Club for the fourth time. Here is everything you need to know as the PGA Championship makes its return to the Bluegrass State.

Valhalla Golf Club was designed by Jack Nicklaus
Despite its already-rich history in the landscape of professional golf, Valhalla Golf Club is a relatively younger club by most course standards.

In 1981, Dwight Gahm, a Louisville business leader and golf enthusiast, tasked the great Jack Nicklaus with designing and constructing a course worthy of hosting Major Championship golf. Construction began in 1984 and Valhalla officially opened for play in 1986, quickly earning recognition as the #1-Ranked course in the state of Kentucky, where it has remained since opening.

Nicklaus, when beginning the project, once proclaimed that the venue was, "a golf designer's dream."

It's a BIG Ballpark
The property spans across nearly 500 acres of rolling Kentucky terrain and will be a true test for the best players in golf. The course has been lengthened by more than 150 yards since Rory McIlroy last raised the Wanamaker Trophy at Valhalla in 2014, and will play at 7,609 yards this year.

Water is in play on seven holes, with more than 60 bunkers littered throughout the course. Like many traditional PGA Championship setups, look for the longer hitters to have an advantage this week at Valhalla.

Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy are Past Champions
Valhalla has played host to some iconic moments in PGA Championship history, highlighted by Tiger Woods defeating Bob May in a playoff to win his second Wanamaker Trophy in 2000.

Playing together in the final group of the 2000 final round, Woods and May dueled it out all afternoon, with both making birdies on the 18th to finish at -18 and force a three-hole playoff. On the first playoff hole, Woods had one of his most iconic career moments when he chased in a 20-footer for birdie, pointing at the ball as it rolled into the cup.

Tiger would go on to defeat May in the three-hole playoff in what many consider to be the best PGA Championship of all-time.

14 years later, another icon of the modern golf era raised his second Wanamaker Trophy at Valhalla when Rory McIlroy held on to beat Phil Mickelson by one stroke at 2014 PGA Championship. After Mickelson narrowly missed a chip for Eagle on the 18th hole that would have tied him atop the leaderboard, McIlroy famously rushed through the final hole in near darkness to secure his third career Major Championship.

Valhalla will look a little different than we last saw it
Over the last few years, the PGA of America, along with Nicklaus Design Team, have performed some major renovations to Valhalla ahead of the 2024 PGA Championships.

Along with lengthening the course, the teams also worked to bring out more of a "Kentucky"-feel around the property. A 30,000-square-foot agronomy center was added near the 15th hole, the clubhouse experienced a major upgrade, a new Championship tee box was added to the closing hole, and the iconic 13th "island green" added a new water feature to the limestone backdrop. The recent calendar move of the PGA Championship to May from its old spot in August will also help to bring out the natural colors of the scenery and allow the course to play both firmer and faster.

Get a first look at the changes coming to Valhalla in GOLF+
The GOLF+ team recently released their own update to Valhalla Golf Club within the game. PGA Championship signage and hospitality areas have been added throughout the course in addition to all of the design changes that you can expect to see when the 2024 PGA Championship tees off.

Take your first look at the new Valhalla update by simply leaving a review for GOLF+ on the Meta Quest Store!