The Australasians at the PGA Championship

There will be a mix of old and new faces among the Australasian contingent when the 108th staging of the PGA Championship takes place in Pennsylvania on Thursday.

First played in 1916, the PGA Championship was the first golf major won by an Australian, Jim Ferrier, defeating Chick Harbert 2&1 at Plum Hollow Country Club in 1947, a decade before it changed to a strokeplay championship.

Since 1958, a further four Aussies have raised the Wanamaker Trophy, making it equal to The Open Championship as the major won by the most Australians.

The most recent Aussie winner is Jason Day in 2015, the now 38-year-old back this year to make his 17th PGA Championship.

It is the 26th straight PGA Championship for Adam Scott, who will be playing in his 99th consecutive major, just one US Open away from joining Jack Nicklaus as the only players to tee it up in 100 straight majors.

As Scott prepares for PGA No.27, Sydney’s Travis Smyth will play his first.

Smyth’s only previous major championship start came at the 2023 Open Championship at Royal Liverpool, and his first major in the US seemed unlikely at the start of the year.

But an extraordinary three-tournament run through New Zealand saw Smyth claim the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit, parlaying that form into victory at the International Series Japan on the Asian Tour.

It was that victory that all but guaranteed Smyth’s place at Aronimink by virtue of his top-three position on the International Federation Ranking on the Official World Golf Ranking.

“I haven’t played there before, but I have fortunately played a lot of golf up in the north-east of America, so the grasses and stuff are going to be familiar,” said Smyth.

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“I don’t know how it’s going to be set up, if it’s going to be firm or not, depending on the weather, but I’m just expecting a really long, tough golf course with thick rough, deep bunkers, firm, fast greens.

“It’s a major, so it should be set up quite difficult. And mentally, I’m just preparing for the hardest test of golf.”

The 2022 Open champion, Cameron Smith, has split with long-time coach Grant Field as he seeks to end a run of six straight missed cuts in major championships, while Min Woo Lee is out to bounce back after failing to make the weekend at The Masters.

Rounding out the Aussie charge is Elvis Smylie, who returns to the PGA Championship for the second straight year, having made the cut at Quail Hollow last year.

Aronimink Golf Club is itself a storied Donald Ross-designed venue that received an update from acclaimed architect Gil Hanse in 2018. It has hosted the PGA Championship just once, with Gary Player victorious by two strokes in 1962.

All four rounds of the PGA Championship will be broadcast live on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo Sports, with Round 1 coverage starting Thursday at 8:45 pm AEST.