This championship was originally slated for Sahalee Country Club, east of Seattle, which hosted in 1998 and was selected in 1999 to host the championship again in 2010. That decision was reversed by the PGA of America in January 2005, when it was abruptly moved to Whistling Straits, which had recently hosted the very profitable 2004 edition and set new attendance records.
The PGA of America stated that it was concerned about the possibility of reduced financial support in the Pacific Northwest, as it was scheduled to be held less than six months after the conclusion of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia.[2][3] As of 2024, the PGA of America has yet to commit to return to Sahalee, with future venues selected through 2031. Whistling Straits hosted its third PGA Championship in 2015.
Field
The following qualification criteria were used to select the field.[4] Each player is listed according to the first category by which he qualified, but other categories are shown in parentheses.
The start of play was delayed on Thursday morning by over three hours due to fog; when the early starters finally got out, Bubba Watson and Francesco Molinari posted the best scores, setting a clubhouse target of four-under-par. Play was suspended on Thursday evening with half the field yet to complete their rounds; a second fog delay on Friday morning further delayed completion of the first round. Matt Kuchar defied the stoppages to take the first round lead, chasing his first win after a year of top-10s. Teenager Noh Seung-yul was only one shot behind, in the group at four-under, looking to become the second successive Korean PGA Championship winner.[11]
Matt Kuchar fired a second-round 69 to lead by one shot after day two. Fog again delayed the start by two and a half hours, but Kuchar was eight under at the close, one ahead of fellow American Nick Watney. The late start meant half the field would finish their rounds on Saturday.[12]
In the third round, Liang Wenchong shot a course-record 64 and moved into a tie for fourth place.[13] Overnight leader Matt Kuchar dropped back to seven under, and Nick Watney shot a 66 to take a three-stroke lead over Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson going into the final round. Half the 156 starters were forced to complete their seconds rounds on the Saturday after almost six hours were lost because of fog over the first two days.[14]
Seven different players held at least a share of the lead in the final round. Overnight leader Watney collapsed with an 81 (+9), including a triple-bogey on the 7th hole when he hit his ball into the water after hearing a camera click. Steve Elkington made a run towards the end, tying for the lead with a birdie on 16, but bogeyed the last two holes to finish two strokes back. Bubba Watson frequently drove his tee shots over 350 yards (320 m) and shot 68, including a birdie on the 16th hole to tie for the lead. He finished at 277, 11-under par. Kaymer, who held the lead for most of the day, made a 15-foot (5 m) par putt at the 18th hole to tie Watson for the clubhouse lead. McIlroy had a 15-footer for birdie on the 72nd green to tie for the lead with Watson and Kaymer, but missed. Dustin Johnson birdied 16 and 17 to take a one-shot lead with one hole to play, but bogeyed the final hole to apparently tie for the lead. After further review, it was decided that he had "grounded his club" in a bunker just off the edge of the 18th fairway, which is a contravention of Rule 13.4 of the Rules of Golf. Johnson readily admitted that he grounded his club but he did not know that the sandy patch beside the 18th fairway from which he played his second shot was deemed to be a bunker. He was given a two-stroke penalty and fell into a tie for fifth place.[15][16]
Dustin Johnson was assessed a two-stroke penalty on 18th hole, resulting in a triple bogey seven.
Playoff
Kaymer and Watson advanced to the three-hole aggregate playoff, played on the 10th, 17th, and 18th holes. Watson nearly drove the green on the short par-4 and capitalized with a birdie to take the early lead; Kaymer missed a long birdie putt and made par. On the par-3 17th, Kaymer tied Watson by making a 15-footer for birdie while Watson missed a 45-footer and had to settle for par. Tied with one hole remaining, the playoff was now effectively sudden-death on the par-4 18th. Both hit their tee shots into the right rough, and Watson played aggressively; he went for the green on his second shot but it fell well short, into the creek in front of the green. With Watson in the hazard, Kaymer elected to lay up from his poor lie and only advanced the ball a little ways up the fairway on his second shot, and hit his third shot within 15 feet (5 m) from the cup. After his drop from the hazard, Watson hit his fourth shot through the green into a bunker, but nearly holed the bunker shot for bogey that potentially could have extended the playoff. Kaymer's putt for par ended two feet (0.6 m) past and below the hole; he sank the bogey putt to win his first major championship.[19][20][21]
^Pelanda, Brian (April 20, 2011). "What's a 'Bunker'?: The Curious Case of How Dustin Johnson Lost the 2010 PGA Championship and Why the PGA Must Revise the Now Infamous Local Rule at Whistling Straits". Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law Journal. 22 (Fall/Winter 2011): 67. SSRN1909575.