PGA CHAMPIONSHIP '13: Looking back at big events at Oak Hill

A capsule look at the five previous majors and one Ryder Cup held at Oak Hill Country Club in Pittsford, N.Y., where the 95th PGA Championship will be played Aug. 8-11:

Year: 1956.

Event: U.S. Open.

Winner: Cary Middlecoff.

Score: 281.

Runner-up: Julius Boros, Ben Hogan.

Margin: 1 shot.

Recap: Cary Middlecoff won his third and final major championship without ever breaking par in any of the rounds. He went into the final day two shots behind Peter Thomson and shot 70 in the third round to take a one-shot lead over Ben Hogan and Ted Kroll. Middlecoff closed with a 70, and then had to wait to see if it was enough. Hogan was going after a record fifth U.S. Open title. He was tied for the lead when he missed a 30-inch par putt on the 17th hole to slip one shot behind, and he failed to birdie the 18th. Julius Boros had a birdie putt on the 18th to force a playoff, but it rattled the cup and stayed out.

Quote: "Nobody wins the Open. It wins you." — Middlecoff.

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Year: 1968.

Event: U.S. Open.

Score: 275.

Runner-up: Jack Nicklaus.

Margin: 4 shots.

Earnings: $30,000.

Recap: Lee Trevino captured his first PGA Tour event in memorable fashion. He tied the U.S. Open record of 275 that Jack Nicklaus had set the previous year at Baltusrol, and he became the first player in any major championship to post all four round sin the 60s. Trevino opened with rounds of 69-68-69, but that still left him one shot behind Bert Yancey, who set the U.S. Open record with a 54-hole total of 205. Yancey faded badly to a 76. Nicklaus, seven shots behind going into Sunday, charged with a 67. But it wasn't enough to catch Trevino, who closed with a 69.

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Year: 1980.

Event: PGA Championship.

Winner: Jack Nicklaus.

Score: 274.

Margin: 7 shots.

Earnings: $60,000.

Recap: The only other major Nicklaus had an easier time winning was his nine-shot victory in the 1965 Masters. He didn't take the lead until a 66 in the third round gave him a three-shot margin over Lon Hinkle, and Nicklaus sailed home to a seven-shot win by closing with a 69, one of only three sub-70s scores in the final round. Nicklaus joined Ben Hogan (1948) and Gene Sarazen (1922) as the only players to win the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship in the same year. It was even more satisfying because Nicklaus was 40, supposedly past his prime of winning majors. He tied Walter Hagen with his fifth PGA Championship title, and it was his 17th career major. One more was to follow in the 1986 Masters.

Quote: "I played as fine a finishing round in a major as I've ever played." — Jack Nicklaus.

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Event: U.S. Open.

Winner: Curtis Strange.

Score: 278.

Runner-up: Chip Beck, Mark McCumber, Ian Woosnam.

Margin: 1 shot.

Recap: Curtis Strange became the first player since Ben Hogan in 1951 to win back-to-back in the U.S. Open, following his playoff win over Nick Faldo in 1988 at The Country Club. This time, he had to stage a Sunday rally. Strange shot 64 in the second round, only to fade to a 73 on Saturday as Tom Kite posted his third straight round in the 60s to build a three-shot lead. Kite collapsed on Sunday with a 78, and Strange took it from there. He made 15 straight pars before a birdie on the 16th hole. With a two-shot lead, he safely three-putted for bogey on the 18th for a 70.

Quote: "It's not so much what Hogan did. It's what others have not done. The great Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson have not won back-to-back Opens." — Curtis Strange.

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Year: 1995.

Event: Ryder Cup.

Score: 14½-13½.

Runner-up: United States.

Earnings: None.

Recap: The tide was turning back toward the Americans, who were poised to win the Ryder Cup for the third straight year when Corey Pavin chipped in on the 18th and the United States built a 9-7 lead going into Sunday singles. Europe staged a mighty rally at Oak Hill, which some referred to as "Choke Hill" when it came to the Americans. Five matches went the distance. Europe won four of them and halved another. Philip Walton won the decisive point, but the key to Europe's comeback was Nick Faldo. He was 1 down to Curtis Strange with two holes to play and won them both with pars. Faldo got up-and-down from 93 yards below the 18th green, making a 6-foot par putt. The win began a new era of European dominance. It went on to win the Ryder Cup six of the next eight times.

Quote: "That's probably the best scrambling par I've ever made in my life." — Nick Faldo.

Year: 2003.

Event: PGA Championship.

Winner: Shaun Micheel.

Score: 276.

Runner-up: Chad Campbell.

Earnings: $1.08 million.

Recap: Shaun Micheel had never finished higher than third in his six years on the PGA Tour, and this was only his third major. He was No. 169 in the world and winless in his 163 starts on the PGA Tour. After opening with rounds of 69-68 to take the lead, not many thought he would stay in front. Micheel followed with a 69 in the third round to share the lead with Chad Campbell. It came down to those two players on Sunday. Campbell, three shots behind with four holes to play, cut the deficit to one shot going to the 18th and split the middle of the fairway. Micheel was 175 yards in the first cut of rough when he hit 7-iron that settled 2 inches from the cup to lock up the win. The year ended with four first-time major champions, the first time that had happened since 1969. Ten years later, it remains Micheel's only PGA Tour win.