PGA Grand Slam of Golf

The most exclusive event in golf

From 1994-2006, Poipu Bay Golf Course played host to the annual PGA Grand Slam of Golf, one of the most prestigious competitions in the golf world. The PGA Grand Slam of Golf, established in 1979, was the most difficult entry requirement of any event in golf. Each year the PGA of America invited only the winners of the four major championships: the Masters, the U.S. Open, the British Open, and the PGA Championship — to compete in the event.

The PGA Grand Slam of Golf was a 36-hole stroke-play event conducted over two days. The most prominent names in golf have graced the greens at Poipu Bay during this event, including such golfing greats as: Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh, Retief Goosen, Justin Leonard, Davis Love III, David Duval, Tom Lehman, Paul Azinger, Jose Maria Olazabal, Ernie Els, Mark O’Meara and Greg Norman.

2003 Champion Jim Furyk

Bringing out the best of the best

In the 1997 event, Tiger Woods executed an incredible sand shot on Poipu Bay’s signature 16th hole, a shot he has described as “one of the best I’ve ever played in my life.” When Woods saw his ball buried in wet sand on a severe down slope in a greenside bunker, he said “I thought I was a dead man.” Woods tried what he describes as a “100 to 1 shot,” he lifted his club straight into the air and came down into the sand like an axe. The ball shot forward, hit the grass embankment, jumped straight up into the air and continued forward, stopping two feet from the hole. Woods knocked the putt in for what he calls “one of the best pars of my life.” In 2003, T&L Golf magazine ranked it as one of the “Top Ten Best Shots” of Woods’ career.

Tiger Woods returned to the PGA Grand Slam of Golf to set an event record by taking first place in the competition for five consecutive years, from 1998 through 2002. In the 2004 event, Phil Mickelson set a course and event record with a stunning 13-under-par 59 on the final day, walking away with the first place pot. Tiger Woods won the final two events at Poipu Bay in 2005 and 2006.

PGA Grand Slam of Golf Champions 1994-2006