Stevie Williams is the bettors favorite to win the 2011 PGA Championship, at 2-1.

No. Scratch that. Although, given Steve’s display after Adam Scott’s victory last week, I wouldn’t be surprised if he thinks so.

The real front runner is Rory McIlroy at 10/1. He’s a fine choice, as long as the weather is to his liking.

Lee Westwood is in at 14/1, along with Luke Donald. Repeat after me: Westwood is never going to win a Major. This might be Donald’s tournament. He’s probably deservedly the current world number one—as much as that flawed system tells us about anything.

I find it interesting that Adam Scott, Phil and Tiger are next, both at 20/1. Given Tiger’s performance—especially with the driver—last week, I can’t imagine that anyone would put money on him to win. Repeat after me: Tiger will never win another Major. Phil’s a marginally better choice. I think he’s still got one or two more in him. Adam Scott has been playing as well as anyone lately; I hope for his sake that Stevie doesn’t become too much of a distraction.

The next group, at 25/1, also is interesting: Dustin Johnson, Jason Day, Rickie Fowler and Steve Stricker. All of these guys are inevitable choices to break through for a Major. Stricker is running out of time, though. I’m putting him at the top of my list this week.

The complete odds for the 2011 PGA Championship are below, courtesy of Bodog, the world’s largest betting destination.

The PGA Championship is the annual professional championship hosted by the Professional Golfers Association of America. It long has been the season’s final “major” (although it once was held in January), and is generally held four weeks following the British Open Championship.

That the PGA of America has its own championship —and indeed, that there’s a PGA at all—has much to do with the fact that professionals have been golf’s second class citizens for much of the recorded history of the game. Club and teaching pros were after all the servants of wealthy amateurs. At Open golf championships, gentlemen amateurs were introduced as Mister, while their professional counterparts were referred to without any honoriffic. Pros were not even allowed into the clubhouse at the courses where competitions were held; they were of the same status as the rest of “the help” and didn’t rate. In fact, it was not until the 1920 US Open at Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio that the pros were allowed into the clubhouse.

In the United States, the formation of the United States Golf in 1895 led to the creation of two national championships to match those of the R&A’s Open Championship (1860) and British Amateur (1885). The US Open welcomed professionals in competition, but the USGA was, and remains, primarily an organization focused on amateurs.

Certainly feeling left out and under-served, a group of club professionals led by Walter Hagen met at New York’s Wykagul Country Club in January 1916 with department store owner Rodman Wanamaker. A month later, that meeting led to the formation of the Professional Golfers Association. The first Professional Golfers Association Championship was held later that year at New York’s Siwanoy Country Club. Jim Barnes won $500 and a diamond studded gold medal donated by Wanamaker.

The current trophy for winning the PGA is named for Rodman Wanamaker.

From its inception to 1958, the PGA Championship followed a match play format. That gave the PGA Championship a unique flavor, but made it unpopular among television producers, for the format could result in the marquee players being driven out before the weekend. (In this writer’s estimation, the change was a mistake that should be corrected).

The PGA Championship also has had some difficulty finding a place on the calendar. Prior to the 1960s, it often was played the week following the British Open, in late July. In 1971, it was played in Florida in February. It seems now to have firmly established itself in August.

It’s also worth noting that the PGA Championship is not a product of the PGA Tour. The PGA Tour split from the PGA of America in 1968, to form an association that focused on the needs of touring professionals. The PGA of America remained focused on “club” and teaching professionals. The PGA Tour, in fact, doesn’t manage any of golf’s “Majors.”

The PGA of America also organizes the Senior PGA Championship and with the PGA European Tour, the Ryder Cup.

Walter Hagen (1921, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927) and Jack Nicklaus (1963, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1980) each hold the record with five PGA Championship victories. They played under different circumstances, however. Hagen won all of his in the match play format, while Nicklaus won in stroke, or medal play.

Other Records:

• Oldest winner: Julius Boros in 1968 (48 years, 142 days)
• Youngest winner: Gene Sarazen in 1922 (20 years, 174 days)
• Greatest winning margin in the match play era: Paul Runyan beat Sam Snead 8 & 7 in 1938
• Greatest winning margin in the stroke play era: 7 strokes, Jack Nicklaus in 1980
• Lowest absolute 72-hole score: 265, David Toms (66-65-65-69), 2001 (This is the lowest 72-hole score ever recorded in any major championship.)
• Lowest 72-hole score in relation to par: −18, Tiger Woods (66-67-70-67, 270) and Bob May (72-66-66-66, 270), 2000; Tiger Woods (69-68-65-68, 270), 2006
• Lowest 18-hole score: 63 – Bruce Crampton, 2nd round, 1975; Raymond Floyd, 1st, 1982; Gary Player, 2nd, 1984; Vijay Singh, 2nd, 1993; Michael Bradley, 1st, 1995; Brad Faxon, 4th, 1995; José María Olazábal, 3rd, 2000; Mark O’Meara, 2nd , 2001; Thomas Bjørn, 3rd, 2005; Tiger Woods, 2nd, 2007

The Fourth Major, the PGA Championship extends back to 1916. It was a match play event until 1958. Below is a list of the past results of the Championship.

Inaugurated in 1937 at Augusta National Golf Club, the Senior PGA Championship was organized by none other than Bobby Jones. In the first competition, Jock Hutchison came away with the winner’s share of the $2,000 purse (about $30,000 in today’s money).

The PGA Senior Championship moved from Georgia to Florida in 1940, hoping for better weather. Sarasota hosted two years, and Ft. Myers another before World War II interrupted play. Following the war, the Championship was moved to Dunedin, Florida. The PGA eventually would move its offices there.

From 1945 to 2000, PGA National in Dunedin and Palm Beach Gardens, Florida was the event’s semi-permanent home. Since 2001, however, the event has been on the road: Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, NJ (2001); Firestone Country Club, Akron, Ohio (2002); Aronimink Golf Club, Philadelphia (2003); Valhalla, Louisville, KY (2004); Laurel Valley GC, Ligonier, Pa (2005); Oak Tree GC, Edmond, OK (2006); The Ocean Course, Kiawah Island (2007); Oak Hill CC, Rochester, NY (2008); Canterbury GC, Beachwood, OH (2009) and Colorado GC, Parker, Colo. (2010). The tournament returns to Valhalla in 2011.

To qualify, players must be at least 50 years old. Other Eligibility requirements follow:

• Any past winner of the Senior PGA Championship
• Any past winner of a regular major championship
• Any past member of the United States Ryder Cup team
• The top 15 finishers in the previous year’s Senior PGA Championship
• The top 50 on the Champions Tour money list (previous year and current year)
• Any winner of a Champions Tour event since the last Senior PGA Championship
• The top 35 finishers from the Callaway Golf Senior PGA Professional National Championship
• Any winner of the previous five U.S. Senior Opens
• The winner of the last Senior British Open
• The top eight players from the previous year’s European Seniors Tour Order of Merit
• The top four players from the previous year’s Japanese Seniors Tour Order of Merit
• A one-time exemption for those who have just turned 50 and have won a PGA Tour, Japan Golf Tour, or European Tour event in the last 5 years
• The top 30 on the career money list, both Champions Tour and combined Champions Tour and PGA Tour
• A one-time exemption for former PGA Professional National Champions turning 50
• Invitations for those not meeting criteria above also are made

A list of winners follows:

As I’ve read dozens—perhaps a hundred—articles on Dustin Johnson’s the consensus seems to be settling in that the fault lies with player and caddy. Johnson admittedly didn’t pay much attention to the local rules sheet and if in doubt should have asked. I don’t disagree.

But I think the problem for Johnson was that he had no doubt. It never occurred to him that the bare area was a bunker.

I’ve attended two major championships—the Senior Championship at TPC Dearborn and the PGA Championship at Oakland Hills—as well as the Buick Open and the LPGA’s Jamie Farr. In all of those, the crowds had by the end of the weekend stomped out large bare spots along the sidelines that in sandy soil would have looked for all the world like the spot Johnson encountered.

Going strictly by the USGA’s definition of a bunker, I can see where there might be some confusion:

“A ‘bunker’ is a hazard consisting of a prepared area of ground, often a hollow, from which turf or soil has been removed and replaced with sand or the like.

With the crowds standing around, many obvious signs of bunker status likely were obscured. Further, crowds don’t stand in hazards. Still, there was that lip right in front of him ...

A couple of other thoughts:

First, there are just too many bunkers on that course. It’s absurd that even the designer doesn’t have a handle on the number. I’ve seen several estimates, and several attempts by golf writers to enumerate them. None agree. So there’s no way to actually know whether that was a “prepared area of ground” or a random hole. The designer can’t look at a blueprint and say “indeed, I put a bunker there.”

Second, I wonder about the absence of the “blue dots.” According to the sheet that Johnson didn’t read, “where necessary, blue dots define the margin of the bunker.” I suppose they didn’t think it necessary here.

In the future, the PGA—and it will return to Whistling Straits for another PGA and the Ryder Cup in the next ten years—should define as a bunker anything within the ropes and as a waste area anything outside the ropes.

And finally, given the uncertainty about the nature of the bare spot, I think what the PGA should have proceeded under rule 1-4: If any point in dispute is not covered by the Rules, the decision should be made in accordance with equity.

There was doubt about the nature of the terrain. No one could prove that it actually was a “prepared areal,” and so Johnson should have been given the benefit of the doubt.

It’s to Johnson’s credit, however, that he didn’t argue any of these points. I actually think he’s learned a lot in missing out on two majors this year. If he’s half a man, he’ll be back in contention later, lessons learned.

Just a final musing ... it occurred to me as I was writing the title of this post that it won’t be long before the bulk of the population no longer knows the origins of the -gate suffix.

A few thoughts on the PGA Championship, in no particular order.

First, congratulations to Martin Kaymer on the win. He’s been talked about for a couple of years as a possible superstar and hopefully this will be just the start for him.

It’s a real shame what happened to Dustin Johnson. I blame the course and the PGA of America. There are just TOO many bunkers on that course. And recognizing that the crowds were going to destroy a good many of them, the PGA should have declared bunkers outside the ropes as waste areas. I agree with David Feherty that I would have never thought such a tramped down area would be a bunker. It looked like a lot of the area outside the rope you see at any major golf event. There was a lot of those sort of smashed, ground to the dirt just outside the ropes at Oakland Hills when I watched the PGA Championship there.

Still, in hindsight, it’s clear that Dustin should at least have asked someone.

Aside from the squalid ending of regulation, the 2010 PGA Championship was a terrific show. In the last couple of hours, there was a pile of guys wearing white belts in contention—a youth movement that the PGA Tour hasn’t seen in quite a while: victorious Martin Kaymer, Dustin Johnson, Bubba Watson, Rory McIlroy, Camilo Villegas,  and more.

What is it with those white belts anyway? They’re hideous.

Aside from Steve Elkington, the old guard was back in the pack. In spite of a terrific Sunday, Mickelson finished T12; Stricker,  Els, Cink T18; Furyk, 24; Tiger, 28 and on and on.

Looking back on 2009, I think its obvious that Tiger’s fall began at the PGA when Y.E. Yang stared him down and took a major from under the big cat’s nose. We may look back on the 2010 PGA Championship as the one where the currently under-30 crowd finally took their place.

I’m also not sure what to make of this string of first time Major Winners:

2010 U.S. PGA - Martin Kaymer
2010 British Open - Louis Oosthuizen
2010 U.S. Open - Graeme McDowell
2009 U.S. PGA - Yang Yong-eun
2009 British Open - Stewart Cink
2009 U.S. Open - Lucas Glover
2009 U.S. Masters - Trevor Immelman

It is of course too soon to tell if any of these first-timers will ever repeat. But my gut tells me we’re going to get another year’s worth of first timers and perhaps another year after that. I don’t recall any of the guys on the list being in contention in a major prior to winning. And there really wasn’t any foreshadowing as to the eventual outcome. They’re fine players all—but Martin Kaymer perhaps aside—no one saw those coming.

I wonder if the controversy has hurt Whistling Strait’s chances of getting future championships. They’re already scheduled for another PGA, and the Ryder Cup. But after that?

The PGA of America released the following on the Dustin Johnson penalty for grounding his club in a hazard—bunker:

92nd PGA Championship

Dustin Johnson was assessed a two-stroke penalty today upon the completion of the final round of the 92nd PGA Championship, for grounding his club in a bunker on the 18th hole at Whistling Straits.

The penalty dropped Johnson to a finishing score of 9-under-par 279 and he was not eligible to compete in a three-hole aggregate playoff to determine the 2010 Champion.

The following is the wording that was made available to all competitors by The PGA of America Rules Committee, as a Local Rule for the 92nd PGA Championship:

Bunkers: All areas of the course that were designed and built as sand bunkers will be played as bunkers (hazards), whether or not they have been raked. This will mean that many bunkers positioned outside of the ropes, as well as some areas of bunkers inside the ropes, close to the rope line, will likely include numerous footprints, heel prints and tire tracks during the play of the Championship. Such irregularities of surface are a part of the game and no free relief will be available from these conditions.