Minnesota
Memories
ONLY A GOLF HISTORIAN OF THE HIGHEST pedigree could identify the common thread that binds Olin Dutra, Chick Harbert, Bob Rosburg and
Rich Beem – four touring professionals
from four distinctly different golf eras. Or,
perhaps a centurion who spent his life as a
golf volunteer in Minnesota would recognize
that Dutra, Harbert, Rosburg and Beem each
recorded their first major championships by
winning the PGA Championship in Minnesota
within exactly 70 years.
Rich Beem’s
fairytale finish
at Hazeltine
National in
2002 highlights
the four PGA
Championships
played
previously in
the “Land of
10,000 Lakes”
By Roger Graves
Dutra and Harbert won their PGA Championships, in 1932 and 1954, during the match-play era of the Championship at Keller Golf Club in St. Paul. Rosburg, who enjoyed a three-decade career as an on-course commentator for ABC Sports after his playing days, collected the only major title of his illustrious career in 1959 at Minneapolis Golf Club in St. Louis Park. That 1959 victory by Rosburg came in the second PGA Championship contested via stroke play, which has been the format to determine the PGA Champion since 1958.
Forty-three years after Rosburg came from six shots off the lead in the final round to win the PGA Championship in the “Land of 10,000 Lakes,” Beem authored his own fairytale finish while engraving his name on the coveted Wanamaker Trophy in 2002 at Hazeltine National Golf Club, which hosts its second PGA Championship this week.