Nick Faldo calls it one of the unexplained phenomena in professional golf.
In the PGA Championship, there hasn't been a European winner since 1930 - and even that's stretching it. Although Scottish, Tommy Armour was living in the United States when he defeated Gene Sarazen 1-up in the 1930 event in Flushing, N.Y."I can't find any obvious reason why we never win here," said Faldo, of Great Britain. "There's the golf course - let's get on with it. I don't know why we have such difficulty."
Of the 28 foreigners - the most ever - entered in the 151-player field, Faldo no doubt is considered the favorite. Faldo, a two-time Masters champion, won his third British Open title in six years last month at Muirfield. He followed that with a victory at the Scandinavian Masters.
Faldo hasn't been as successful in the PGA. His best showing was in 1988, when he placed fifth at Oak Tree Golf Club in Edmond, Okla.
There have been six foreign winners of the PGA, the latest in 1990, when Australian Wayne Grady fought off late-charging Fred Couples. Grady was the first non-American winner since countryman David Graham won in 1979.
Other non-American champions were South Africa's Gary Player (1972) and Great Britain's Jock Hutchison (1920) and James Barnes (1916 and 1919).
One theory about the Americans' dominance is that U.S. players are used to playing in the type of rough typical of the U.S. Open and PGA.
"In the British Open, if you hit in the rough, you can move it more than 80 yards," Faldo said. "Here, I don't think you'll be able to do that."
But Arnold Palmer said that the timing of the PGA has as much to do with the traditional lack of European winners - or big-name winners, for that matter - as anything else. Jeff Sluman (1988) and Bob Tway (1986) are two examples. Neither has won another major since.
"Unless it's someone shooting for a fourth major, there's just a little letdown in the cosmetics of the players coming in," said Palmer, who has won all the majors except the PGA. "It's late in the summer. After this, the season dwindles off. The majors are over now. Anyone aiming starts aiming for Augusta in April."