AP - Eight Australians will play in the US PGA Championship at Valhalla next week, where the top 100 in the world golf rankings gain automatic entry into the 156-player field.
World No.1 Adam Scott heads the Australian contingent to gain automatic entry, followed by ninth-ranked Jason Day, world No.51 Marc Leishman, No.53 Matt Jones and No.57 John Senden.
Marcus Fraser, Brett Rumford and Geoff Ogilvy were the lucky Aussies ranked outside the top 100 to gain entry.
While none of the Australians involved has won a PGA Championship, plenty have gone close.
Scott will likely head into the tournament as one of the favourites to lift the trophy at Valhalla and has gone close numerous times over the years with four top-10 finishes.
His best performance came in 2006 when he tied for third behind Tiger Woods at Medina Country Club. He finished tied fifth in 2013 at Oak Hill behind Jason Dufner, seventh in 2011 at Atlanta Athletic Club and was equal ninth in 2004 at Whistling Straits.
Several of his compatriots also have top-10 finishes at the final major of the year. Day finished tied eighth at Oak Hill and tied 10th in 2010 at Whistling Straits.
Senden finished tied fourth in 2007 at Southern Hills, while Ogilvy finished in three successive top-10s from 2005-07 at Baltusrol, Medinah and Southern Hills.
The last time the PGA Championship was held at Valhalla was 2000. In that year, Woods flexed his considerable muscle to finish with an 18-under-par 270, to take his fifth major in a three-hole playoff victory over fellow American Bob May.
There were very few surprises in the list of special invites for the tournament, with the big names getting them: golfing legend Tom Watson, 1996 runner-up at Valhalla, Kenny Perry, the fast-improving Robert Karlsson of Sweden and 2009 Open Champion, Stewart Cink.
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