In April, 20 club pros bagged one of the most enviable prizes in golf - a place in the PGA Championship.
They did that in Florida, competing in the PGA Professional Championship, with Tyler Collet cruising to victory at the tournament. Another placing in the top 20 was Michael Block, who shot to prominence in 2023 when he finished T15 at the Oak Hill edition of the Major.
While those players made headlines, another notable name in the list of club pros securing their places at Quail Hollow was 56-year-old Bob Sowards, of Kinsale Golf and Fitness Club in Ohio. He finished T15 to avoid a playoff by one and allow him to dream of his 12th PGA Championship appearance.
That’s far more than anyone else in the 20, with Collet gearing up to just his fourth start and even Block, who makes his fourth consecutive appearance this year, playing in the PGA Championship for just the seventh time in his career.
Sowards first appeared in the PGA Championship in 1997, when he carded creditable rounds of 74 and 77 before saying his goodbyes at the halfway stage as Davis Love III went on to win the title.
Since then, Sowards has played in the tournament at famous venues such as Oak Hill twice, in 2003 and 2013, Whistling Straits in 2004 and 2015, Kiawah Island in 2012, and Valhalla in 2014. He can also look back on two editions at Atlanta Athletic Club, the 100th PGA Championship at Bellerive, and, most recently, in 2020 at TPC Harding Park. Now, he can add Quail Hollow to that list.
Sowards headed to the North Carolina course without having made it as far as the weekend in the Major, but his sheer number of PGA Championship appearances is the real achievement, now tying the record for most by a player qualifying as a PGA of America Golf Professional.
High spots along the way include his lowest round of 69 on the opening day of the 2011 tournament at Atlanta Athletic Club, while it’s not just the PGA Championship where Sowards has excelled.
He played full-time on the Web.com Tour (now the Korn Ferry Tour) in 1998, 2004 and 2009, while he also had a PGA Tour career, even placing T9 in the 2008 Wyndham Championship. More recently, he finished T5 at the 2021 Senior PGA Championship, earning the crystal cup as low professional, while he won the 2023 Senior PGA Professional Championship.
Given Sowards will now add yet another PGA Championship appearance to his already impressive resume, it’s safe to assume that he’s far from finished yet.
