Is it destiny for PGA Championship leader Alex Smalley to win the Wanamaker?
NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. – On Sunday, John Wanamaker is predicted to attend the last spherical of the 108th PGA Championship. If that identify rings a bell, it’s as a result of he is the great-grandson of Rodman Wanamaker for whom the 34-pound silver trophy given to the winner of the PGA Championship is called.
A Philadelphia native, Rodman Wanamaker, whose father opened the first division retailer in America two years earlier than his beginning in 1861, equipped $2,500 of the inaugural $2,850 purse in 1916. He additionally paid journey bills for all 32 golf professionals who certified for the match. Above all else, I’ve donated a timeless trophy. He did this largely for enterprise causes. While not a golfer, his division retailer had emerged as one in all the main sellers of golf gear.
An in depth view of the Wanamaker Trophy close to the first tee throughout the first spherical of the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club on May 14, 2026.
It’s unclear if John Wanamaker can have any position in the trophy ceremony or if he is simply spectating however Alex Smalley, the 54-hole leader, recounted how he lived at Wannamaker Quad, a dorm at Duke University, the place he attended faculty earlier than turning professional, for three years. Students reportedly refer to it merely as “Wanny,” and whereas the spelling is not precisely the identical, Smalley definitely made the reference to the golf trophy.
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“My parents and I have been joking that maybe this would be a tournament that I would win just because of that kind of fact. That’s just kind of something that we’ve joked about even before I made it out here,” he mentioned. “It would be pretty cool to actually pull it out tomorrow.”
This article initially appeared on Golfweek: PGA Championship leader Alex Smalley’s Wanamaker link
