It took PGA Golf Club 25 years to host its first PGA Professional Championship in 2021, but only four more years to earn a second opportunity at hosting the PGA of America’s premier member event on April 27–30. Could defending champion Ben Polland follow the same pattern? It took six tries over a decade for Polland to earn his first PGA Professional Championship title with last year’s three-shot victory over Andy Svoboda and Jared Jones at Fields Ranch in Frisco, Texas. That win came after Polland lost a two-shot lead on the final hole in his first PGA Professional Championship appearance in 2015.
Just like PGA Golf Club, can Polland make a quick return to the spotlight? Past champion Bob Sowards (2004) believes so.
“Now that Ben has won one, he might be ready to win some more,” says Sowards, PGA, Director of Instruction at Kinsale Golf & Fitness Club in Powell, Ohio, who has six top-10 finishes in 22 PGA Professional Championship starts. “He has one of the best games in the PGA.”
Polland, PGA, the baby-faced, 34-year-old Director of Instruction at Shooting Star in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, isn’t backing away from the favorite’s role in the 312-player field. It’s been 15 years since University of Illinois Head Golf Coach Mike Small (2009–10) won in back-to-back years.
“There’s definitely less pressure to get it done now that I’ve won one,” explains Polland, who made his first PGA TOUR cut on Feb. 28 at the Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches at PGA National Golf Club in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, and finished T-62 on March 2. “I am confident. I know there are a lot of great golfers in the PGA of America. Winning is difficult. A lot of variables have to go your way. Winning a tournament often means someone else lost it.”
That appeared to be the case in 2015, when Polland came to the final hole at The Philadelphia Cricket Club with a two-shot lead over Matt Dobyns, PGA, the Head Professional at Meadow Brook Club in Jericho, New York. Polland’s ap proach at the 18th hole found the water, leading to a double bogey, and Dobyns won with a birdie.
Polland overcame that bitter disappointment last year by going wire-to-wire at Fields Ranch to erase that bad memory and give him all the perks that go to the reigning PGA Professional Champion such as spots in the 2024 PGA Championship as a Corebridge Financial Team member, six PGA TOUR events played over a 12-month period and a lifetime exemption in the PGA Professional Championship.
It was a victory Polland was fortunate to share with family members who were in the gallery cheering him on, including his now-wife, Aly, his mom and his sister.
“The most special part was sharing it with my family,” Polland said. “My mom has been to every PPC I have played in. Unfortunately, my dad passed away three years earlier. The other big moment was thinking about him.”
