With The Memorial coming up this week, I started thinking about the great events on the PGA Tour schedule each year that aren’t considered major championships. The four majors are of course The Masters, U.S. Open, British Open, and PGA Championship. These four tournaments are obviously the best and most important each year and for great reason. The following is a list of events I feel are just a small step behind the major championships but still very special to all the PGA Tour players. There is only room for five, so some great tournaments missed the cut including the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, the Mercedes Championship, Bank of America Colonial, and the upstart Wachovia Championship.
Best Non-Major PGA Tour Events
This week’s Trap Five takes a look at the most prestigious events on the PGA Tour outside of the major championships.
The man once and forever known as “Radar” – as much due to the fact that he looked like his M.A.S.H. counterpart as he was accurate with his irons – quietly walked away with the Senior PGA Championship on Sunday. In true tortoise-meets-hare fashion, Mike Reid plodded along, firing three consecutive rounds in the 70s to enter the final round two back.
The thought slipped into Justin Leonard’s mind briefly as he stood over a 3½-foot putt for bogey on No. 18. If he missed, he was going to a playoff.
Justin Leonard grabbed the largest 54-hole lead of the year as he shot a 4-under 66 to lead the pack by a whopping 8 strokes. He sits at 17-under. He has carried a lot of confidence into the weekend having shot an 
Hit it straight off the tee and hit a lot of greens. That is the key for Justin Leonard so far this week at the FedEx St. Jude Classic. He shot a five-under par round of 65 on Friday to push his lead to five strokes over a surging Fredrik Jacobson. Leonard is currently ninth in driving accuracy and tied for first on greens in regulation. Add that to the fact he is fourth in putting, and it’s easy to see why the Texan is cruising so far in Memphis. 
The second round of the Senior PGA Championship on Friday was moving day for many players in the field. Most notably Jerry Pate whom was four under for the day leaving him with a one stroke lead. First round leader Graham Marsh had a somewhat disappointing day finishing at two-under par for the day, a score that could have easily been worse. Hale Irwin was also left in Pate’s dust after finishing three-over on the day, six shots behind for the tournament.