In 1987, PGA Tour commissioner Deane Beman announced the first-ever Tour Championship, and 20 years later, new commissioner Tim Finchem kicked off the first-ever playoff series. What problem was it trying to solve, and where has it succeeded or failed in four decades of change? On this week's Local Knowledge, we assess the state of the tour's Super Bowl and explore where it may go in the future.

For a man who did something so astounding—becoming the first and only golfer to beat Tiger Woods on Sunday at a major from behind—we know very little about 2009 PGA Champion Y.E. Yang. As it turns out, the Korean body builder turned golfer has a surprisingly great story, and one of the most unique life paths we've ever heard of in professional golf...all of it building to that shocking Sunday at Hazeltine.

In 1992, Nick Faldo held off John Cook at Muirfield to win his third Open Championship. As it happened, this is the last time an English golfer ever captured the Claret Jug. The 33-year ongoing drought that ensued can't be explained by lack of talent or depth—England has had three world no. 1 golfers, and today they have the most players inside the world top 100 outside of America. To figure out what's happening, we dive deep into the various theories as to why the English keep coming up short in their home major.

Following the blowouts of 2004 and 2006, the lowest point in US Ryder Cup history, the Americans needed a visionary leader. Tiger Woods was out with a knee injury, Europe was stronger on paper, and there was no reason to expect anything but more misery. Which is precisely when Paul Azinger rose to the occasion to rethink how America approached the Ryder Cup, and forever alter their competitive destiny.

In 2008, after a disastrous start to the decade, the American Ryder Cup system faced a big problem: How do we start winning again? This series documents how they recovered from their lowest point to become a force again and start winning. In part one, we dive deep into the nightmare: The awful stretch from 2002 to 2006 that saw the U.S. at its absolute lowest, suffering a series of humiliations at home and abroad.

Oakmont Country Club will hold its tenth U.S. Open next week, and a tour of its past champions shows how the hardscrabble philosophy of its founders still prevails, and maybe even exerts a supernatural influence on this brutal, glorious track.

What happens when a winner's equipment is found to be nonconforming after the fact? The answer is, "nothing," at least in terms of the result. But as we'll see from the case of Rory at Quail Hollow, Tiger at Disney, and Tom Watson (twice!), things get more complicated in the court of public opinion.

For about 40 years in major championship history, winning the PGA required a test of endurance that seems absurd today. In the midst of tracking down the record holder for most holes played in a major, we ran into more than a few wild stories.