NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. — For a major that has long sought an identity apart from the other three, one element of the PGA Championship stands out. It’s one reason two-time champion Justin Thomas and Cameron Young, among the favorites this year, hold it in high regard.The opening tee shot Thursday at Aronimink will be struck by Braden Shattuck, the PGA director of instruction at Rolling Green Golf Club, just 10 miles (16 kilometers) down the road.He is among 20 club professionals in the 156-man field. All of them will be back to their day jobs next week, giving lessons and ordering merchandise, not on to the next PGA Tour stop that pays close to $2 million to the winner.Young’s father was one of those professionals.Dave Young, recently retired as the golf director at Sleepy Hollow in New York, was never among the club pros who qualified for the PGA Championship. But he worked them as a rules official, and was part of the rules committee at the Masters. He played one PGA Tour event, the 1998 Buick Classic in New York.“The PGA Championship, for our family, is a great week,” Young, now the No. 3 player in the world, said Wednesday. “My dad was a PGA of America professional forever, kind of embraced the whole package of that. … Unfortunately, he never qualified for it, but he was a very good player and had a number of chances to throughout his career.“Yeah, it’s a cool one for us just given his connection.”Mike Thomas also recently retired from Harmony Landing in Louisville, Kentucky. Justin Thomas recalls being in the clubhouse at Valhalla at age 7 — his dad was a PGA officer then — when Tiger Woods won the 2000 PGA Championship. He was in the gallery at Valhalla for the 2008 Ryder Cup, high-fiving Phil Mickelson when the Americ …
