GOODBYE AUGUST MOON
The 100th US PGA Championship marks the final staging of the major in August as it moves to a May date – which is an exciting prospect for Australian golf, writes Michael Jones.
One press release. That’s really all it takes to appreciate the intricacies involved in the scheduling of professional golf tours. It’s not a process to be envied, that’s for sure. And it makes you realise that nothing is left to chance. If a tournament is planned for a particular date, then rest assured there are plenty of reasons why that date was chosen. Whether it’s sponsors’ demands, player preferences, climate or television timeslots, everything needs to have been considered.
This was certainly the case on July 18 when the PGA Tour released its schedule for the 2018/19 season. The changes from previous years will be considerable – and they will have serious ramifications for international Tours (more on that later).
For starters, the FedEx Cup Playo s will now be played across three, rather than four, tournaments. This will ultimately see the US season end nearly one month earlier and is part of the reduction from 48 to 46 Tour stops. The Quicken Loans National has been abandoned, the Puerto Rico Open will return and the Canadian Open will move from July to June.
But the most significant decision was made last year, when The Players Championship was shifted to March and the US PGA Championship was moved from its current August timeslot to May as of 2019 with Bethpage Black hosting.
This major adjustment makes sense for three key reasons.
Firstly, it will allow an even spread for the game’s biggest events … March: The Players Championship; April: The Masters; May: The US PGA Championship; June: The US Open; July: The Open Championship; August: The FedEx Cup Playo s; September: The Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup.
Secondly, the US PGA Championship won’t need to shift dates every four years to accommodate golf’s return to the Olympic Games
And thirdly, television markets tend to be stronger in May, which will benefit the PGA of America and its flagship event.
The organisation’s CEO, Pete Bevacqua, referenced three further motives behind the move.
“The PGA of America’s key objectives were to promote the best interests of our signature spectator championship, do what is best for the game and its great players, and find the most advantageous platform to fulfil our mission of serving our nearly 29,000 PGA Professionals and growing the game,” Bevacqua said.
“We determined that playing the PGA Championship the week prior to Memorial Day in May, making it the second major championship of the golf calendar, will achieve our three objectives.”
*** At the time of writing, Gavin Kirkman, the CEO of the PGA of Australia, was travelling to Carnoustie to meet with the International Federation of PGA Tours at The Open Championship to exchange any information for future playing schedules.
When Kirkman first received word that the US
THE BIGGEST THING (TO COME OF THIS) WOULD BE FOR US TO HAVE A PGA TOUR EVENT AND OR A EUROPEAN TOUR ROLEX SERIES EVENT. – GAVIN KIRKMAN
Tour would be ending its upcoming season earlier than previous years, he responded favourably.
“Talking to our general manager of the Tour, Simon Butterly, we straight away thought that the positive of the revised US schedule was that there could be a strong run of PGA Tour events plus a WGC event in Asia through the October/November period,” Kirkman told Golf Australia magazine. “So we thought if there are players coming down through Asia, we may be able to attract some US-based players onto our Tour and into our schedule … With the change to their schedules, more and more international players may want to come out and win PGAs and Open titles in other countries to build their resumes like the greats of the past did in Palmer and Nicklaus and Player and Trevino. “We had them all here in the past so it would be nice if those types of players do come down again.” Australia has always tried to attract the world’s best players to its national championships. That’s no secret. But Kirkman, who took the reins at the PGA in 2017, appears hell-bent on doing so – and he speaks with great passion about the future of Australian golf and the possible return of the Australian Masters gold jacket. “I would love to welcome back the Australian Masters,” Kirkman said. “It’s very frustrating to see a tournament with such tradition and history not being played at the moment. But the owner of that tournament is IMG, so we’ve got to respect what they’re doing.” Therein lies one of the major obstacles that has kept the Australian Tour from reaching its full potential. Government partners and event sponsors aren’t seeing the necessary financial returns to increase (or continue) their support of golf tournaments in this country. “The negotiation that’s always got to take place is the appearance fees,” Kirkman said. “We have to work and be guided by our partners in each of the events (the Australian Open and the Australian PGA). The players we attract need to be able to work and attract tourism to that destination – which is what we’re primarily measured on.” But America’s amended schedule means there is huge potential to attract more of these players to our Tour – which would have obvious benefits for financial backers. Kirkman, who signed a cooperation agreement with the PGA Tour last December, is also hoping that the scheduling changes could eventually lead to an Australian-based PGA Tour event taking place Down Under. “The biggest thing (to come of this) would be for us to have a PGA Tour event and or a European Tour Rolex Series event,” Kirkman said. “That’s where you attract the top players and it’s something we’ve pitched to governments before. “If you look at those Tours, they are both in Asia. The PGA Tour now has an event in Korea and they’re looking at expanding their Tour internationally. So I think once we get the financial model right, there’s going to be an opportunity there.” PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan certainly seems on board. “It’s the goal of the (US Tour) to have more tournaments in Australia, to generate more corporate support and to grow the game in Australia,” Monahan told AAP. While Kirkman and the Australian PGA have drawn numerous positives from America’s new schedule, other international bodies, such as the European Tour, have been forced to move some of their biggest events to accommodate the changes. The BMW PGA Championship, for instance, has been shifted from its traditional May date to September. The full eects of the US schedule will become clearer when other Tours announce their plans in September/October. But for now, the
A LOT OF GUYS HAVE PLAYED THIS COURSE IN PAST TOURNAMENTS, BUT A LOT OF GUYS MY AGE HAVEN’T ... IT’S A GREAT DRIVING COURSE WHERE DRIVING IS GOING TO BE PREMIUM. – JUSTIN THOMAS
golfing world turns its attention to the 100th US PGA Championship – where the victor will hold the Wanamaker Trophy for just nine months. *** Justin Thomas will arrive at Bellerive Country Club hoping to become just the seventh player in championship history to go back-to-back and the first since Tiger Woods in 2007.
The Kentuckian and reigning PGA Tour Player of the Year, who enjoyed a brief stint on top of the world ranking in June, is still relatively inexperienced when it comes to major championships. But from his 12 starts, across five years, he has made 10 cuts and finished inside the top-25 on six occasions.
Thomas, 25, has already added victories to his resume in season 2018 – and you would expect to see him go deep into Sunday once again.
The 2017 FedEx Cup Champion doesn’t have any obvious weaknesses. He ranks highly for his length o the tee and approach play, and his scoring average is rivalled by very few. His putting this season has been solid without being spectacular and – while his driving accuracy could be improved – he should certainly be considered one of the leading chances.
That said, the PGA Championship prides itself on having the strongest field in golf – generally welcoming each of the world’s top-100 ranked players – so defending his title will be no mean feat.
Speaking at the US PGA Championship Media Day in June, Thomas told reporters he thought the layout at Bellerive would provide a favourable stage for his title defence.
“A lot of guys have played this course in past tournaments, but a lot of guys my age haven’t, so it was nice to get a round in,” he said. “It’s a great driving course where driving is going to be premium.”
The Field Club established itself 121 years ago in St Louis, Missouri with a nine-hole golf course and 166 members. The layout was extended to 18 holes some years later, before the club relocated to Normandy in 1910 and renamed itself the Bellerive Country Club.
Then, in 1959, Bellerive moved 30 kilometres west to its present site in the suburb of Town and County. Robert Trent Jones Sr. was entrusted with the design work, and play commenced in 1960.
The parkland course, known as “The Green Monster of Ladue”, went on to welcome the 1965 US Open (won by Gary Player); the 1992 US PGA Championship (won by Nick Price); and the 2004 US Senior Open (won by Peter Jacobsen).
Trent Jones Sr.’s youngest son, Rees Jones – who is known as “The Open Doctor” for the number of courses he has redesigned in preparation for the US Open – was then commissioned to oversee a $9.5 million redesign in 2006.
Whether the club was considering renovations or not, its hand was forced when the town needed to install new sewer lines under significant areas of the property. Bunkers were reworked, trees were cleared, green complexes were strengthened and tee boxes were pushed back.
We completely rebuilt my dad’s famous design while maintaining much of his style,” Jones said. “Most importantly, we made small targets within the large greens while retaining the original dramatic contours. We also rebuilt and repositioned all the fairway and greenside bunkers.”
The revamped layout has since hosted the 2008 BMW Championship (where Camilo Villegas reached 15-under-par 265 to claim his first Tour victory) and the 2013 Senior US PGA Championship, which was won by Japan’s Kohki Idoki, who reached 11-under-par 273. The 6,901-metre course features water on 11 of its holes and will play to a par of 71 for the 100th US PGA Championship.