PGA Championship moving to May in ’19 to fix schedule
The PGA Championship long has been the “other” golf major, one that not only doesn't have the cachet of the Masters, U.S. Open or British Open, but also comes significantly later in the year, after many casual fans have begun shifting their focus to football. Within two years, however, the latter issue will be addressed, part of major reported changes for the tournament and for the overall PGATour calendar.
Beginning in 2019, the PGA Championship will move to May, when it is set to be played at Long Island's Bethpage Black, while the PGA Tour will look to wrap up its FedEx Cup playoffs before Labor Day. Those changes, as reported by the Associated Press on Monday, are intended to help the Tour have a more clearly defined season that ends before football gets into full swing and to reflect golf's return to the Olympics, which would have forced the PGA Championship to move up its date every four years.
A May date for the PGA Championship slots it in neatly between the Masters and the U.S. Open, and it addresses the issue of course conditions softened by the summer heat. Since 1972, the tournament has been played in August, as it is this year, except for 2016, when it was moved to July to clear the way for the Rio Games.
As part of the reported changes, The Players Championship, which had been contested in May since 2007, will return to its previous position in March. Assuming the Tour can work out how to move its FedEx Cupclinching Tour Championship to August, it would have a marquee event for each of the following six months:
– March - The Players Championship
– April - The Masters
– May - PGA Championship
– June - U.S. Open
– July - British Open
– August - Tour Championship
A May date could pose a challenge for the courses in the Northeast and Upper Midwest which frequently host the PGA Championship, but it would also open up courses in Southern states such as Texas and Florida, where golf is hugely popular but where majors have rarely been contested. This year, the tournament it is being held at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, and PGA of America and PGA Tour officials are expected to speak with reporters there Tuesday to discuss the changes.
“They laid it out in front of us. First for TV negotiations, you want a Players Championship in a prime spot and maybe a better time of year for course conditioning, and then the reality is we want golf done before football,” Charley Hoffman, a member of the PGA Tour Policy Board, told Golf Digest's Dave Shedloski.
“Football runs TV in that time of year,” Hoffman added. “Only time will tell. Everyone was against the FedEx Cup at the start, and it's turned into a great thing for the tour. And I think it will be a great thing for the PGA.”
“I think it will be a really good thing for the PGA, because it would be earlier on in the rotation when there is maybe more excitement for the majors,” Phil Mickelson, the 2005 PGA Championship winner, said. “We get to August, and that excitement kind of dwindles a little. It's at a time of year where golf seems to linger on, so maybe there will be more energy behind the PGA earlier in the year.”
“I think it doesn't matter from the standpoint of the PGA being in August or May because it's a major and we'll all be ready no matter when it's played,” Rickie Fowler told Shedloski. “From a scheduling standpoint, it might be a lot better for us to have an actual offseason like every other sport. The schedule will be more uniform from March to August as far as big events, which will probably be a good thing.”