‘Inclusive’ PGA to keep 2017 event in Charlotte

SPRINGFIELD, N.J. — The PGA of America says it strongly opposes North Carolina’s controversial bathroom bill but still plans to hold next year’s PGA Championship at Quail Hollow in Charlotte.

Echoing a written statement made after the NBA decided to pull its 2017 All-Star game from Charlotte, PGA of America Chief Executive Officer Pete Bevacqua said Wednesday, “We have been very vocal in our opposition to HB2 on several occasions. We’re trying to do everything we can, as part of our strategic plan for our organization in golf, to make the game as inclusive as possible….

“We’re trying to do the things to make the game more inclusive, and we thought it was important that we voiced our opposition.”

North Carolina passed in March a bill, known as HB2, that requires transgender individuals to use the bathroom of their birth sex, rather than the gender with which they identify. The act also prohibits state municipalities from enacting anti-discrimination policies in the workplace.

The 2017 PGA Championship will be the first major at Quail Hollow, which has hosted a yearly PGA Tour event since 2003.

“It’s a private facility,” Bevacqua said. “So we intend to do everything we can within our power to make it a welcoming environment and an inclusive environment. We have every intention of having our restroom policy be like it is every year, where you can use the restroom you identify with.”

Health scare

World No. 1 Jason Day’s wife, Ellie, had an allergic reaction to food she ate. Day said on Wednesday that he called 911 and paramedics came to the family’s tour bus. Ellie was treated Tuesday night at a hospital, where they stayed until about 2 a.m. before she was released.

“She’s fine,” Day said. “I had to call the paramedics over. She was kind of freaking out in the back of the bus, which is understandable, because she got all red. I’ve been in that situation before when I first ate seafood. That’s why I don’t eat seafood anymore.”

Day also has been feeling ill, saying he got a bug from his two children. As the reigning PGA champion, he attended a dinner in his honor Tuesday night, but got his first look at the Baltusrol course in a Wednesday practice round. He’s had very little preparation and very little sleep.

“I’m kind of running on ‘E’ right now,” Day said. Schedule change?

Bevacqua said that moving the PGA Championship to another time of year remains a consideration.

The PGA was the only major forced to alter its dates this year because of the Olympics, and it will face that dilemma every four years. The situation is further complicated by the biennial Ryder Cup.

“We’re going to have to jostle the schedule a little bit,” Bevacqua said. “We have made no decisions. But, yes, it’s absolutely on our radar screen.”

Cheers for ‘Beef ’

Bearded Englishman Andrew “Beef” Johnston’s group moved at a laborious pace through a practice round Tuesday because the new star, who finished eighth in the British Open, stopped to sign so many autographs between holes. Fans clamored to get pictures with him and chants of “Beeeef!” could regularly be heard.

“It’s just a thing of trying to get the right timing to spend with all of the fans, because I love it. I absolutely love it,” Johnston said. “But at the same time you’ve got to get your practice in, as well.”

Said Day: “It’s good to see stories like that, and I’m hoping he keeps up the good play up, because I think we need more personalities in this game.”

tod.leonard@sduniontribune.com