Talk of moving PGA to May gains steam
Tour wants to get FedEx Cup done before NFL starts.
DUBLIN, OHIO — It’s not as simple as shifting a couple of tournaments on the PGA Tour schedule.
The concept of moving the PGA Championship from August to May is gaining traction, even though there are so many other pieces of the puzzle that Commissioner Jay Monahan should be believed when he says that it’s not a done deal.
The idea is for the PGA Tour to end its luc rative FedEx Cup before the NFL gets going, which the tour can only hope will give the season-ending Tour Championship more pop than a $10 million prize could.
For starters, that would mean moving The Players Championship from May back to March, and slotting the PGA Championship somewhere in May. That also means two other PGA Tour events would have to vacate their spot to allow for the Tour Championship to end around Labor Day.
But that’s just the math. T h a t d o e s n ’ t t a k e i n t o account the squabbling that is sure to follow.
“That’s sort of Jay’s problem now,” Jack Nicklaus said. “And I think Jay is wrestling with it. But I think they’ll come up with a solution that nobody’s going to agree with. But after you have it for a couple of years, you’re going to see the reasons why they’re doing what they’re doing and what they’re trying to do.”
Nicklaus met with Monahan and other tour officials Tuesday morning, and Nicklaus seemed agreeable, even though his Memorial Tournament could be affected.
The Memorial began in 1976, the perfect date to commemorate legends of the game with a tournament that tries to imitate the pure standards of golf found at Augusta National.
I t t r a d i t i o n a l l y i s t wo weeks before the U.S. Open.
Move the PGA Championship to May — already a risky proposal that could rule out so many northern golf courses because of the weather — and suddenly the Memorial could be squeezed between the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open.
Nicklaus said he also has met with PGA of America chief Pete Bevacqua about a potential move. And he thinks the Memorial being held on either side of a major could actually help his event.
E v e n b e f o r e N i c k l a u s spoke, there was more talk about the PGA Championship moving to May when Southern Hills in Tulsa, Okla. was awarded another PGA sometime before 2030. The temperatures hit triple digits the last time the PGA Championship was there in 2007.
More than the heat, Nicklaus thought a move to May would alleviate fatigue.
“I think that golf in August almost starts to get a little bit tired,” Nicklaus said. “It’s the end of the season — near the end of the season. And I think the FedEx Cup probably falls in that category, a little bit tired from a spectator thing.”