Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
BMW is on the move in revamp
THE BMW PGA at Wentworth will shift to September from 2019 as part of a revamp of the golf calendar.
The change is due to the US PGA moving to May to avoid clashing with the Olympics every fourth year.
The Players Championship will also switch back to March with the four Majors being held in four consecutive months – ending with the Open in July.
The Fedexcup playoffs are also likely to be brought forward to finish before the start of the NFL season.
The BMW PGA has traditionally been held in the last week in May and was won this year by
Swede Alex Noren.
But European Tour chief executive Keith Pelley said: “This is a new chapter for the event, but we expect similar interest in the autumn, as was shown historically by the World Match Play Championship when it was played at Wentworth at that time of the year.”
PGA of America Chief Executive Officer Pete Bevacqua described the change as “the worst-kept secret in golf” and added: “We come back to the unavoidable reality that the landscape in August is changing and it’s changing because of the Olympics and it’s changing because of contemplated alterations to the Fedexcup.”
The Olympics in Rio last year led to the US PGA, usually staged in August, to move to July.