Pros And Cons Of A PGA Tour Schedule Shake-Up

We've heard hints and now we know the plan is serious: new PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan would like to move The Players back to March. This opens up May for the PGA of America to host the second major of the year, the PGA Championship, all while freeing up August for the PGA Tour playoffs. Then, America can turn to football.

Once every four years this would allow for Olympic golf to not be played so close to a major championship. This will not, however, end the wraparound silliness, Rex Hoggard reminded us.

John Feinstein and I debated this on Golf Central Tuesday (13:00 mark), with Feinstein saying the new schedule is a done deal.

I can't see enough compelling reasons for the PGA of America to give up their August date, particularly as they prepare to cash in on a new TV deal starting in 2020, making it an uncertainty this actually happens.

So let's make lists!

Pros

- Main PGA Tour season finishes prior to NFL and college football starting
- Clears a major out of the Olympic path every four years
- Strengthens PGA Tour playoffs by killing primary storylines of fatigue or whether will players skip a week
- Puts strongest possible tournament on the schedule two weeks prior to the Masters
- Creates new possibilities for PGA Championship venues in places like Texas, Arizona, Florida
- Ends "glory's last hope" sensibility that taints PGA Championship

Cons

- Agronomically eliminates Northernmost venues that have been PGA Championship venues (Hazeltine, Whistling Straits, Oak Hill)
- Places greater agronomic and infrastructure-construction pressure on northern venues still able to host
- Ends PGA of America's hold on sports-light August, weakening their position for next TV contract
- Likely ensures permanently smaller audience watching the PGA (sports-busy May vs. sports light August)
- Condensces majors schedule between second week of April to second week of July
- Introduces new weather issues for PGA Championship venues in places like Texas, Arizona, Florida
- Ends traditional Masters-U.S. Open start to major season
- Endorses the PGA Tour playoffs as a competition worthy of bumping a major to May

What else?

Comments

[Hawkeye]

Pros:
- Revitalizes the Florida swing now that Doral too is gone, and with it, creates a better build-up to The Masters.

- The Ryder Cup can move back to mid-September, getting more daylight, better weather and fewer fatigued players.

Con (international edition):
- Weakens the European Tour, which traditionally starts building up momentum in May with the British PGA (which is already in the doldrums thanks to the poorly redesigned Wentworth).

[PABoy]

Places Open Championship into final slot of the majors. Also orders the major championships by their tenure, not important but interesting (Players also fits this criteria).

What do people think about a Memorial Day finish for the PGA? I understand that Jack's event suffered from competing with the Indy 500.

[Carl Peterson's Mom's Dissatisfaction]

Pros:

Does something--anything--to boost the the status of the PGA championship, which differs in no discernible way from a run of the mill Fed Ex St Jude Classic.

[Paul]

To make room for Olympics and to bolster the FedEx? Why would the PGA bite?

[BDF]

I'm at a loss as to why the PGA would agree to this. The pro side of the argument favours the TOUR and does little for the PGAA. The con side is very concerning, I really can't see how the PGA Championship can benefit here.

[Bud]

There will be only 1 more year when the schedule needs to work around Olympic golf. After 2020, it will be gone.

[JS]

I really question the agronomic challenges you're concerned with Geoff. Mid-August is tough for just about the entire country while mid-May is surprisingly great most years in the Philly suburbs.

I think one big event in each month from March to September will be really good for US based golf viewing.

I agree that the European Tour might really struggle with this. Do they become the worldwide Tour that plays virtually 12 months a year, following the sun and avoiding the biggest weeks on the US Tour calendar?

[Patches O'Houlihan]

There would be only one reason the PGA would consider this. A TV partner thinks they'll do better moving from August. How hard would last year's PGA Championship ratings be to beat?

Yes, the late May schedule is busier, but in more focused windows as hockey and hoop are down to semi-finals. There are no "must-see" baseball games in May.

[Greg]

All of this change to help ratings for a struggling playoff system that most of us don't care about and to accommodate a tournament that may or may not take place every 4 years? Not worth it.

[Josh]

As a Midwesterner, it would be disappointing for our great courses (Whistling Straits/Hazeltine/Oakland Hills/Medinah/etc.) to miss out on the major love... unless the USGA starts picking up the slack in the midwest. After Erin Hills there isnt a single major in the midwest for at least 10 years.

however based on the scheduling, the Senior PGA is hosted every other Memorial weekend in MI... so based on where it falls i dont think they would entirely leave the Midwest. would hate to see that

[Buck]

If it's on tv I'll watch no matter the month.

[The O]

Possible con: my recollection is hazy, but didn't they move the Players to May in part because March gets more rain in FL? I seem to recall more weather delays before they moved it.

Another con: I hat football and I need something to watch in September before the NHL starts.

[BrianS]

Nothing lasts forever - if this means the far northern Midwest states get restricted, and some of the South/Southwest gets access for the next 20 years, that only seems fair - at some point the chance to move to August may return or something different.

[Mouthful]

I think we need bigger gaps in between the Majors (to spread the season out) ... not having them jammed even closer together. April = Masters, June = US Open, Late July/Aug = Open, Late Sept/Oct = PGA.

[PG]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikmatuszewski/2017/01/04/golf-channel-matches-highest-ratings-in-2016-behind-british-open-olympics-and-ryder-cup/#207202045462

[SRK]

For the 2020 PGA at Harding Park, they'd be wiser to look at an October date rather than May - best weather of the year in San Fran...

[Herb]

Its all up to CBS, isn;t it? If they want to pay as much for something to run against NBA basketball as they pay to run in a desolate summer pre-US Open tennis slot, it has legs.

Even if they do, does it make up for the loss of corporate entertainment dollars in NYC? May is iffy weather there, and its a poor time for client entertainment.

[JS]

I'm not sure about the client entertainment side, but May is not as iffy a time in NYC as August is...Thunderstorms and rain delays are a virtual certainty that time of year in the NE corridor.

[PG]

What about cable rights for PGA Championship (separate from Tour)?

[Seitz]

@JS - Purely anecdotal, but I've played Straits in early May in three of the last four years. Decent shape, but not major championship shape. Grass is still greening, etc. We play it that time of year because the green fees are way cheaper, based on dicey weather and poorer course conditions than you'd expect for full rate. Probably could be set up well, but wouldn't look great on TV unless they did a lot of work to it. On the flip side, I belong to a club in the Traverse City, MI area, and while the conditions in May are OK, they're awesome in August/September and even into October.

Well, OK, our May conditions are great, too, but that's because we have a great superintendent. They're just OK relative to how great they later in the summer.

[Finished]

Appreciate all the angst, but once again this is only a concern for those who make their living from golf--- pros, media types, tour organizers, tv folks, sponsors, that is, people who's jobs, income, future and security depend on the health of golf. For us fans, players, TV viewers, it has very little impact. This is all based on a fear that golf is losing interest, losing it's audience, which it is. Rescheduling and recycling will not boost interest in the game. The game is the same game it has always been. If you like golf it you will watch, if you like golf you will play. It's not football's fault. It's not Tim Finchem's fault. How and when PGA Tour golf is presented on TV has zero impact on the love of the game for the everyday player such as myself.

[Silly Bodkins]

Here's a thought. Make the PGA Championship a 2-week match play tournament at the end of August. Sure, some years no one is going to watch when Zach Johnson faces Jim Furyk in the final. But, if everyone agrees that the PGA is a major (MAJOR), there will be plenty of interest in the opening rounds for the tournament.

Which begs the question. Sure, some folks tune into the Masters because it is spring, and the only other compelling TV coverage is the Final Four deal. But, golf shouldn't take a second fiddle to anything. If the tournament is a major, golf fans are going to watch. It is what we do.

The PGA should seek to make their major championship worthy of going against NFL coverage, or any other sports coverage, for GOLF FANS. Forget worrying about what else is on TV. The PGA championship has historically been the final major of the year. Play it up. Don't apologize (i.e.: Glory's Last Stand). Glory's Last Stand is Lame, Go back to the historic PGA Championship - the premier Match play tournament of the world. Advertise the PGA as the greatest Mano a. mano event in the world (certainly in the world of professional golf). Take second fiddle to no one, particularly in the advertising. Make the PGA championship all about the greatest guts and glory match play event ever. Make it back into the most wonderful match play event.

This would distinguish it from the other majors. It would harken back to the historic PGA Championship. And, it could be a very special tournament. Golf fans would pay attention, watch the replays at night for a fortnight, and love the event. This is what committed tennis fans do for Wimbledon. Golf could do brackets, just like the Final Four.

And heck, if Zach Johnson ends up playing Danny Willet for the championship (on a Saturday - it should be on a Saturday), golf fans (the real audience) will be well served. But all those matches leading up to the championship could be shown at night for a week and a half, providing compelling TV for golf fans.

And that should be it. Providing compelling TV for golf fans. If golf starts marketing to golf fans (and that might not include folks who play golf), golf could be in a very secure place.

If millennials decide that they like the give and take of match play, God love them, and they might become fans. If not, golf should not worry about losing them. They will be gone anyway.

[Erik J. Barzeski]

"Also orders the major championships by their tenure, not important but interesting (Players also fits this criteria)."

The PGA began in 1916. Augusta National wasn't even a twinkle in Bobby Jones' eye for over a decade after that.

"Does something--anything--to boost the the status of the PGA championship, which differs in no discernible way from a run of the mill Fed Ex St Jude Classic."

The strongest field of all the four majors - by far - doesn't do it for you? Please.

[burp]

A stroke play event, on a bland corporate course (Valhalla for example) late in the season, with the three superior majors in the rear view. No, it doesn't do it for me.