From 2019, the USPGA Championship will move from August to May, with the Players Championship moving back to March
USPGA Championship Moves To May
From 2019, the USPGA Championship will move from its usual August spot and take place in May.
Currently held in August, the season’s final major championship will become the second major in the calendar.
It has been known as ‘Glory’s Last Shot’ but from 2019 the Open Championship will be the year’s final major, which may even increase the appeal and anticipation of the world’s oldest golf tournament.
The USPGA’s move means that The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass will move back to its old date of March.
This will be the PGA Tour’s headline tournament schedule:
March – The Players Championship
April – The Masters
May – USPGA Championship
June – US Open
July – The Open Championship
August – FedEx Cup Playoffs
The USPGA Championship has taken place in August every year since 1969, barring 1971 when it was held in February and last year when it was in July to make way for the Olympics.
The move ensures that the PGA Tour Playoffs will be done and dusted by the time the NFL, so US TV audiences should be up.
As Charley Hoffman told Golf Digest, “Football runs TV in that time of year.”
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It will allow other courses in the US to host the USPGA, because Texas and the South East are usually too hot in August.
That means that Southern Hills will be back, and is pencilled in for a pre-2030 date.
Last time Southern Hills hosted in 2007, play was halted after temperatures reached 40° C.
Related: BMW PGA Championship moves to September
Whilst speaking to Golf Digest, Rickie Fowler has welcomed the news.
“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,” said the four-time PGA Tour winner.
“From a scheduling standpoint, it might be a lot better for us to have an actual off-season 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.”
This article USPGA Championship Moves To May appeared first on Golf Monthly.