PGA date switch makes sense for US but is troublesome for European Tour | Ewan Murray


Move to May from mid-summer for poor relation of four majors was promoted as being in best interests of PGA Tour, and quite possibly comes at Europe’s expense

You need not spend much time assessing the complexities of golf scheduling to feel sympathy for those charged with implementing it. Climate, television schedules, clashes with other sports, sponsors’ demands and player preferences are just some of the elements in an eternally difficult equation. When professional golf takes place in a certain place at a certain time, there is always a strong reason for it. Far more often than not, that outweighs external sniping.

This week has seen long-awaited confirmation of something relating to a seismic shift. That it took so long for the US PGA Championship’s move to May and a Players Championship swap to March to be made public owes everything to the kind of forensic analysis that is necessary before marquee golf events move calendar location.

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