Has the PGA Championship’s move to May worked?
The PGA Championship move to May has raised eyebrows on both sides of the Atlantic. So how are we feeling about it now it’s actually happened?
I’m yet to be convinced about the PGA Championship move to May
Let me start by saying I am 100% behind the move, writes Alex Perry. The PGA always felt a little bit lost out there on its own in August as the fourth major – and it really was the fourth major in the players’ eyes.
But it all feels like it’s a bit too packed in. It feels like last week that Tiger Woods won the Masters – there’s no way I’m the only one who still hasn’t come down from that – and it’s barely three weeks until the US Open gets underway.
I like the idea behind the one-major-every-month run through the summer, but halfway through it’s feeling a little intense. Once the Open is over, it’s nine months until we return to Augusta again. NINE MONTHS! You can make a baby in that time.
I don’t really like that the entire golf season has been condensed because of the NFL. It seems a bit off to me.
To summarise, I agree that the PGA should be the second major of the season, but there still needs to be a bit more of a spread.
I like the PGA Championship move to May
We’re so used to taking our time to absorb and reflect on the Masters that the PGA was upon us very quickly, writes Dan Murphy.
Even more so for some of the players – especially those who didn’t manage to decompress in a regular tournament in between the year’s first two majors.
And so here we are in mid-May with only two majors remaining. And it’s only a month until Pebble Beach and the US Open.
How curious that a sport whose seasons never seem to start or end anymore should find itself with this contracted major schedule.
It’s only 15 weeks from the start of the Masters until the end of the Open – and then nine long months until the following April. Especially in this, a non-Ryder Cup year.
In a case of unintended consequences, I do wonder if the FedEx Cup Play-offs will start to feel detached from the real business of the season – the majors.
I wonder if we’ll see the big names playing more, earlier in the year and then keeping themselves sharp through the early summer and then freewheeling through August and beyond. We’ll see.
It felt to me like the PGA had a bigger profile in this new May slot and it has whetted our appetites for Pebble and Portrush beautifully. I consider that to be a success.
Alex and Dan agree that there is some element of success – but what do you think? Let us know in the comments below, or join the conversation on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
The new Tiger? Let’s not do this again
The astonishing numbers behind Koepka’s major dominance
What does the move to May mean for the PGA Championship?
Alex Perry
Alex has been the editor of National Club Golfer since 2017. A Devonian who enjoys wittering on about his south west roots, Alex moved north to join NCG after more than a decade in London, the last five of which were with ESPN. Away from golf, Alex follows Torquay United and spends too much time playing his PlayStation or his guitar and not enough time practising his short game.
