On the eve of the 108th PGA Championship at Aronimink, PGA of America chief executive officer Terry Clark and chief championships officer Kerry Haigh crushed any notion of such changes.
Regarding venues beyond US borders, Clark said the event’s identity involves plenty of American courses.
“I don’t see that being a real focus as far as right now. It’s not something I really looked at and discussed,” Clark said.
“I never say never because we’re always trying to improve what we do, but I wouldn’t put that as a high priority at this point.”
There has been talk about moving the PGA Championship back to August almost since it shifted from there to May in 2019, but Clark said sponsors and telecasters like May just fine.
“I really think we’ve got a strong position in May,” Clark said. “Certainly I’m always going to look at what could make us better, but not actively looking at should we move this to later or back to August.
“I think we have a great slot. I think we can stand out.”
Every four years, the Olympic golf tournament has a date in late July or early August. And the PGA Tour has shifted its schedule to stage its play-offs in August.
“There’s a unique spot that we sit. I like that we don’t have to think about changes for the Olympic years,” Clark said.
“We’ve kind of come to (realise) there’s a real way to not only continue to strengthen our identity, but to lean into that time in May, so I don’t see that as one I’m really pushing on a change right now.”
Haigh noted the tournament no longer faces the scorching summer temperatures or thunderstorms that caused delays in the August window and it comes five weeks after the Masters with one major every month from April to July.
“It’s certainly a lot more temperate, a lot more enjoyable for spectators and the experience for everyone involved,” Haigh said. “May is a great date. It’s five weeks after Augusta. There’s a nice pacing for the majors.
“We like the May date and it seems agronomically to be working very well.”
The tournament has posted a code of conduct in the locker room, a move started at the Masters after consultation between the majors and top-level tours.
“We have adopted the code of conduct with the aim being similar to pace of play, in that the policy is written,” Haigh said.
“If a player does something sort of egregious, unfortunately, we would give a warning to that player, and if they were to do it again, there would be a two-shot penalty.
“It’s really for the good of the game that we’re implementing it to try and make sure everyone is behaving appropriately, professionally, and as we would want our children and people watching to see (at) the major championship.” (AFP)
