The PGA Championship needs a REVOLUTION

Golf's third oldest Major Championship needs a new date, format and vision

12 May 2025, SHANK Media, by Matt Hooper: This week the 107th edition of the PGA Championship will be played at Quail Hollow Country Club, in Charlotte, North Carolina, and many of the world's greatest golfers will compete for the second Major Championship of the men's season. But is anyone really ready for a major championship already, Just over 1 month since Rory McIlroy's dramatic playoff victory over Justin Rose at Augusta National? The PGA Championship used to be 'Glory's Last Shot', played as the year's final major in the middle of August, now it just another big event played in the middle of May.

This year the venue is Quail Hollow, which stages the championship for a second time, but this isn't a Major Championship specific venue, it hosts the Truist Championship almost every year, and has recently hosted the Presidents Cup. This adds to the feel of the PGA Championship being nothing better than a PGA Tour Signature event. There now is really nothing distinctive about the PGA Championship other than its trophy and its history. The venues are ordinary, the date is awful and the format doesn't enable it to separate its self from the collection of other tournaments in golf.

The Masters has Augusta National, The US Open has 130 years of history, tradition, being the ultimate test and being the world's biggest Open, and The Open has the links, among many other elements. The PGA Championship is stuck, a victim of the PGA TOUR wanting to shrink its schedule and finish the American golf season before the NFL re-starts in September. But the PGA of America is the world's largest professional sports organisation, with nearly 30,000 members, and it should not be dictated to by the PGA TOUR. Golf's global calendar runs from January to December, and for the PGA Championship to forge a distinct identity, it needs a complete revolution.

New Date

Golf has its spring classic - The Masters. The PGA Championship should be golf's autumn spectacular. Moving the PGA Championship to the first week of October would enable the event to forge a completely unique identity, taking advantage of the 'fall colours' in certain parts of the United States at that time of year, much like Augusta does with spring and its azaleas and other flowers in April. Such a date change would also give breathing space around the US Open and The Open as men's golf summer Majors, and help the PGA TOUR and DP World Tour schedules have better flow throughout the year.

New format

The US Open and The Open has fields of 156 players, and that is right for the world's oldest Open Championships to do, the PGA Championship does not need 156 players in its field, 20 of which are club professionals. The field for the PGA Championship should be similar in size to The Masters, and the number of Club Professionals in the field should be similar to the number of amateurs invited to Augusta, which in 2025 was 7. The total number of participants in the 2025 Masters was 95.

The PGA of America could help the world game by elevating select PGA Championships worldwide as part of the PGA Championship Qualifying Series. This could include the Australian PGA Championship, BMW PGA Championship, Japan PGA Championship, New Zealand PGA Championship, South African PGA Championship, Scottish PGA Championship and Irish PGA Championship. The winners of each of these championships would earn a place in the field for the PGA Championship.

The smaller field would contend 36 holes of stroke play followed by match play knockout rounds, each played over 18 holes. Yes, some of the biggest name golfers could be eliminated early, but professional men's golf lacks a match play event in the wake of both the WGC and World Match Play Championships being discontinued during the last two decades, and the PGA Championship could fill that void.

New venue

The PGA of America was established in New York City, yet the championship has only been played in the entire state of New York on 5 occasions in the last 45 years. Would the PGA Championship benefit from being played at the same venue every year? It is right for the US Open to travel the country, and I would view that as being necessary, I am not sure it is necessary for the PGA Championship to do the same. Bizarrely the PGA of America has moved its HQ to Frisco in Texas at the newly built PGA Frisco, which is slated to host numerous PGA Championships in the next few decades, but does this add to the appeal of the PGA Championship?

A Major Championship staged permanently in the New York metropolitan area would help with the sport's image, reputation and accessibility. Staging the PGA Championship at a permanent home in the area would pay homage to the history of the sport in America, and to the history of the PGA of America. Bethpage State Park will host the 2025 Ryder Cup this September, and has previously hosted the 2019 PGA Championship, following two widely acclaimed US Opens in 2002 and 2009. The Black Course is highly ranked as one of the best in the world, and its proximity to New York City, along with its fall foliage potential make it a prime candidate to become a permanent host for the PGA Championship.

One of the elements which has made The Masters so popular over the years is being able to look back at history and the iconic moments on the same course, year after year. Staging the PGA Championship at the same course each year could achieve this for that event, further helping the championship to forge a unique identity.