PGA Championship making schedule change to May, Players Championship to March

The worst kept secret in golf will become official this week at the final major of the men’s season. The PGA Championship is moving from its current August date to a May date for the first time in 70 years. PGA of America CEO Pete Bevacqua is scheduled to hold a joint press conference with PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan on Tuesday at 1 p.m. ET, and that’s almost certainly when the move will be made with an official announcement. The AP’s Doug Ferguson reported Monday afternoon that two sources told him the move will begin in 2019 at Bethpage on Long Island.

UPDATE: It is now official, with Bevacqua and Monahan announcing on Tuesday that the PGA Championship is moving to May and The Players Championship is moving to March.

The PGA schedule change is not happening in a vacuum, but is part of multiple moves done primarily in conjunction with the PGA Tour. With the PGA Championship moving to May, the PGA Tour will move its crown tournament, The Players Championship, from May back to March, where it was traditionally held until 2007.

The PGA vacating its August slot will then allow the PGA Tour to hold its FedExCup playoffs series during August and likely have it wrapped up and the season over by Labor Day. The Playoffs, which have become a resounding success after some uncertainty in their nascent years, primarily run concurrent with football season and obviously become overshadowed for TV and among even the most ardent golf fans. Informed speculation also has the FedExCup Playoffs potentially going down from four to three events, with the annual stop in Boston getting the ax.

There will be plenty of other schedule moves for different regular season tournaments but the primary prongs of this are:

Getting out of August and into May also avoids a PGA conflict with the Olympics, which became a mess last year with two majors in a three week span squeezed in before the Rio games in August. Golf is already in the Olympics again for 2020 in Tokyo and 2024 in Paris.

The move should also boost the identity of the PGA, which is often poked as the fourth major. The players seem mostly in favor of the length of the season being cut down, and the consistency it brings to the schedule from March through August. To wit:

But the move also likely limits the venue options in the Northeast and the Midwest for the PGA’s most prestigious and lucrative event. They’ll argue otherwise, but committing to a major in some of those locales is dicey that time of year and may be a risk that they’re not willing to take when considering future venues. Hazeltine in Minnesota, which has become a PGA of America staple with PGA Championships and last year’s Ryder Cup, would probably not be in optimal shape for a May date. Bethpage in 2019 will be an immediate test as well, with the track hosting in what is an early stage of the golf season on Long Island.

We may see warm-weather states like Texas, California, and Florida get in on the major championship rota some more with this move. These future sites are already locked in:

2018 — Bellerive Country Club, St. Louis

2019 — Bethpage Black, Farmingdale, NY

2020 — TPC Harding Park, San Francisco

2021 — The Ocean Course, Kiawah Island, SC

2022 — Trump National Golf Club, Bedminster, NJ

2023 — Oak Hill Country Club, Rochester, NY

We’ll learn more on Tuesday afternoon in what will likely be an official unveiling of the plan by both the PGA of America and the PGA Tour.