SPRINGFIELD, N.J. -- The PGA of America knows where they're going to play the 2020 PGA Championship: at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco.
But they don't yet know when.
That year will be golf's second -- and maybe last -- appearance in the Olympic program, with Tokyo set to welcome the Games that summer. Of course, like this summer, that means golf will have to mangle and contort its schedule to create space for 60 players to compete for a gold medal. The PGA Championship was the event that drew the shortest straw, moving up from its normal early August slot into the very end of July, just two weeks after an unforgettable Open Championship at Royal Troon.
It may not work out that way in 2020, and the PGA of America is trying to figure out when they want to play in San Francisco.
"It's something we are giving a lot of thought to and doing quite a few levels of analysis in terms of what would make sense for the PGA Championship going forward in an Olympic year," said PGA of America CEO Pete Bevacqua on Wednesday at Baltusrol. "Nothing's off the table. Nothing's been decided. But we are considering many options."
A lot of different options have been thrown out for public feedback, albeit not by the PGA. There's been the idea of a February PGA, as proposed by Golfweek's Adam Schupak. There's the idea of moving The Players to March for that year and bumping the PGA to May. What about an autumn PGA Championship?
For what it's worth, some players don't seem to care when a major is.
"I mean, whatever the schedule is, I feel like I'm at a point where I can prepare for it," said U.S. Open champion Dustin Johnson on Wednesday. "You know, it's definitely different, playing so many majors pretty close together. But I don't know, I've done pretty well this year, so I kind of like it."
Sergio Garcia, however, disagreed with Johnson's assessment.
"Obviously for me, it's not ideal to go one week on, one week off, one week on, one week off, because it's difficult to get in a rhythm," he said. "It's difficult to kind of really rest or really, you know, like I said, really get in a rhythm of playing. So it's not ideal, I would say, at least for me."
However Bevacqua doesn't feel like his organization's championship was negatively impacted by having a northeast major just a little earlier than usual. The tournament is sold out for championship days, and the corporate hospitality was long claimed. Barring a barrage of rain, the Lower Course should be crowded and rowdy all week.
"We knew the schedule was going to be condensed," he said. "But it's worked out well. It's absolutely worked out well. I think having a major championship in this part of the country at the end of July works and makes a lot of sense.
