The PGA Championship isn't going anywhere.
It's not going to Asia, even with the suggestion Colin Montgomerie has made that a major championship will one day land in Asia. With the Masters in Georgia forever, the U.S. Open in America and the Open Championship stuck on the British Isles (despite the Brits' hatred of that term in its name), that would leave the PGA Championship to go to Asia.
it's not. PGA of America CEO Joe Steranka shot down Monty's theory and any hope of the current rotation of majors heading to Asia.
"When you win the Ryder Cup, you get to speak on a lot of topics," Steranka said Wednesday. "So, you know, congratulations again to Captain Montgomerie."
Though Asia is growing at a staggering pace, the United States is still the world's largest economic powerhouse. Why, then, would the PGA of America - of America - leave?
"America represents about 60 percent of the global GDP (gross domestic product)," Steranka said. "A big part of the IOC's (International Olympic Committee) interest in adding golf to the Olympics was because of the size of the American marketplace and the television and media viewership. You know, moving the PGA Championship away from the No. 1 market in the world, you know, that's a real tough thing to justify from a business rationale standpoint."
As for the prospect of an accepted fifth major someday, Steranka said that's not his, or any major body's, call.
"We've always said," he remarked, "that majors have been defined by the players and the media."
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