It's not often that the short-term future of a major championships is uncertain. Yet that's the situation facing the PGA Championship, where officials with the PGA of America are mulling whether to move the tournament from its usual August dates to May as part of a broader overhaul of the PGA Tour's calendar. If the event does move from the date it has held since 1973, it will no long be the final major of the calendar year but will move up to the No. 2 position after the Masters and before the U.S. Open. A decision is anticipated some time soon with any change not likely to occur until 2020.
In the meantime, there are a handful of specific storyline surrounding this year's event that offer intrigue: Can Rory McIlroy catch fire at a course he's been known to dominate when it has hosted the PGA Tour's Wells Fargo Championship? Can Jordan Spieth, fresh off his win at the British Open, claim the career grand slam with a victory? Can former PGA Championship winner Jason Day salvage his 2017 season? Will Dustin Johnson return to the form he found before his freak injury at the Masters?
Beside these storylines are a host of more frequently asked questions regarding the PGA Championship that we're ready to answer with certainty.
The 99th PGA Championship is being held at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, N.C., on Aug. 10-13. It will be the first time Quail Hollow, regularly the site of the PGA Tour's Wells Fargo Championship, is hosting a major. The course will play as a par 71 at 7,600 yards.
No, Quail Hollow did not host the Wells Fargo this season. It was held in May at Eagle Point Golf Club in Wilmington, N.C., and won by Brian Harman.
The Professional Golfers' Association (PGA) of America conducts the event.
Yes, the PGA Tour and the PGA of America have been independent of one another since 1968. The PGA Tour is an elite organization of tournament professionals, while the PGA of America is made up of club and teaching professionals.
The PGA Championship is typically played in mid-August. However, officials with the PGA of America are thinking about moving the championship to May as part of an arrangement with the PGA Tour to overhaul the entire tour calendar.
The first PGA Championship was played in 1916 at Siwanoy Country Club in Bronxville, N.Y. England's Jim Barnes won, 1 up, over Jock Hutchinson.
From 1916 to 1957, the PGA Championship was a match-play event with a stroke-play qualifier, and it was not uncommon for players to play more than 200 holes in seven days. Starting in 1958, the PGA Championship switched to the standard 72-hole, stroke-play format. America's Dow Finsterwald won the first stroke-play version of the event in 1958 at Llanerch Country Club in Havertown, Pa.
There are 156 players in the field at the PGA Championship, with 20 of those spots reserved for club professionals.
The 20 spots reserved for club professionals in the PGA Championship are determined by the top finishers in the PGA Professional Championship, which is held in June.
For a list of ways to qualify for the PGA Championship, here's a link.
The PGA Championship is limited to professionals only, meaning amateurs cannot qualify.
In the event of a tie, the PGA of America employs a three-hole aggregate format for the championship's playoff. If players are tied after three holes it becomes a sudden-death playoff.
Since 1958, there have been 13 playoffs in the PGA Championship, the last coming in 2011 at Atlanta Athletic Club, where Keegan Bradley defeated Jason Dufner in the three-hole aggregate playoff.
Jimmy Walker won the 2016 PGA Championship at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, N.J.
Jack Nicklaus and Walter Hagen hold the record for most PGA Championship victories with five. Nicklaus also holds the record for most runner-up finishes at the PGA Championship, with four.
Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Okla., has hosted the most PGA Championships—four—the most recent in 2007, when Tiger Woods won.
New York has hosted the most PGA Championships with 12, including three at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, N.Y., which hosted the 2013 PGA Championship and is scheduled to host again in 2023.
The record for lowest 72-hole score in a PGA Championship is held by David Toms, who shot total of 15-under 265 at Atlanta Athletic Club in Duluth, Ga., in 2001.
Jason Day holds the record for scoring in relation to par not only in PGA Championship history, but in major championship history. The Australian was 20-under-par (268) when he won at Whistling Straits in Haven, Wis., in 2015.
The highest total score of a PGA champion is one-under 287, shot by Larry Nelson in 1987 at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
The highest score by a winner in relation to par is one over, held by four players: Jay Hebert in 1960, Julius Boros in 1968, Gary Player in 1972 and Dave Stockton in 1976.
Fourteen players hold the record for lowest round (63) in PGA Championship history: Bruce Crampton, Raymond Floyd, Gary Player, Vijay Singh, Michael Bradley, Brad Faxon, Jose Maria Olazabal, Mark O'Meara, Thomas Bjorn, Tiger Woods, Steve Stricker, Jason Dufner, Hiroshi Iwata and Robert Streb.
The record for largest margin of victory in a PGA Championship is held by Rory McIlroy, who won the 2012 PGA Championship by eight strokes at Kiawah Island Golf Resort in Kiawah Island, S.C.
The oldest winner of the PGA Championship is Julius Boros, who won in 1968 at 48 years and 142 days of age.
The youngest winner is Gene Sarazen, who won in 1922 at 20 years and 174 days of age.
Arnold Palmer and Tom Watson were both denied earning the career Grand Slam by never winning the PGA title.
Australia is next closest to America in terms of PGA Championship victories with five: Jim Ferrier in 1947, David Graham in 1979, Wayne Grady in 1990, Steve Elkington in 1995 and Jason Day in 2015.
Being held in late August and rarely out west (only 10 times in history) means the PGA Championship almost always faces sweltering heat and weather issues that halt play. The rough is typically long but the PGA sets up the course so that low scores can be had.
Future sites have been confirmed through 2023. They are as follows:
Bellerive Country Club - St. Louis (2018)
Bethpage State Park, Black Course - Farmingdale, N.Y. (2019)
TPC Harding Park - San Francisco (2020)
Kiawah Island Golf Resort, Ocean Course - Kiawah Island, S.C. (2021)
Trump National Golf Club - Bedminster, N.J. (2022)
Oak Hill Country Club - Rochester, N.Y. (2023)
Since 1992, TNT hosts first- and second-round coverage and third- and fourth-round morning coverage of the PGA Championship, with CBS taking over for afternoon coverage on the weekend. The contract runs through 2019.
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