by Jeff Skinner
I was chatting with one of my fellow hackers recently and the subject turned to the PGA Championship and his attitude was “too bad it’s not like a real major.” Needless to say I, like the members of the PGA of America, was discouraged by his perception of the PGA.
The PGA is indeed a major and in some ways the most major of all the majors. Each year the PGA boasts the best field of players over those of The Masters, The U.S. Open and the Open Championship. Prior to Dustin Johnson’s withdrawal and Tiger Wood’s possible exit the PGA was slated to have all top 100 of the Official World Golf Rankings players in the field. No other major comes close to that.
The PGA does suffer from a bit of an identity crisis. The Masters opens the golf season for most of North America and the fact that it is played at Augusta National each year has given it a special place in golf lore.
The U.S. Open, the second oldest of the majors, has become known as the toughest test in golf. If The Masters is revered by golfers the U.S. Open is feared. It is the most difficult course the top players will play all season.
The oldest of the majors, The Open Championship, has tons of history and individuality. Playing the old, links courses in Scotland and England give The Open such a different flavor compared to the regular tournaments and the other majors.
Moving from course to course each year doesn’t let the PGA foster the memorable moments like The Masters. But that is part of its lure, new different courses. And the PGA isn’t afraid to try new, recently built layouts. This is the 96th PGA Championship so it does have plenty of history but still it suffers from “major envy” for many. 
But “Glory’s Last Shot” as it had been called has been one of the most exciting championships over the past years. And the PGA of America has done well in building the status of their flagship event.
In fact the PGA of America itself has recently taken a much more public and significant role in golf.
When the USGA and the R & A threatened to ban the long putter it inadvertently gave the PGA a larger presence in golf. The PGA Tour and the PGA of America banded together to come out against the proposed ban and a new, intimate relationship was born between the two massive entities.
Last fall they announced new joint initiatives where they would work together to improve the game and their organizations. The PGA raised its purse to that of The PLAYERS Championship, both the largest in golf. The PGA of America Tour now has a bigger presence on the PGA Tour and vice versa.
And this week the PGA has announced that the PGA Tour will provide use of their proprietary, real-time scoring system, Shotlink for the PGA Championship. So all the data we see each week on the PGA Tour will now be available this week at Valhalla.
Without a doubt the PGA Championship could use a status boost to many. The PGA hierarchy even admits there is a problem. Scattered all over the Valhalla site are signs with the message “This Is Major.”
They are right, this is major. They don’t need the azaleas or the calf deep rough or the chilling rain to be a major. After all, we always add the PGA Championship into anyone’s major total. Don’t we? And that’s the truest measure of all.
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