By Dennis Miller
This promises to be an exciting, yet different week for the Northern California golf world as the PGA Championship takes place at Harding Park in San Francisco with no spectators.
Additionally, there will be very few media members allowed at the course, with most media members restricted to covering the tournament “virtually.” In some ways it is something exciting and new and we are being given more accessibility online than ever before.
Tomorrow – August 4 – will see the activity kick into high gear as there will be a series of virtual press conference, including one from Tiger Woods in the morning. I will be online each day bringing you the latest from Harding Park.
Not only have I played Harding Park many times, but I covered both the American Express WGC event where Tiger beat John Daly in a playoff and then the Presidents Cup.
I would love to be over the there walking the course this week, but such are the times.
Today I have the fact sheet for the tournament to share, hopefully giving some insight for this week. As you will notice when you get to the TV schedule, there will be historic coverage available, from the first tee shot, until the last ball drops in the cup!
Enjoy and keep checking with www.acesgolf.com all the way through the end of the tournament Sunday for the latest news!
FACT SHEET
102nd PGA Championship
Dates: August 6-9, 2020
Site: TPC Harding Park, San Francisco, California
Defending Champion: Brooks Koepka, Jupiter, Florida
Purse and Honors:
The 2020 PGA Champion will have his name inscribed on the Wanamaker Trophy, which is enshrined in the PGA Gallery at PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Florida. The PGA Champion also receives a replica of the Wanamaker Trophy. In 2019, the purse was $11 million, with a winner’s prize of $1.98 million.
Method of Play:
Seventy-two holes of stroke play, four rounds of 18 holes. Following the first 36 holes of play, the field of 156 players will be reduced to the low 70 scorers and ties. Those players will advance to complete the final two rounds. In the event of a tie for first place after 72 holes, there will be a three-hole aggregate score playoff on holes 16, 17 and 18. If a tie still remains, there will be a hole-by-hole playoff beginning on No. 18, and, if necessary, on to holes 16, 17 and 18 repeated until a winner is determined.
Eligibility:
The total field will be a maximum of 156 players. The entry deadline date for exempt players is Friday, July 3, 2020. Conditional players will be finalized on Monday, July 27, 2020
Note: All contestants in the PGA Championship (except international players) must be a PGA of America member in good standing.
The PGA of America has approved the following list of players eligible to compete in the 102nd PGA Championship:
- All former winners of the PGA Championship.
- Winners of the last five Masters (2015 – 2019).
- Winners of the last five U.S. Opens (2015 – 2019).
- Winners of the last five Open Championships (2015 – 2019).
- Winners of the last three Players Championships (2017 – 2019).
- Winner of the 2019 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship.
- The top 15 finishers and ties from the 2019 PGA Championship.
- The top 20 players on the 2019 PGA Professional Player of the Year Standings.
- The top 70 players who have earned the most PGA Championship Points from the 2019 AT&T Byron Nelson through the 2020 3M Open ending July 26, 2020.
- Playing members of the last-named U.S. and European Ryder Cup teams (2018) provided they remain within the top 100 on the Official World Golf Rankings as of July 27, 2020.
- Winners of PGA TOUR co-sponsored or approved tournaments, whose victories are considered official, from the 2019 Charles Schwab Challenge to the 2020 PGA Championship.
- The PGA of America reserves the right to invite additional players not included in the categories listed above.
- If necessary to complete the field, those players beyond the top 70 players who have earned the most PGA Championship Points from the 2019 AT&T Byron Nelson through the 2020 3M Open ending July 26, 2020 in order of their position on such list.
Note: The PGA Championship points list is compiled of Official Money earned in PGA TOUR events within the defined period in 9 and 13 above and is available on www.pgatour.com
Television
The 2020 PGA Championship from San Francisco will be broadcast domestically in primetime. Globally, it will be seen in 164 countries and territories reaching more than a half-billion households. ESPN & CBS will combine for 100+ hours of live coverage from TPC Harding Park. Meanwhile, for the first time the 2020 broadcast of the PGA Championship will begin with the first tee shot and conclude with the final putt on ESPN+.
ESPN and CBS Broadcast Combined Schedules for the 2020 PGA Championship
(listed in EASTERN TIME)
Thu., Aug. 6 ESPN 4:00 – 10:00 p.m. (live)
Fri., Aug. 7 ESPN 4:00 – 10:00 p.m. (live)
Sat., Aug. 8 ESPN 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. (live)
CBS 4:00 – 10:00 p.m.(live)
Sun., Aug. 9 ESPN 12:00 – 3:00 p.m. (live)
CBS 3:00 – 9:00 p.m. (live)
ESPN+ Schedule for the 2020 PGA Championship
(Subject to change)
Tue., Aug, 4 TBD Practice Rounds
Wed., Aug. 5 TBD Practice Rounds/PGA Championship News Conf./2:30 p.m.
Thu., Aug. 6 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Live Coverage
10:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. Featured Groups 1&2 (Morning, Afternoon)
Fri., Aug. 7 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Live Coverage
10:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. Featured Groups 1&2 (Morning, Afternoon)
Sat., Aug. 8 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Live Coverage
11:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. Featured Groups 1&2 (Morning, Afternoon)
4:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. Featured Hole (No. 18)
Sun., Aug. 9 10:00 a.m. – Noon Live Coverage
11:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. Featured Groups 1&2 (Morning, Afternoon)
3:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. Featured Hole (No. 18)
Future Sites
103rd PGA Championship, May 2021, The Ocean Course -Kiawah Island, S.C.
104th PGA Championship, May 2022 Trump National – Bedminster, N.J.
105th PGA Championship, May 2023 Oak Hill Country Club – Pittsford, N.Y.
106th PGA Championship, May 2024 Valhalla Golf Club – Louisville, Ky.
107th PGA Championship, May 2025 Quail Hollow Club – Charlotte, N.C.
108th PGA Championship, May 2026 Aronimink Golf Club – Newtown Square, Pa.
109th PGA Championship, May 2027 PGA Frisco – Frisco, Texas
110th PGA Championship, May 2028 The Olympic Club, San Francisco, Calif.
111th PGA Championship, May 2029 Baltusrol Golf Club – Springfield, N.J.
112th PGA Championship, May 2030 Southern Hills C.C. – Tulsa, Okla.
113th PGA Championship, May 2031 Congressional C.C. – Bethesda, Md.
The PGA Championship
An exploratory meeting of the Professional Golfers’ Association of America was conducted Jan. 17, 1916, in New York City that served as building blocks for what is today, one of the world’s largest working sports organizations. It was there that the idea for a national professional championship was conceived. Department store magnate Rodman Wanamaker, who hosted the meeting, agreed to provide a trophy for the competition, as well as an initial purse of $2,580 and the travel expenses of the competitors.
The inaugural PGA Championship was played Oct. 10-14, 1916, at Siwanoy Country Club in Bronxville, New York. It would be five years before an American-born PGA Professional claimed the Championship. England’s Jim Barnes captured the inaugural Championship before the event was interrupted for two years by World War I. Barnes returned in 1919 to win his second consecutive Championship. Walter Hagen would go on to post his record-tying five PGA Championships in the 1920s. Gene Sarazen would claim victories in 1922, ‘23 and ’33. Byron Nelson, one of the finest competitors in PGA Championship history began in 1939, when he finished runner-up. He would reach the finals in four of the next five PGA Championships, winning in 1940 and 1945.
The Championship was not played in 1943 because of World War II. During the post-war years, the Rodman Wanamaker Trophy added the names of Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, Doug Ford and Jack Burke Jr.
In 1958, the format of the PGA Championship was changed from match to stroke play. The new era in PGA Championship history added the names of Dow Finsterwald, Bob Rosburg, Jay Hebert and Gary Player to its Champions roster. In 1963, Jack Nicklaus won his first of a record-tying five PGA Championships. Fittingly, Nicklaus’s last PGA Championship triumph in 1980 came at Oak Hill Country Club in Hagen’s hometown of Rochester, New York.
The PGA Championship’s new generation of winners features such names as John Daly, Davis Love III, Tiger Woods, who won four Championships between 1999 and 2007; and joined in an honor roll by Vijay Singh, Padraig Harrington, Rory McIlroy, Jason Day and Justin Thomas. The PGA Championship, the only all-professional major, is one of the premier sporting events of the world. It has perennially featured one of the strongest and deepest fields in golf. As it was just over a century ago, the Rodman Wanamaker Trophy is still prized as one of the golf world’s greatest treasures.