The PGA Championship is often a bone of contention amongst golf fans.
The Masters, The Open and The US Open all stand ahead of The PGA Championship in terms of prestige, there is no doubt about that.
The main reason for that, in my opinion, is that the venues for the PGA Championship often make the tournament feel like a glorified PGA Tour event.
Now Rick Shiels has come up with a radical idea to help improve the tournament which used to be known as ‘glory’s last shot’, due to the fact that it was the last major of the year up until 2019.
Scottie Scheffler won the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow last week, but it was a fairly underwhelming tournament to watch for fans.
There was nothing special or unique about watching an event played on a course which we see every single year on the PGA Tour.
It was great seeing the exceptional Scheffler win another major, but aside from that, there was little magic on display at Quail Hollow.
So how do the USGA go about improving the PGA Championship as a product?
Rick Shiels proposes radical change to golf and the PGA Championship
Shiels has been speaking on his regular podcast about the current state of the game.
Midway through the podcast, attention switched to the PGA Championship, and how it offered little throughout the four days from a viewer’s perspective.
When speaking on The Rick Shiels Golf Show, the YouTube golf influencer shared his theory as to how the PGA Championship can improve as a golf tournament, and as a product for the consumer.
He said, “I think out of the four I am seeing a much more definitive order to the majors now. I really am.
I can definitely have a toss up between one and two – The Masters and The Open depending on the time of year.
“I really have started to love the US Open. And the PGA Champs to me just feels like an elevated PGA Tour event.
“They’re lovely golf courses, don’t get me wrong, but what is it? When you think of a US Open you know it’s going to be tough. I almost think slightly linksy. The Masters is The Masters. Open golf courses have that traditional feel to it. Quail Hollow I looked at it and it looks like a course you see every weekend on the PGA Tour.
“I would definitely like it to identify itself a bit more and be different. I honestly believe there should be a world major.
“There should be a major which travels the globe. Like the World Cup of majors where countries bid to host the final major of the year.“
Another idea to shake up the PGA Championship
How about completely changing the format, in order to give the PGA Championship a unique feel of its own.
Up until 1957, the PGA Championship was a match-play event, before it changed to a stroke-play tournament from 1958 onwards.
And now could be the time to return to a match-play format, in order to bring some real prestige back to the event.
It would mean that the maximum field for the event would be 128 players. The competition could be a stroke-play event for 36 holes on Wednesday and Thursday, where only the top 32 qualify for the match-play stage.
There then could be two rounds played on the Friday – the last-32 and last-16.
Then on Saturday, the quarter-finals and semi-finals would take place before the championship match and the third and fourth-placed play-off on the Sunday.
That system would give the tournament a completely different feel and it would make it totally unique in the modern era.
Shiels’ suggestion of turning the PGA Championship into more of a global event is something that would be great for the tournament as well.
The main point here is that something needs to change in order for the PGA to maintain a certain level of standing and stature in the game that it deserves.
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