Rory McIlroy has been speaking about the PGA Championship ahead of his first PGA Tour start of the season at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am this week.
McIlroy won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in 2025, and that victory kickstarted what turned out to be a historic year for the Northern Irishman.
The 36-year-old went on to win The Masters two months later and completed the career Grand Slam in the process.
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McIlroy added The Masters to his Open Championship victory, his US Open triumph and his two PGA Championship titles.
Some golf fans belittle the PGA Championship by claiming that it’s the least prestigious of the four majors.
There is probably some truth to that but anyone who’s won a Wanamaker trophy over the years will obviously hold it in extremely high regard.
However, is there a way to elevate the PGA Championship and give it a higher standing in the game?
Rory McIlroy wants to see a big change made to the PGA Championship
The 2025 Masters champion sat down to speak with the media on Tuesday afternoon ahead of the Pebble Beach Pro-Am this week.
McIlroy was asked by reporters whether he thinks The Players Championship should become golf’s fifth major.
“Look, I’d love to have seven majors instead of five, that sounds great,“ McIlroy admitted.
“I think THE PLAYERS is one of the best golf tournaments in the world. I don’t think anyone disputes that or argues that. I think from a player perspective it’s amazing. I think from an on-site fan experience it’s amazing. It’s an amazing golf course, location, venue.
“But I don’t — like again, I’m a traditionalist, I’m a historian of the game. We have four major championships. You know, if you want to see what five major championships looks like, look at the women’s game. I don’t know how well that’s gone for them.
“But it’s THE PLAYERS. Like it doesn’t need to be anything else. Like I would say it’s got more of an identity than the PGA Championship does at the minute. So like from an identity standpoint, I think THE PLAYERS has got it nailed.
“But it doesn’t — I think THE PLAYERS can be — it is an amazing tournament in its own right and I don’t think it being classified a major or not a major makes it any more or any less. I’m still very proud to have won that tournament twice as I’m sure all the other champions are. I don’t think — it stands on its own without the label, I guess.“
McIlroy was then asked what he thinks the identity of the PGA Championship should be.
He said: “I think glory’s last shot. I think it needs to go back to August.“
Changes needed at the PGA Championship
The PGA Championship switched from its original August date in the schedule to May in 2019.
It’s not the first time there has been a big change to the PGA.
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“In every single way that a metric could be used to measure whether something is a major, the Players, to me, stands alone and above all the other four major championships as not just a major. It is in my estimation, the best major.“
In 1958, the tournament switched from match-play to a stroke-play event.
And then 61 years later, it was moved in the golfing calendar.
The tournament was billed as ‘Glory’s Last Shot’, but that is no longer the PGA’s tagline, for obvious reasons.
The PGA Championship will be played at Aronimink Golf Club this year, with Scottie Scheffler looking to defend the title he won at Quail Hollow in 2025.
There has been talk of a return to match-play or even moving the PGA Championship around the globe in order to make the tournament more aligned with the other majors from a prestige standpoint.
As McIlroy suggested though, perhaps all the PGA Championship needs is a reboot to its original August date on the golfing calendar.
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