The Zone Interactive Golf Magazine (UK) The Zone Issue 28 | Page 14

NEWS

TIME FOR A

BY DEREK CLEMENTS

FIFTH
MAJOR?

I

have heard some pretty daft ideas
in my time, but right up there has
to be the lunatic proposal to move
the USPGA Championship out of
America.
Now let's just think about this for
a moment. It is called the USPGA
Championship - the clue is in the
title. It is not the Botswana PGA
Championship, the Australian PGA
Championship or the Piri Piri.com
PGA Championship. It is also one of
golf 's four majors. By tradition, it is
played in America. Full stop. Period.
End of story.
Of course, the reason this idea is being
floated is because in 2020, the event

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will clash with the Olympic Games
unless it is moved to a different spot in
the calendar. I have to say that I believe
professional golfers have no place at
the Olympics, but that is an entirely
different argument.
There are also those who asked why
three of the sport's majors should be
played in America. The bottom line
is that those three majors have been
played in the US for years - and golf is
all about tradition.
The very idea of Jason Dufner
defending his USPGA title anywhere
but on American soil is preposterous.
Now if the sport wants to create a fifth
THEZONE / ISSUE 28