PGA Tour Venues Should Not Host Majors
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The PGA Tour touches most of the better golf courses in the United States, but it doesn't include the best. Shinnecock Hills, The Country Club, Merion and Oakmont are not such venues.
To those courses' credit, they have not entertained hosting PGA Tour events. They are open for business for a U.S. Open or PGA Championship, and they are major venues only.
Advertisement
Yet, both the USGA and the PGA of America have utilized tour stops at Torrey Pines and this week at Quail Hollow to host their championships.
Quail hosted the 2017 PGA Championship to much fanfare, with Justin Thomas winning his first major title.
Before hosting its first major, Quail held 14 PGA Tour events. Most, if not all, of the players in the 2017 PGA Championship had played Quail before.
Scottie Scheffler chips onto the green at the fifth hole during the second round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at Quail Hollow on May 16. Aaron Doster-Imagn Images
The PGA of America's return to Quail Hollow in 2025 is more than just about the golf course; it's also about the revenue the course generates.
Its financial largesse was clear from 2017, and from a business sense, its decision to return was easy.
Advertisement
'I just want to touch on the business community here in Charlotte, they come out in droves here for major golf,' PGA of America CEO Derek Sprague said. 'We're seeing that here with our corporate sales have been off the charts here, which is excellent, and we're going to have fairways filled with fans out there just watching the big-time golf here.'
All true, as Quail is a significant revenue generator for the PGA of America, but that does not mean that the product this week may not suffer.
As the leaderboard took shape during Thursday's first round, the feel of a PGA Tour event compared with a major was evident.
That PGA Tour sensation didn't go away even as Scottie Scheffler was making a move up the leaderboard, because for every notable on the leaderboard, there were three unknowns.
Advertisement
Of course, there are exceptions, such as Pebble Beach Golf Links.
The PGA Tour plays at Pebble Beach in February, but the U.S. Open is played four months later in June on an entirely different golf course.
This year's PGA Championship is played in the same month as the tour event. With minimal exceptions, the setup, including a slightly longer rough, is fundamentally a tour event setup.
It's hard to ignore the financial benefits of playing in Charlotte, where the economic benefits are considerable, but with a major championship, the golf course is a significant factor.
This week's winner will walk away with the trophy, but his win will be on a PGA Tour setup and not a major one.
Related: Matt Fitzpatrick Finding Some Redemption at PGA Championship
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
31 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Dustin Johnson returns to Oakmont, site of 2016 U.S. Open triumph, as game rounds into form
A lot has changed for Dustin Johnson since the last time he was at Oakmont Country Club nine years ago. He captured his second major title, winning the November Masters in 2020. He was one of the first players to leave the PGA Tour for LIV Golf in 2022, where he remains with one win in each of his first three seasons, though he hasn't collected a worldwide win since February 2024. Advertisement This week, the 40-year-old is back in Western Pennsylvania looking to rekindle the DJ of old's flame at the 2025 U.S. Open. He has missed the cut in five of his past seven majors and sits 27th in the LIV Golf season standings after eight events with three top-10 finishes on the year, including last week at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club. But he remains far from his form in 2016, when he entered the final round at Oakmont trailing by four but won by three, claiming his first major championship title a year removed from a disappointing finish at Chambers Bay, when he had an eagle putt from 12 feet to win on the 72nd hole and walked off the green with a par to miss a playoff by one shot. "The course is just as hard as I remember, if not harder. Yeah, I like coming back here. I love the golf course," Johnson said Monday at his pre-tournament news conference. "First time I played it, probably two weeks prior to the 2016 Open, so obviously a lot of good memories from that year. Coming back, I was back here one other time when I got my honorary membership here, for that ceremony, which was really nice. Proud member of Oakmont. I'm probably their favorite member because I never come." Johnson calls Oakmont the toughest course he has ever played, and he couldn't name a second off the top of his head. Dustin Johnson walks to the eighth tee during a practice round for the U.S. Open golf tournament at Oakmont Country Club. Even with softer conditions expected this week thanks to upwards of 13 inches of rain in the past 10 weeks, and more expected early on and possibly on the weekend, it could make the golf course a bit easier to hold the fairways and greens, but it could lead to it playing longer, too. Advertisement That's how conditions were when Johnson won in 2016. "The conditions right now are similar," he said. "Hopefully it will be dry, we won't get any more rain, and it will dry out a little bit by Thursday." Johnson said his game has been trending in the right direction, even if the results don't show it. He's currently in the midst of one of his longest winless streaks (16 months) of his lengthy pro career. "Golf is a strange sport. I don't feel like I've slipped any. My scores haven't reflected, but it is a really fine line," Johnson said. "I remember a few years ago, I missed two cuts in a row. I think I shot 80-80, and then I won the next week. Dustin Johnson of the United States signs autographs for fans during a practice round prior to the 125th U.S. OPEN at Oakmont Country Club on June 09, 2025 in Oakmont, Pennsylvania. "For me it's always really close to being good, but just getting back there and keeping it consistent which over the last couple months I'm starting to see a lot of patterns and the game feels like it's coming back into good form." Advertisement Before he won at Oakmont in 2016, Johnson went 15 months between victories. A lot has changed in nine years, but the competitive fire remains inside DJ, and he's hoping some good vibes at Oakmont can be the spark to another special week. "I have confidence in this golf course because I know I played well, but obviously this week puts a lot of pressure on the driver. I feel like I'm driving the ball really good right now," he said. "Even from there, though, it doesn't get much easier. You definitely have to hit it in the fairway if you want a chance to win around here. "I'm looking forward to playing in it this week and hopefully can contend." This article originally appeared on Golfweek: U.S. Open 2025: LIV Golf's Dustin Johnson returns to Oakmont


USA Today
33 minutes ago
- USA Today
Dustin Johnson returns to Oakmont, site of 2016 U.S. Open triumph, as game rounds into form
Dustin Johnson returns to Oakmont, site of 2016 U.S. Open triumph, as game rounds into form A lot has changed for Dustin Johnson since the last time he was at Oakmont Country Club nine years ago. He captured his second major title, winning the November Masters in 2020. He was one of the first players to leave the PGA Tour for LIV Golf in 2022, where he remains with one win in each of his first three seasons, though he hasn't collected a worldwide win since February 2024. This week, the 40-year-old is back in Western Pennsylvania looking to rekindle the DJ of old's flame at the 2025 U.S. Open. He has missed the cut in five of his past seven majors and sits 27th in the LIV Golf season standings after eight events with three top-10 finishes on the year, including last week at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club. But he remains far from his form in 2016, when he entered the final round at Oakmont trailing by four but won by three, claiming his first major championship title a year removed from a disappointing finish at Chambers Bay, when he had an eagle putt from 12 feet to win on the 72nd hole and walked off the green with a par to miss a playoff by one shot. "The course is just as hard as I remember, if not harder. Yeah, I like coming back here. I love the golf course," Johnson said Monday at his pre-tournament news conference. "First time I played it, probably two weeks prior to the 2016 Open, so obviously a lot of good memories from that year. Coming back, I was back here one other time when I got my honorary membership here, for that ceremony, which was really nice. Proud member of Oakmont. I'm probably their favorite member because I never come." Johnson calls Oakmont the toughest course he has ever played, and he couldn't name a second off the top of his head. Even with softer conditions expected this week thanks to upwards of 13 inches of rain in the past 10 weeks, and more expected early on and possibly on the weekend, it could make the golf course a bit easier to hold the fairways and greens, but it could lead to it playing longer, too. That's how conditions were when Johnson won in 2016. "The conditions right now are similar," he said. "Hopefully it will be dry, we won't get any more rain, and it will dry out a little bit by Thursday." Johnson said his game has been trending in the right direction, even if the results don't show it. He's currently in the midst of one of his longest winless streaks (16 months) of his lengthy pro career. "Golf is a strange sport. I don't feel like I've slipped any. My scores haven't reflected, but it is a really fine line," Johnson said. "I remember a few years ago, I missed two cuts in a row. I think I shot 80-80, and then I won the next week. "For me it's always really close to being good, but just getting back there and keeping it consistent which over the last couple months I'm starting to see a lot of patterns and the game feels like it's coming back into good form." Before he won at Oakmont in 2016, Johnson went 15 months between victories. A lot has changed in nine years, but the competitive fire remains inside DJ, and he's hoping some good vibes at Oakmont can be the spark to another special week. "I have confidence in this golf course because I know I played well, but obviously this week puts a lot of pressure on the driver. I feel like I'm driving the ball really good right now," he said. "Even from there, though, it doesn't get much easier. You definitely have to hit it in the fairway if you want a chance to win around here. "I'm looking forward to playing in it this week and hopefully can contend."


USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
Solid three-week stretch on LPGA changes 2025 outlook for this former Stanford standout
Solid three-week stretch on LPGA changes 2025 outlook for this former Stanford standout A month ago, Aline Krauter was playing on the LET and Epson Tours, trying to make her way back to the LPGA. On Sunday at the ShopRite LPGA Classic, the former Stanford standout posted a career-best T-5 finish to vault into the top 80 on the CME Race to the Globe Points list. Now she's off to Oakmont to watch golf rather than play it. "Just to see something else, a change of scenery," said 25-year-old Krauter of heading to the men's U.S. Open to spectate, "and then go home, rest up, and get ready for the next major, which is super exciting. "My season was up in the air the last couple weeks, and I solidified everything with the last couple weeks and finishes, so I'm just super excited." Aline Krauter played into the U.S. Open Krauter's first LPGA start of 2025 was in late May at the Mexico Riviera Maya Open at Mayakoba, where she finished in the top 25. The German played her way into the U.S. Women's Open, despite a slow-play penalty at sectional qualifying, and finished T-28 at Erin Hills, earning $82,017. Krauter then shot 66-69-68 at Seaview's Bay Course to finish at 10 under for the week, five strokes back of winner Jennifer Kupcho. She's now 71st on the CME points list (top 80 at season's end keep their full cards). She'll make her second major championship start of the season later this month at the KPMG Women's PGA in Texas. "I've played really solid golf over the last couple weeks, just nice to see everything come together," said Krauter. "My weekend golf has been pretty shaky, so to be under par again today is nice. Nice to see the golf game is trending in the right direction." Other players making big moves in the CME points list after ShopRite include Wei-Ling Hsu, who also took a share of fifth, Brooke Matthews (T-11) and Azahara Munoz (T-5). Runner-up Ilhee Lee, a part-time player on the LPGA, didn't have any CME points entering the week and moved to 47th.