PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- The idea was to get out of the shadow of the Masters, offer a stand-alone championship that would give golf one marquee event from April through August, and perhaps even present a stronger test to the best players and the best field of the year.
Ten years ago, the Players Championship moved to May, taking a spot on Mother's Day weekend, capped by a rousing Phil Mickelson victory.
Now there is talk about blowing all that up.
It is far from a done deal, and there is no certainty that it will even happen. But PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan has not shut down talk about moving the tour's flagship event back to its old March date -- which would pave the way for some other big changes in the game.
The most notable: the PGA Championship moving from its traditional spot in August to May, shaking up the order of the four major championships that dates to 1934 (save for one year, 1971, when the PGA Championship was played first).
"We think it could potentially be a positive,'' Monahan said in a recent interview while cautioning that such a scenario has many obstacles. "It's complicated. That is not just one move that makes it all happen. Everyone's got TV deals domestically and internationally. Just so many moving parts. It's our jobs as partners to have conversations and understand what are the pros and what are the cons. How can you make this a win-win for everybody?''
The biggest win for the PGA Tour would be the ability to complete its FedEx Cup season-long schedule and playoffs prior to the start of the NFL and college football seasons, preferably around Labor Day weekend.
As compelling as some of those playoff events can be, they are typically dwarfed in interest by the start of the football seasons.
"I can definitely see why it would move back to March,'' said Rory McIlroy, who is competing in his eighth Players Championship this week. "It would then be a big event every month. You would have the Players in March, the Masters in April, you would have the PGA in May; you would have the U.S. Open in June and you would have the British Open in July.
"Then the FedEx Cup run would be a little bit earlier and the playoff run wouldn't clash with football, which is obviously a huge thing as well with TV ratings. I can definitely see reasons for it.''
Whether the PGA of America, which runs the PGA Championship, agrees with those reasons is a matter of conjecture.
The PGA, which began as a match-play event in 1916 and became a stroke-play tournament in 1958, has been contested in the July/August time frame going back to its beginnings, save for '71 at PGA National in Florida, where Jack Nicklaus won a February PGA Championship.
For PGA of America officials, there has been some cache in going last, and August can be a relatively light month on the sport calendar. Moving to May also limits the available venues that might not have had time for proper grass growth for the courses after the winter.
But last year's Olympics squeezed the PGA into an earlier date and that will be an issue again in 2020. Whether the organization wants to be that much of a partner to the PGA Tour is fraught with speculation.
"We need to consider all options,'' Pete Bevacqua, CEO of the PGA of America, said last summer at the PGA Championship. "This is a major championship. It's one of the most important events in sports. Certainly one of the most important events in golf. And we need to find a spot on the schedule that works, not just for the PGA Championship, but for the golf schedule as a whole.
"A rising tide lifts all ships, and that's how we feel. We want the Olympics to succeed. We want the FedEx Cup to succeed, and tour events. We want the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup to succeed. And we're going to have to jostle the schedule a little bit. I think everybody is aware of that. We have no conclusions. We have made no decisions. But yes, it's absolutely on our radar screen.''
Perhaps the biggest drawback to a PGA move is the venues it might lose or put in peril. Bethpage Black in New York is scheduled for 2019, with Trump National in New Jersey in 2022 and Oak Hill in Rochester, New York, in 2023. All three would face the possibility of cool temperatures and a less-than-ideal growing season as a lead-up to the tournament.
For the Players, one of the biggest selling points then-commissioner Tim Finchem touted for a move to May was more daylight, warmer and drier weather and a firmer and faster course.
But it is debatable whether the Players is a better test now or a few weeks prior to the Masters, when it was played every year from the time it moved to TPC Sawgrass in 1982 through 2006.
Tiger Woods won the tournament in both time frames.
"I can see some good points for leaving it in May or moving it back to March," Woods said via email. "The tournament was played [for years] in March and was very successful. The change in 2007 to May moved the tournament away from the Masters and helped advance its own identity. The weather and conditions in May were probably better for the spectators, too.''
If it meant the PGA could move to May, Woods noted some of the courses might be lost, but he also welcomed a sooner conclusion to the PGA Tour schedule.
"We would have a big event every month and could move up the conclusion of the FedEx Cup,'' Woods said. "... It would also allow the tour to get away from the start of football season.''
Whether the tour would have a true offseason is unclear. Monahan noted the 47-tournament schedule and said there are no plans to cut it back. That would simply mean starting a wrap-around schedule -- which now begins in October -- earlier.
"Every move impacts other parts of the season,'' Monahan said. "You'd have to take a fairly fresh approach in that time of the year. The question is, what can [we] do in that time of year that will create a stronger product and stronger interest from our players? That might lead to some change.''
But will it lead to the biggest change? That will take some time to figure out, but the possibilities are intriguing.
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