The Evolution of the Professional Golf Association Championship and its Development in Modern Conditions

Abstract

The formation of the competition system in professional golf began in the second half of the 19th century. First, tournaments were founded, which later began to be combined into tours. At the same time, the so-called majors remain the pinnacle of both the men's and women's golf calendar. Among men, in particular, there is the so-called Championship of the Professional Golf Association (PGA Championship), which is held exclusively for professional golfers. Accordingly, it has its own characteristic features, which were formed over a long historical period. The purpose of the study was to characterize the historical features of the formation of the Championship of the Professional Golf Association and its current state. Materials and methods: analysis and synthesis, historical method, systematic approach, theoretical interpretation and explanation. Results and conclusion. A key date in the history of the Championship of the Professional Golf Association is 1916, when the tournament was founded by the Professional Golf Association of America and it entered into the Championship of the Professional Golf Association Tour. The tournament is held annually and during the entire history only in 1917, 1918 and 1943, it did not take place due to the World Wars. During 1916-1958, the Championship of the Professional Golf Association was held in the format of match play (play in pairs for the elimination of one of the participants). Since 1958 until today, professional golfers play for the championship in the so-called “stroke play” format (a game for counting the number of strokes on each hole, the participant with the least number of strokes wins). The format of the playoff round, which is held on the condition that the participants in the final are equal in points, also changed during the development of the tournament. Thus, at first, the playoff took place on additional holes until one of the participants won, and today its format involves playing on three mandatory holes. In 1998, the Championship of the Professional Golf Association became a part of the Championship of the Professional Golf Association European Tour, another of golf's most prestigious tours. Today, the prize pool of the tournament is $15 million, which is the second largest award in the majors. At the same time, there have been no significant changes in the format of the Championship of the Professional Golf Association and its calendar in the last twenty years. For a long time, the tournament starts in May and is the second major among the Championship of the Professional Golf Association Tour calendar. At the same time, in 2020 and 2021, the tour experienced a decrease in total revenues as a result of measures caused by the COVID pandemic