PGA unveils shifted schedule for Olympic return

Golf's return to the Olympics for the first time since 1904 has caused several major scheduling shifts in the 2015-16 US PGA Tour season tournament lineup released Thursday.

The 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic men's golf tournament will be staged August 11-14 opposite the PGA's John Deere Classic, which likely will not feature a title defense by 22-year-old US star Jordan Spieth, the current Masters and US Open champion who is world number two and all-but assured of an Olympic berth.

That date typically belonged to the final major tournament of the year, the PGA Championship, but next year the season's final major moves to July and only two weeks after the British Open due to the alterations for the Olympics.

The 2016 Masters will be staged April 7-10 with next year's US Open at Oakmont on June 16-19 and the British Open July 14-17 at Scotland's Roytal Troon followed by the PGA finishing off the majors on July 28-31 at Baltusrol in New Jersey.

That's the earliest date for the PGA Championship since 1971, when it was staged in February as the first major of the year.

The Canadian Open takes the week between the British Open and PGA while the Olympics and John Deere come on the penultimate week of the campaign, the finale following at Greensboro July 18-21 ahead of season-ending playoff events in New York, Boston and Indianapolis. An off week follows before the top-30 players in points meet to decide a 2015-16 season king at the Tour Championship in Atlanta on September 22-25.

That will push back the dates for the Ryder Cup showdown between holders Europe and the United States to September 30-October 2 at Hazeltine in suburban Minneapolis, Minnesota -- the latest date for the biennial event in more than 30 years.

The 47-event 2015-16 US PGA lineup opens October 15-18 with the Frys.com Open at Silverado in Napa, California and a stop in Las Vegas the following week.
Source: AFP