Return To Main Blog Page So Playing in Tulsa is Better than Playing in Chicago? Tue Aug 7, 2007 at 10:43 PM
The PGA Championship is scheduled to start Thursday at Southern Hills CC in Tulsa, OK. Tulsa in August is awful regardless of what’s going on, which is either drought or drench. This year it’s been drench. So hot and steamy becomes hot and VERY steamy, and at 100 degrees predicted for all week, just watching the game will make you feel hot.

Chicago has its share of hot and steamy days in the summer—this week has been particularly bad—but temps are rarely over 90. I bet 60% to 70% of the Western Opens have occurred during mostly nice weekends. The weather for second weekend in August is even more likely to be nice, which it’s predicted to be this year, too.

The PGA Championship should certainly be scheduled in Chicago more often than it is, especially since the Western Open no longer exists. There wouldn’t be any problems with sponsorship, player interest, weather (most of the time) or course offerings. There are at least ten great courses in the Chicagoland area that could host the PGA Championship—and I’d include the southern end of Wisconsin to sweeten the deal.

The top players have to play the PGA Championship and will have to play it in Tulsa where heat, humidity and barometric pressure will cause the golf ball to go longer and spin less. Whether that affects scores remains to be seen. Whether the players handle the heat is another matter.

That wouldn’t be an issue in Chicago.

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