The 2028 Scheduling Mishegoss
All eyes are on the R&A now that the LA Olympic competition dates are set. A decision on the timing and venue of the 2028 Open Championship is expected soon. Plus, a brief weekend overview.
The PGA Championship was supposed to pose the biggest scheduling nightmare for the Five Families trying to get golf back into the Olympic Games. That presumed nuisance at least opened the door to dreams of the PGA Championship going global every four years. But it was just a pipe dream. The PGA of America’s xenophobic wing would rather subject us to a housing development in DFW’s landing path instead of Royal Melbourne.
Now armed with a new May PGA Championship date that also freed up space for the PGA Tour’s meaningless “playoffs,” the PGA of America was able to lock up a healthy media rights deal. As golf heads toward its fourth Olympic appearance since returning in 2016, it’s the R&A's Open Championship feeling the scheduling squeeze.
At this year’s Open in Portrush, new R&A CEO Mark Darbon suggested a solution to the 2028 date dilemma would be decided over “the next few months.” An R&A spokesperson confirms the organization is still hoping to announce the 2028 dates and venue before the end of the year. The Olympics start on Friday, July 14th, 2028, forcing Wimbledon and The Open to move from the traditional dates they’ve grown comfortable with over the last decade
The 2028 Olympics land in the middle of the traditional British summertime sports calendar. One that became even more logjammed after the UEFA set its quadrennial Euro Final for Wembley Stadium on Sunday, July 9th, 2028.
What to do?
I’m bullet-pointing the various hurdles to help keep your eyes open and brains from rupturing:
The Los Angeles organizing committee recently made the 2028 competition calendar official with no changes to the expected golf schedule. The 72-hole, no-cut men’s competition begins on Wednesday, July 19th.
This leads to a Saturday conclusion, followed by the Sunday-Monday playing of a new mixed competition.
After a day off for women’s practice, the Olympics will feature the women’s 72-hole competition from Wednesday, July 26th, through Saturday, the 29th.
Concluding either Wimbledon or The Open on Sunday, July 9th, means competing with the Euro Final excitement.
Concluding July 16th, just days before the start of competition, means overlapping with The Games and depriving athletes of the chance to attend the Opening Ceremony or to practice at the venue (Riviera). The Open would also need a new television home in America since NBC’s rights go through 2028. For Wimbledon, top players would be asked to go from grass to hard courts in a matter of days. Spilling into the opening weekend of the Olympics is not happening for either championship.
Playing The Open the week after the men’s competition will not be an option for plenty of good reasons. Several top players will qualify to play the mixed competition that spills into Monday, and it would be absurd to expect them to be ready for an Open just three days later. It may take them that many days just to get out of LAX. The traditional pre-Open week Scottish Open could go forward.
The week after the Games (July 31-August 6th) seems like the obvious option for The Open and will require the PGA Tour and CBS to finish the vaunted PGA Tour Playoffs a week later.
By 2028, the PGA Tour schedule may be radically different. No one knows exactly how. Including the PGA Tour! But with the recently floated possibility of starting its season after the Super Bowl, a reduced number of events beginning in late February still means there will be Olympics issues to sort through in Ponte Vedra. The 2027 Super Bowl is set to be played February 14th in Los Angeles. The 2028 date might be a week later if the NFL moves to an 18-game schedule.
Moving The Open into August means the days are shorter with even less daylight for the AIG Women’s Open, when it presumably lands in August (no venue has been selected). The R&A might have to break out shot clocks to get the precious brats and their pre-shot routines moving a tick faster if they want to get 156 players around the yet-unnamed venue for the 156th Open.
Ah, the venue. Here’s where that dull headache becomes a raging migraine.