March 17, 2016
The elite PGA Grand Slam of Golf, which brings together the winners of the season's four majors, will be discontinued, the PGA of America said on Wednesday.
The 36-hole stroke-play event, launched in 1979, ultimately proved too difficult to fit in the busy golf landscape and was also proving difficult to attract fans, TV viewership and media interest, according to the PGA of America.
Last year's Grand Slam of Golf was due to be played at a Donald Trump-owned course but was scrapped after controversial comments Trump made about undocumented Mexican immigrants as he launched his Republican candidacy for U.S. president.
The PGA of America said the PGA Tour's wrap-around schedule, which starts in October, the European Tour's Race to Dubai, plus other key international events, make the fall schedule very busy and hectic for the top players in the world.
"After carefully evaluating the PGA Grand Slam of Golf over the past few years and studying how this event fits with today's golf landscape and the PGA of America's long term strategic plan, the PGA has decided to discontinue the event," the organization said in a release posted on its website.
"When the PGA Grand Slam of Golf was launched in 1979, the golf world was much different than it is today."
