The month of May has traditionally been 'flyover country' for fans of golf's major tournaments, but in 2019 all that has changed.

For the first time, the PGA Championship has been moved from its traditional anchor spot in August to the number-two slot, tucked right in between The Masters and U.S. Open.

In this edition of 'Off The Tee', Joel Harrington from 4 Deep Golf blog and I discuss the 2019 PGA Championship at Bethpage in Farmingdale, New York.

The Black Course has never hosted the PGA, but it is no stranger to big events, playing host to a pair of U.S. Opens (2002 & 2009) and FedEx Cup Playoff events in 2012 and 2016.

The winner of that 2002 U.S. Open at Bethpage was none other than Tiger Woods, who, 17 years later, is riding a new wave of momentum after capturing his 15th career major with a win in Augusta last month. Tiger trying to sustain his comeback will be the main storyline in New York this week.

The weather will also be a big story.

In its traditional August slot, players would be dealing with temperatures in the 80s, high humidity, and the threat of thunderstorms. But three months earlier on Long Island, the elements will be vastly different with temps in the low 60s and a chance of rain which will make for quite different conditions on the course.

As for who will contend this week, Tiger is the clear favorite with defending champ Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler, Justin Rose, and Jon Rahm all in the discussion.

One early favorite who will not be in the field this year is 2017 PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas who had to withdraw from the tournament with a wrist injury.

Here's my conversation with Joel about golf's second major of 2019:


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