In a move that is likely to anger golf’s traditionalists, the US PGA Championship will be moved to May from 2019 to avoid it clashing with the Olympics every four years.

The move will also see The Players Championship move to March, and the four Major tournaments being played in consecutive months, with the British Open Championship ending in July.

The BMW PGA at Wentworth will be played in September instead of May.

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In the United States, the FedEx Cup playoffs are also expected to be moved forward so they avoid clashing with the start of the NFL season.

The re-introduction of golf to the Olympics for Rio 2016 meant that the US Open, traditionally the final Open of the year, was moved to the end of July.

Pete Bevacqua, chief executive officer of the PGA of America, has said that the changes were the worst kept secret in golf, and told journalists: “The golf calendar is dramatically different, especially in the latter portions of the schedule, than it was in the 1970s when our PGA Championship took up residence in August.

"The landscape is changing. It is changing because of the Olympics.

“The TV markets are stronger. And it will be more comfortable to stage the event in Florida and Texas. It is good for the PGA Championships and I am 100 per cent confident it is good for golf as well.”

It’s certainly a sound strategy, especially as the sports market is becoming more congested every year.

Taking the last 10 years into account, golf championships and Majors had found themselves in direct competition with two football World Cups, two European Football Championships, Super Rugby play-offs, the traditional end of season international rugby tours, and two Olympic Games in London and Rio respectively.

The FedEx play-offs find themselves in competition for an audience in the States at the start of NFL season.

It was becoming clear that something had to change, and with playing numbers in the UK dropping like a stone, it is leading to some golf clubs having to close.

Keith Pelley, European Tour chief executive, in charge of events such as Wentworth, said that he hoped the move to the autumn would not detract interest from the championship.

“This is a new chapter for the event but we expect similar interest in the autumn, as was shown historically by the World Match Play Championship when it was played at Wentworth Club at that time of the year.”

Hope so, and to be honest, if moving the calendar around means avoiding World Cups and Olympic Games, then it can only be a good thing.