The PGA of America killed the PGA Grand Slam of Golf for good after cancelling it last year because the group scheduled it for a Donald Trump-owned property.
The PGA of America addressed the end of the 37-year-old event in a release:
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.When the PGA Grand Slam of Golf was launched in 1979, the golf world was much different than it is today. The PGA Tour’s wrap-around schedule, the European Tour’s Race to Dubai, plus other important international events, make the fall schedule very busy and hectic for the top players in the world.It had also become challenging to attract fans, television viewership and media interest. While we have enjoyed staging the PGA Grand Slam of Golf, given those many factors, the timing is right to discontinue the event.
After pulling out of Trump National Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes, California in July, a bumbling PGA of America could not schedule the event for another country club in the ensuing months, forcing a cancellation. The group cited controversial comments from the presidential candidate regarding immigration as the reason to break the agreement to hold the event at the Trump property.
The event, started in 1979, invited the winners of the Masters, the U.S. Open, British Open, and PGA Championship to compete in an off-season tournament. The 36-hole event offered less in prize money than other events, but with four men competing it enticed the invitees by guaranteeing a solid purse. The money collected there did not count toward the PGA Tour’s money list.