Seattle just hoisted the Super Bowl trophy, the Winter Olympics came and went, and Indiana won the national championship, all *before* the 2026 Masters even kicked off. Sounds like forever ago, right? But get this: golf's entire major season, from Jack Nicklaus's ceremonial opening tee shot at Augusta to the Open champion lifting the Claret Jug, lasts barely 100 days.
Why the Rush, Man?
This crazy, compressed schedule isn't some accident. It's the result of big-time shifts in the golf calendar, especially the PGA Championship's move from August all the way back to May in 2019. Part of that was a courtesy, letting the PGA Tour wrap up its playoffs before the NFL season demands all our attention. Plus, shifting the PGA Championship to May opens up a ton more venues, like their upcoming flagship course in Frisco, Texas. Imagine trying to play that in August? Unpleasant at best, unplayable at worst. And the Players Championship also jumped from May to March, giving them better course conditions before those Florida temps hit peak May levels. It's a calendar crunch from all sides.Players Weigh In on the Whiplash
Even the pros feel it. Rory McIlroy, straight from Royal Birkdale on Tuesday, put it perfectly: "This major season always feels like it goes quicker and quicker every year." He's not wrong. It feels like yesterday we were talking gnomes and azaleas, but the truth is, it hasn't even been 100 days since McIlroy himself bagged his second straight green jacket. Scottie Scheffler, another top guy, gets the feeling but knows it's out of his hands. He said, "I felt like we were at the U.S. Open a couple weeks ago. It does happen pretty quickly. Maybe there could be more of a break, but that's one of those things that's so far out of my control, I couldn't even begin to think about it." But McIlroy laid out the "pros and cons." He'd definitely prefer to see the major season stretched out longer. He said, "The Masters is always going to have the buildup, but I think then PGA into U.S. Open, U.S. Open into here, it just seems like it's very, very quick." A longer season would mean expanded interest, which is a win for everyone. But for players, there's a flip side: if you're on fire, a tight schedule means you can just keep that momentum rolling. "If you get on a bit of a run," McIlroy added, "it's nice to be sort of playing well and go from one straight into the next." As Kyle Porter noted, 22 players have made the cut at all three majors so far this season, with 11 at even par or better. But only McIlroy, out of the top seven major players this season, actually won his tournament. So yeah, another major golf season just sprinted past us. We just wrapped up the four tournaments that forge player legacies, and now we've got a long nine-month wait before it all comes around again. Savor those memories, Seattle, because if you blink, you might just miss next year's dash too!This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.