Amid the sweeping transformations reshaping professional golf, one development on the Champions Tour deserves closer attention. The Senior Players Championship is pulling up stakes and heading to California, almost certainly drawing the curtain on seven decades of PGA Tour history at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio.
Healthcare giant Hoag is stepping in as the tournament’s new title sponsor and relocating the event from Firestone to Newport Beach Country Club — a venue that’s been home to the Hoag Classic since 1996. The tournament will now be contested March 25-28, a significant departure from its traditional summer slot.
The shift leaves Firestone without a professional tournament for the first time since the Rubber City Open teed off there back in 1954.
The club itself dates to 1929, originally built as a recreational retreat for workers at the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company. Its rise to national prominence began when it landed the 1960 PGA Championship, which then sparked the American Golf Classic, running from 1961 through 1976. The PGA Championship made return visits in 1966 and 1975.
Firestone also made history in 1962 by staging golf’s first significant big-money showcase — the World Series of Golf — which brought together the year’s four major champions. A 22-year-old Jack Nicklaus, fresh off his U.S. Open title, pocketed $50,000, a staggering sum compared to the $17,500 he’d collected for winning the Open itself.
The World Series of Golf was folded into the official PGA Tour calendar in 1976 — with Nicklaus winning again — and eventually evolved into a World Golf Championship event in 1999. What followed was arguably the most dominant stretch any player has ever had at a single venue: Tiger Woods won eight times at Firestone, including seven victories across 11 consecutive appearances starting in 1997. He never finished outside the top five during that run.
The lone exception came in 2002, when the WGC briefly relocated to Sahalee outside Seattle, and Firestone stepped in to host the Senior PGA Championship instead.
Justin Thomas claimed the final WGC title at Firestone in 2018 before the event packed up for Memphis, Tennessee. The Senior Players Championship moved in to fill the void in 2019. Now it too is gone.
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A fallen tree and a 5-ton bench at Riviera
Riviera Country Club will unveil a striking new addition ahead of next week’s U.S. Women’s Open — a massive bench exceeding 10,000 pounds, constructed using 40 percent of the preserved root system from a eucalyptus tree toppled during the 2025 wildfires.
While the course and clubhouse escaped the Pacific Palisades fires largely unscathed, the iconic tree standing along the 15th hole was lost. It had been planted in the early 1930s and had witnessed nearly the entirety of Riviera’s storied existence.
“I felt it was important to honor what was lost, and what our community endured, by creating something lasting and meaningful,” wrote Megan Watanabe, Riviera’s CEO, in a letter addressed to club members.
Riviera commissioned artist Taylor Donsker to craft the fallen tree into a circular bench positioned beside the tee on the par-3 14th hole — a spot designed for quiet reflection with a sweeping view as its backdrop.
“This bench is dedicated to the Riviera members who faced this time with strength, unity and resilience,” Watanabe wrote. “It stands as a reminder of our shared roots and how we move forward together, with gratitude for the past and the resilience of our community, as we look toward the club’s next 100 years.”
Riviera marks its centennial this year by hosting the Women’s Open for the first time. The club’s illustrious history stretches back to the 1928 Olympics and includes the 1931 U.S. Open.
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Official end of the Don Rea era at the PGA of America
The PGA of America chose 5:01 p.m. on Memorial Day weekend to announce it had suspended Don Rea as president for the final six months of his two-year term. A textbook holiday news dump, and barely a revelation to anyone paying attention.
Rea had effectively been sidelined since February, when he relinquished his seat on the PGA Tour board to vice president Nathan Charnes. The PGA of America described the shift as redirecting Rea’s focus toward PGA member priorities. He was conspicuously absent during the PGA Championship two weeks ago.
Rea first drew scrutiny at a press conference during the 2025 PGA Championship when asked his personal view on bifurcation. “There is no personal opinion. I’m the president of the PGA of America, right? I’ve got 31,000 members that are listening to my every word,” he said.
Far more damaging was his reaction to the crude heckling directed at Rory McIlroy and Team Europe during last September’s Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black. Rea compared the behavior to what you might overhear at a youth soccer match and noted that American players face similar treatment at away competitions. He later walked that back with an apology.
Charnes is now serving as acting president and is already the frontrunner to assume the role officially come November.
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Woodland among 11 added to British Open field through world ranking
Gary Woodland sat at No. 139 in the world rankings when he captured the Houston Open — his first victory since undergoing brain surgery in September 2023. The win also punched his ticket back to the British Open.
Woodland has since climbed to No. 47 this week. He’s one of 11 players who earned British Open exemptions by cracking the top 50 in the world rankings. Joining him are Patrick Reed, Kurt Kitayama, Min Woo Lee, Ryan Gerard, Rickie Fowler, Jake Knapp, Jason Day, Alex Smalley, Michael Kim and Matt McCarty.
The Memorial Tournament offers one additional British Open berth, while the Canadian Open provides three. The championship will also extend invitations to the top five players not already exempt from among the top 20 in the FedEx Cup standings through the Travelers Championship.
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A big year without a win so far for Si Woo Kim
Si Woo Kim is playing the best golf of his life — and has nothing but a thin wallet of almost-theres to show for it.
Kim has found himself in the final pairing twice this season, both times alongside Scottie Scheffler. Scheffler rallied to edge him out at The American Express, and last week at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, both Kim and Scheffler were run down by a surging Wyndham Clark.
Kim also played in the second-to-last group on Sunday at both Torrey Pines and in Phoenix. He’s logged two runner-up finishes, two third-place results, and seven top-10 performances across 15 events.
All of it has translated to $6,040,361 in earnings — the first time in his career Kim has cleared the $6 million mark in a single season, with three full months still remaining on the schedule.
“I think if I keep knocking on the door, something is coming,” Kim said. “I can feel it. I played great. I think it’s pretty much the best play I’ve ever had. I’m a little frustrated, but nothing I can do.”
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Jackson Koivun becomes 2-time winner of Ben Hogan Award
Auburn junior Jackson Koivun has claimed the Ben Hogan Award for the second time, becoming only the third college golfer in history to accomplish the feat. Koivun first won the honor as a freshman in 2024, was a finalist last year before losing out to Luke Clanton, and now returns to the top of the podium.
The announcement came Monday evening in Fort Worth, Texas, and few were surprised. Koivun sits atop the world amateur rankings, has won six collegiate events this spring alone — including three consecutive victories capped by his third straight SEC championship. He averaged 67.97 strokes per round in college events and posted four top-12 finishes in five PGA Tour starts.
The only other two-time Ben Hogan Award winners are Jon Rahm and Ludvig Aberg.
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Divots
Ryan Hybl is departing Oklahoma after 17 years and one NCAA title (2017) to take the head coaching position at Georgia Tech. He replaces Bruce Heppler, who has stepped down after 31 years leading the Yellow Jackets program. … Southern Hills in Tulsa, Oklahoma, has been awarded the 2044 U.S. Amateur, the 2029 U.S. Girls’ Junior and the 2036 U.S. Mid-Amateur, bringing its total USGA championship count to eight. … The Nexo Championship is returning to the European tour calendar, scheduled for Aug. 20-23 at Trump International in Aberdeen, Scotland.
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Stat of the week
Scheffler recorded just one score of 5 across all four rounds at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson — and still finished five strokes off Wyndham Clark’s winning pace.
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Final word
“My plans are just to play golf. I’ll play so much golf, I’m going to be sick and tired of golf.” — Scott Hend, after winning on the PGA Tour Champions to earn full exemption into all tournaments.
