PGA & PGA Tour wearing flowers in their hair

San Francisco’s TPC Harding Park will host the 2020 PGA Championship, The Presidents Cup 2025 and the 2015 WGC Match Play Championship as part of a partnership deal between the PGA of America, the PGA Tour and the city.

The 2020 PGA Championship will mark the first major championship to be held at a TPC property and the first PGA Championship to be staged in San Francisco. In 2020, the PGA will make its fifth appearance in California, following Hillcrest Country Club (1929), Pebble Beach Golf Links (1977) and Riviera Country Club (1983, ’95). TPC Harding Park will be the second municipally owned golf course to host the PGA.

PGA of America President Ted Bishop (left) and PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem stand next to tournament trophies at the TPC Harding Park announcement. PHOTO: Getty Images.

“The PGA of America is proud to be taking its major championship in 2020 to the City of San Francisco, home to one of the premier venues that embraces public golf along with the skill to stage some of the game’s greatest events,” said PGA of America President Ted Bishop. “It is exciting to be sharing today’s announcement with the PGA TOUR and the City of San Francisco. Together, we look to grow the game among new audiences and present the finest championships for the greatest players in the world.”

TPC Harding Park has previously hosted The Presidents Cup back in 2009, becoming the first West Coast venue to host the biennial, match-play competition.

The first event of this new arrangement will be the 2015 World Golf Championships-Match Play Championship, which moves to TPC Harding Park after an eight-year run at Dove Mountain in Arizona.

The 18th hole of the TPC Harding Park course. PHOTO: Getty Images

In addition to a new venue, the 2015 Match Play Championship moves to a new date on the PGA Tour schedule and a new format. The event will be played between April 27 and May 3, the week prior to The Players Championship.

That spot in the schedule has traditionally been held by the Wells Fargo Championship, which will move to the week after The Players. The Match Play Championship agreement at TPC Harding Park is a one-year deal.

In terms of format, the 64-player Match Play Championship field will be divided into 16 four-player groups. Each group will now play round-robin matches within their group on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. The player with the best record in each of the four groups advances to the round of 16 for single-elimination match play (in the event of a two-way tie in a group, head-to-head results will be used as the tiebreaker; a three-way tie will require a sudden-death playoff). The round of 16 will be played Saturday morning, followed by the quarter-finals Saturday afternoon. The semi-finals will be Sunday morning, followed by the Championship Match and Consolation Match on Sunday afternoon.