The sun is out.
Tiger Woods, Brooks Koepka and Francesco Molinari are on the course.
A great field has returned to storied Bethpage. Yet The Forecaddie was shocked to see $110 face value tickets going for $6 on Stubhub. Handling fees end up making the ticket about $12. That’s still, by far, the cheapest ticket The Man Out Front has seen for any professional golf event in any city.
What is going on with major championship golf’s big return to Bethpage State Park’s Black Course?
For starters, the weather hasn’t been swell this week and some New York fans may be waiting for things to warm up and dry out. Thursday’s first round is certainly not the weekend in an area where the unemployment rate is tiny and kids are still in school.
There may also be an unspoken fatigue with big time golf events in the New York region.
Besides the annual Northern Trust playoff stop that draws all of the PGA Tour’s top players in warmer August weather, majors in these parts are aplenty. Last year, the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills failed to sell out.
In 2020 the U.S. Open returns to the greater New York City area when Winged Foot hosts. Another PGA looms in 2022 at Trump Bedminster, followed by the 2024 Ryder Cup at Bethpage.
Tickets for the other days are listed over face value for now, but given how Thursday’s first round tickets started the morning at $16 and were into single digits by 9 a.m., suggests the market is may not be robust for this PGA Championship.
