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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis promoted the Senior PGA Championship 2026 this Wednesday, which kicks off this Thursday at The Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, marking the return of a major golf tournament to the state after more than 25 years.
Florida has not hosted a major golf championship in over 25 years, but this week the Concession Golf Club in Bradenton will be the venue for the Senior PGA Championship," DeSantis wrote on his X account, inviting the public to attend in person.
The last time Florida hosted this tournament was in 2000, when the PGA National Golf Club in Palm Beach Gardens served as the venue, and it was won by Doug Tewell.
This is the 86th edition of the Senior PGA Championship, the oldest senior golf major in the world, which will take place from April 16 to 19 with a prize purse of three million dollars, of which 540,000 will go to the winner.
The field consists of 156 players, including 21 major champions, 11 former Senior PGA champions, seven members of the World Golf Hall of Fame, and ten former captains of the Ryder Cup.
Among the most notable participants are defending champion Ángel Cabrera, Zach Johnson, Henrik Stenson, Stewart Cink, Ernie Els, Padraig Harrington, Retief Goosen, Vijay Singh, and Bernhard Langer.
DeSantis highlighted the presence of "many famous names from the nineties and two-thousands," referring to the generation of players who were prominent in golf during that time and who are now competing on the senior circuit.
The Concession Golf Club, inaugurated in 2006 and designed by legends Jack Nicklaus and Tony Jacklin, was named Best New Private Course by Golf Digest in the same year.
The name of the club pays tribute to the famous sporting gesture of Nicklaus in the 1969 Ryder Cup, when he conceded a short putt to Jacklin on the final hole, leading to the first historic tie in the tournament.
The projected economic impact for the Sarasota-Bradenton region amounts to up to 70 million dollars, with Manatee and Sarasota counties contributing a total of nine million dollars over three years to attract the event.
The Concession Golf Club will host the Senior PGA Championship not only this year but also in 2027 and 2028, under a three-year agreement with the PGA of America.
The tournament broadcasts are made by Golf Channel, with coverage projected to reach 500 million households in 130 countries.
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