Schmid Takes on His First Major
RIVERSIDE, Iowa – Iowa PGA member, Jeff Schmid, will take on one of the toughest courses in America when he tees off on hole one Thursday morning at 6:56 a.m. (ET) in Farmingdale, N.Y., at Bethpage Black alongside Sam Burns and Keith Mitchell. This is the first time ever that Bethpage Black has hosted the PGA Championship.
Schmid played his way into the PGA Championship by firing a weekend-low 67 and eventually tied for 8th place at the PGA Professional Championship in Bluffton, S.C. For the second straight year, a pro from Brown Deer Golf Club has qualified for the PGA Championship (Sean McCarty, 2018). Zach Johnson of Cedar Rapids will join Schmid in the field, Johnson will tee off at 1:38 p.m. (ET) on Thursday afternoon.
This year the PGA Championship field seems stiff as ever with 156 total players competing along with all top-100 players according to the Official Golf World Rankings, which has never happened before.
“This tournament is one of the strongest fields in golf,” Schmid told Matthew Weitzel of Hawkeyesports.com on May 10, 2019. “I want to give myself an opportunity to make the cut. I’m representing the PGA of America and I want to play well.”
Schmid also qualified for the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship with Chad Prohel of Sugar Creek Golf Course at the Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, N.Y., and will compete May 23-26. Follow the live action of Schmid and the rest of the players on tour this weekend at Bethpage Black on TNT or online at PGA.com.