Will LIV golfers be allowed at Oak Hill?

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Although it may seem a little hard to believe for those looking out at snow-covered yards in the Northeast, in 106 days golf balls will be in the air and the 2023 PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club will be underway.

With a first-round commencement of Thursday, May 18, this will be the earliest beginning of the 13 major events the East Course has hosted, beating by about a week both the 2008 and 2019 Senior PGA Championships. One would expect that the snow would be gone, but hey, this is Rochester so should we really feel safe in making that assumption?

Potential weather worries aside, things have come together quite nicely according to Bryan Karns of the PGA of America, who is back in town reprising his role from the 2019 Senior as championship director.

Construction got off to a great start in the fall, and the lack of accumulated snow thus far this winter has allowed for more work to be done around the property in preparation for the tournament. All of the corporate hospitality and almost all of the daily tickets have been sold, though there are still some available for the Monday and Tuesday practice days and the first round Thursday.

And so many other finite details are being checked off as the months and days count down which comes as no surprise to Karns because he knows how adept Oak Hill and the Rochester community partners are when it comes to preparing for major events.

“In a lot of ways I’m just the biggest cheerleader for this community because it makes things so easy,” Karns said Tuesday. “Obviously there’s lots of little things to work out … but I think as far as the championship, it’s in incredible shape.”

LIV Golf controversy is still an issue for PGA Championship

There is one issue that has yet to be resolved, though, and it’s a big one. Maybe the biggest of all.

Will the PGA of America allow the players who have switched allegiances from the PGA Tour to the breakaway entity known as LIV Golf to participate in the tournament which is now positioned as the second major championship on the golf calendar behind the Masters and in front of the U.S. and British opens?

“There’s still a lot up in the air on that front,” said Karns, who was quick to point out that the decision is far above his pay grade.

With Greg Norman as the CEO and public face of LIV, some of the most well-known players in the world bolted the PGA Tour last year to play for the new tour that is controversially financed by…