Inside PGA Frisco: The Road to the 2027 PGA Championship | Jason Mengel, PGA Frisco

In this episode of The Playeasy Warmup, Kerri sat down with Jason Mengel, PGA Championship Director, on-site at the PGA of America’s new headquarters in Frisco, Texas – home to two championship golf courses, a 76,000-square-foot putting green, a lit short course, and the PGA District’s retail and dining corridor.

Mengel oversees all four of PGA of America’s spectator championships (Ryder Cup, KPMG Women’s PGA, Senior PGA, and PGA Championship), and in May 2027, Frisco will host the PGA Championship – the first men’s major back in Texas in over 60 years.

The conversation dug into just how much goes into pulling off an event at that scale: around 3,100 volunteers, a 70-person committee structure reporting up to a general chair and executive committee, and more than half a million square feet of temporary infrastructure that starts going up as early as February. Mengel walked through how host cities are evaluated – not just on economic impact, tax revenue, and hospitality sales, but on the sheer broadcast value a Championship delivers, with the PGA Championship alone generating over 250 hours of live coverage across CBS, ESPN, and ESPN+.

He also spoke candidly about what it takes behind the curtain – coordinating with police and fire leadership years ahead of the event, securing city permitting, and pulling in partners well beyond the visitors bureau, right down to the local school district. Frisco’s permanent PGA District and on-site resort give the organization a built-in advantage most host cities don’t have, letting them skip building temporary hospitality and media infrastructure from scratch. Mengel credited Visit Frisco specifically for connecting PGA of America to the city’s planning teams, corporate community, and fellow sports properties like the Cowboys, FC Dallas, and Dallas Stars – describing Frisco’s sports ecosystem as collaborative rather than competitive, which he sees as core to why organizers keep choosing the city.

Watch the interview now.