Meridian Valley’s Brian Thornton preps for Senior PGA Championship
Published 3:40 pm Tuesday, April 7, 2026
For the past two decades, Brian Thornton has been working with golfers at Meridian Valley Country Club in Kent as the Professional Golfers’ Association of America (PGA) teaching professional.
Thornton has also punched his ticket to the 2026 Senior PGA Championship in Bradenton, Florida, on April 16-19.
“It’s not the PGA Tour, obviously, but it is a couple clicks below. But the senior tour and champions tour is still high level,” Thornton said.
This tournament will be the first major tournament in his career, but Thornton is no stranger to tournament play and winning tournaments across Washington and the Pacific Northwest. Thornton also has his fair share of accolades: he was the Western WA PGA Chapter teacher of the year in 2011, and a three time Western WA PGA Chapter player of the year.
Thornton has won the Washington Open, the Oregon Open, the Northwest Open twice and our section championship twice. He’s been to nine national championships with the regular guys, whom Thornton refers to the “flat bellies,” showing his sense of humor.
“I’ve had a pretty decent history of playing well, locally and regionally in our section for quite a while,” Thornton said. “I always saw myself being part of the equation, but you still have to bring your mindset.”
For this major tournament, Thornton had to qualify at the Pacific Northwest section qualifier, which he participated in last fall at the Seattle Golf Club. To move on from the sectional tournament, Thornton had to finish in the top six, and he did. From there, golfers move on to the professional national tournament, which was also in Florida. The top 35 golfers qualified for the senior PGA championship, and Thornton finished ninth.
Confidence has never been a problem for Thornton. The now 51-year-old always believed he could play at this level. But he has a humble way of looking at playing in this tournament.
“I could always see myself doing it, I just wasn’t sure when,” Thornton said. “It’s really nice to see the fruition of all my hard work and lifetime journey of golf come to a head.”
Thornton will play against golf legends Ernie Els, Jim Furyk, Bernhard Langer, Vijay Singh and Steve Stricker along with others. The stage is set and the lineups are out. Thornton will give himself a little time to be a fan of the golfers he has watched on television.
“I grew up watching all these guys, I am going to be a little bit of a fan at first. I’ll have the selfies out, I’ll be googly eyes for a minute. But come Wednesday, I am going to have to get selfish and get in the mindset that I am there to compete,” Thornton said.
He has a competitive mindset, regardless of the arena that he enters. There is some presence of mind that Thornton plans to show, and he is appreciative of the moment. But he’s not there to shake hands and kiss babies.
“People always say, ‘go and enjoy the experience,’ and I get that. But I am also a competitor. I want to compete the best I can. It comes to bearing down and getting your mind set and getting focused at the job at hand,” Thornton said. “On Wednesday it is battle mode.”
In terms of prep, Thornton will take an extra day of practice. He is going to try to make the tournament as normal as usual, despite the level of competition and weight of the event.
“For this event, it is different. I get three practice rounds and one full day of short game. That is different, I have never done that before,” Thornton said.
Being in one place for over two decades, Thornton has made an impact on his community. Since making the tournament, he has felt immense support from the Meridian Valley members.
“There is no question about that. We just did a fundraiser to support the financial needs and they went far and beyond what I thought they would do. It’s excellent because my finances are taken care of, I don’t have to worry about the bill or missing time,” Thornton said. “It’s really been cool how much support they have.”
Thornton’s journey begins on April 11, where he is sure to make an splash.
