The US PGA Tour has announced it plans to resume its 2020 season in June with at least the first four tournaments being played without fans.
The Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial CC in Texas has been confirmed as the first tournament, and is scheduled to take place from June 11-14.
The Tour has been suspended since the opening round of The Players Championship on March 12th due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
“The health and safety of all associated with the PGA Tour and our global community continues to be our No. 1 priority, and our hope is to play a role – responsibly – in the world’s return to enjoying the things we love,” said PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan.
“This announcement is another positive step for our fans and players as we look toward the future, but as we’ve stressed on several occasions, we will resume competition only when – working closely with our tournaments, partners and communities – it is considered safe to do so under the guidance of the leading public health authorities.
“At this time, the Tour plans to resume play with the first four events closed to the general public but will continue to monitor the situation and follow the recommendations of local and state authorities in order to determine the most appropriate on-site access in each market.”
WELCOME NEWS
This news will be welcome to golf fans around the world and is a signal that the authorities are working around the clock to get action back in front of television screens.
No update has been given on the European Tour’s schedule, but with more concrete dates confirmed by the PGA Tour it offers officials at Wentworth a chance to work around them so that some of their late-season marquee events can be rescheduled in time.
Play on the PGA Tour had been previously been schedule to get back underway on May 21st but the extended suspension until June 8 means that bot the Canadian Open and Barbasol Championship have been cancelled.
Those first four events are:
- June 8-14: Charles Schwab Challenge, Colonial Country Club, Texas
- June 15-21: RBC Heritage, Harbour Town Golf Links, South Carolina
- June 22-28: Travelers Championship, TPC River Highlands, Connecticut
- July 2-5: Rocket Mortgage Classic, Detroit Golf Club, Michigan
Meanwhile World No.3 Brooks Koepka was skeptical about the timing for professional golf’s return.
“I hope we start in June, I just think it’s a little unrealistic,” Koepka said in a question-and-answer session on Instagram with his swing coach, Claude Harmon III. “You think about all these guys that are going to be in airports flying everywhere. There are so many guys. Everything has to be cleaned. Is it really possible?”
