Golf’s various organizers announced a revamped schedule for 2020 in hopes that the coronavirus pandemic will allow them to proceed later in the year, with the Masters being rescheduled from this week to November.
The Open at Royal St. George’s was canceled, but the PGA Championship was moved to August, the U.S. Open to September, the Ryder Cup will remain in its original late September date and the Masters will be Nov. 12-15.
“We want to emphasize that our future plans are incumbent upon favorable counsel and direction from health officials,” said Fred Ridley, Augusta National and Masters chairman. “Provided that occurs and we can conduct the 2020 Masters, we intend to invite those professionals, and amateurs who would have qualified for our original April date and welcome all existing ticket holders to enjoy the excitement of Masters week.”
The PGA Tour hopes to resume in June with the Memorial Tournament, but details about dates and other events are forthcoming. It is unclear if spectators will be allowed if golf resumes at that time.
As part of the schedule shuffle, the PGA Tour’s Wyndham Championship will follow the PGA Championship, which has been moved from its original May date to Aug. 6-9 at Harding Park in San Francisco.
Following the Wyndham will be the Northern Trust near Boston, the BMW Championship near Chicago and then the Tour Championship in Atlanta, which would end on Sept 7, Labor Day.
“We will continue to follow the guidance of public health officials, but are hopeful that it will be safe and reasonable to conduct the PGA Championship in August and the Ryder Cup as planned from Sept. 22-27 at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wisconsin,” said PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh.
“With our country going through extremely difficult times, it will be an honor for all of us at the PGA of America to hopefully turn a page in August with the PGA Championship and September with the Ryder Cup.”
After four PGA Tour events include the FedEx Cup playoffs, the tour has several events scheduled in September which have yet to be announced or repositioned.
The U.S. Open, originally scheduled for June 16-19 at Winged Foot in Mamaroneck, New York, is moving to Sept. 17-20, one week prior to the Ryder Cup.
“We are hopeful that postponing the championship will offer us the opportunity to mitigate health and safety issues while still providing us with the best opportunity to conduct the U.S. Open this year,” said Mike Davis, CEO of the United States Golf Association. “We are incredibly thankful to the membership and staff at Winged Foot for their flexibility and support. We are also grateful for the wonderful collaboration among the professional tours and other majors in working through a complicated schedule.”
Davis also said that the U.S. Senior Open and the U.S. Senior Women’s Open are being canceled. The U.S. Women’s Open had previously been rescheduled for December.
The Augusta National Women’s Amateur, played for the first time in 2019 on the Saturday prior to Masters week, will not be staged in 2020. Ridley said that all who qualified for the event will be invited in 2021, provided they remain an amateur.
For the first time since 1945 due to World War II, the Open will not be played. R&A officials said it would return to Royal St. George’s in 2021, with the 150th Open at the Old Course in St. Andrews, Scotland moving to 2022.
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