PGA Tour announces June start and revised schedule after coronavirus hiatus
The PGA Tour announced on Thursday that it will resume the 2020 season with the Charles Schwab Challenge on June 11, and rolled out its revised tour schedule for the rest of the season.
The Tour suspended operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic after the first round of The Players Championship last month, and canceled all future events across all Tours through the AT&T Byron Nelson in May. All four major championships have either been postponed to the fall or canceled, too.
The Charles Schwab Challenge was initially scheduled to take place from May 21-24. It is now going to take the RBC Canadian Open’s slot on the schedule in June instead. That event is not on the revised schedule.
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Fans will not be allowed to attend the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, either — a policy that will likely be implemented for the first several events.
The Tour has an opening on its schedule immediately after the Charles Schwab Challenge from June 18-21, when the U.S Open was initially scheduled to take place. The RBC Heritage will be played that weekend instead.
Via ESPN, the Tour schedule now looks like this:
June 25-28: Travelers Championship
July 2-5: Rocket Mortgage Classic
July 9-12: John Deere Classic
July 16-19: Memorial Tournament
July 23-26: 3M Open
July 30-Aug. 2: World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational
July 30-Aug. 2: Barracuda Championship
Aug. 6-9: PGA Championship
Aug. 13-16: Wyndham Championship
The three FedExCup Playoffs events will start one week after the Wyndham Championship, with the Tour Championship ending on Sept. 7 — a Monday finish on Labor Day. The U.S. Open was rescheduled to take place on Sept. 17, one week before the Ryder Cup. The Masters will then close out the year, starting on Nov. 12 at Augusta National. The Ryder Cup is still scheduled to take place Sept. 25-27 in Kohler, Wisc. Each event will only go forward if the PGA Tour is given permission by individual states and health professionals.
The LPGA is planning to restart its season the week of June 15, too, with the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship.
It’s not clear how many of the Tour’s rescheduled events will take place without fans in attendance. The Tour has also said that it will expand tournament fields where possible to allow for as many players to compete and attempt to make up for lost time.
There were more than 580,000 confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States as of Tuesday night. While a lot can change between now and the Tour’s restart date that could alter its plans, golf is likely to be one of the first sports that is logistically able to resume play. If done without fans, ensuring that players, caddies and a limited number of officials keep their distance from one another outside on a golf course is very realistic.
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