Sports around the world are on pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the PGA Tour is reportedly close to announcing a return to play.
According to Brian Wacker of Golf Digest, the PGA Tour intends to resume its season with the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas, on the weekend of June 11-14. The tournament would not be open to spectators and future events would also be closed to the public, Wacker reports.
An official announcement is expected this week.
“Tour officials discussed plans with the Players Advisory Council during a conference call on Tuesday,” Wecker reports. The fields for tournaments when they return will feature between 144 and 156 players, he adds.
Golf has already seen its calendar rewritten due to the pandemic. The British Open, originally scheduled for mid-July, has been cancelled for 2020, while the other three majors have all been pushed back to the fall.
“If the safest and/or the only way to [hold the PGA] is to do it without fans, we’re fully prepared to do that,” Seth Waugh, the CEO of the PGA of America, said Tuesday in a SirusXM interview. “We believe that having it as a television event is worth doing regardless of whether there’s fans there or not.”
According to Wecker, the RBC Canadian Open, originally scheduled for June 11-14, will be cancelled. After the Charles Schwab Challenge, the PGA schedule could look like this, he adds, citing sources with direct involvement in the discussions.
June 25-28: Travelers Championship, TPC River Highlands, Cromwell, Conn.
July 2-5: Rocket Mortgage Classic, Detroit Golf Club (Moves from May 28-31)
July 9-12: John Deere Classic, TPC Deere Run, Silvis, Ill.
July 16-19: Memorial Tournament, Muirfield Village G.C., Dublin, Ohio (Moves from June 4-7)
July 23-26: 3M Open, TPC Twin Cities, Blaine, Minn.
July 30-Aug. 2: WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, TPC Southwind, Memphis (Moves from July 2-5)
July 30-Aug. 2: Barracuda Championship, Tahoe Mt. Club, Truckee, Calif. (Moves from July 2-5)
