California’s governor on Tuesday announced a four-stage plan to relax restrictions the state enacted to slow the coronavirus outbreak, with the return of live sports as one of the last steps.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said he believes the state is “weeks, not months, away from making meaningful modifications,” but added additional progress must be made to move to Stage 2, when some “lower risk” workplaces can be reopened.
Conducting sporting events with no spectators would be part of Stage 3, in which some higher-risk workplaces such as hair salons, gyms and movie theaters can open.
The final stage, with fans at sporting events, would come after the statewide stay-at-home order is lifted and “once therapeutics have been developed.”
Most important, Newsom said the plan does not have a definite timetable. The ability to move from one stage to the next, he said, will depend on improving the capacity to test people for coronavirus and to perform contact tracing to track its potential spread.
“I know we’re all ready for life to go back to normal,” Newsom added on Twitter. “But it’s unbelievably important we re-open our economy in a scientific, thoughtful way – guided by public health.”
There are five professional golf events set for California over the next five months.
The PGA Tour’s Barracuda Championship is currently scheduled for July 30-Aug. 2 near Lake Tahoe. The PGA Championship is set for the following week, Aug. 6-9, at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco. PGA of America SEO Seth Waugh had previously said that the goal is to hold the event with fans but that Plan B would be to keep it at Harding Park but without fans.
The Tour’s 2020-21 schedule starts in Napa with the Safeway Open, Sept. 10-13.
Meanwhile, the LPGA moved its first major, the ANA Inspiration in Rancho Mirage, to that same September weekend.
In addition, the PGA Tour Champions event, the PURE Insurance Championship, is scheduled for Pebble Beach Golf Links, Sept. 18-20.
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