The PGA Championship has come off the clock. With all eyes on golf’s second major in an uncertain climate created by a coronavirus outbreak, the PGA of America announced on Tuesday that it would postpone the event originally scheduled for May 14-17 at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco.
The organization said it hoped to reschedule the event at TPC Harding Park later in the summer, and that it would remain in contact with the PGA Tour and the City of San Francisco to find the right date.
“Throughout our evaluation process, we have been committed to following the guidance of public health authorities and given the coronavirus shelter-in-place order in effect in San Francisco, postponement is the best decision for all involved,” said PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh.
That’s now two majors that have been postponed, considering that Augusta National made the same announcement March 13 for next month’s Masters Tournament.
A day earlier, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan had announced the Tour would cancel the Players and all events through the Valero Texas Open (scheduled April 2-5) due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended on March 15 that gatherings be limited to 50 people or less for the next eight weeks. The PGA Championship fell just one week outside of the recommendation.
The situation became more uncertain Monday afternoon when a “shelter in place” order was announced for six Bay Area counties, directing residents to say inside and away from others for three weeks.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed issued an emergency declaration aimed at preparing the city for an outbreak before there were any confirmed cases of the virus in late February. President Trump declared a national state of emergency on Friday, March 13. As of that date, California public health officials reported the state had five fatalities and more than 270 official coronavirus cases, with an additional 11,400 people in self-isolation. About 60 percent of confirmed cases stemmed from the Bay Area.
With two of the season’s four majors postponed, attention now falls to the U.S. Open, scheduled for June 18-21 at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York.
Local qualifying for the U.S. Open was set to begin on April 27 but the USGA announced Tuesday that it would cancel that stage of qualifying and look to redesign the qualifying process going forward as events unfold.
The USGA will continue to hold open the U.S. Open competition dates, however.
[opinary poll=”do-you-agree-with-the-pga-tour-cancellin-JWMD0u” customer=”golfweek”]