In an attempt to salvage a season severely disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic, golf’s leaders released details of a revised schedule Monday with the British Open being canceled altogether and a shift in dates for the remaining three majors.
The Masters, which was supposed to be played this week at Augusta National Golf Club, has been re-scheduled for Nov. 9-15 in Augusta, Georgia.
Instead, the PGA Championship will become the season’s first major. It is still expected to be contested at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco and has been pushed back to Aug. 6-9. The PGA had been played in mid-August for many years before relocating to May last year as part of a schedule change to finish the season before football began. To accommodate the PGA, the Wyndham Championship has shifted back one week to Aug 13-16, and the trio of FedEx Cup playoff events have also been delayed one week, with the Tour Championship in Atlanta now scheduled for Sept 4-7.
The U.S. Open, which was originally to be held at Winged Foot in Mamaroneck, New York from June 15-18, will now be played Sept. 17-20, the week before the Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin, which remains intact.
“It’s a crazy puzzle,” PGA Tour pro Graeme McDowell said in late March. “I can’t imagine how much time the tours have spent figuring out a Plan A, Plan B, Plan C, Plan D.”
The R&A announced it has canceled the 149th British Open, scheduled for July 16-19 at Royal St. George’s in England. It will be played there the week of July 11-18, 2021. The 150th Open will be played at St Andrews from 10-17 July 2022.
“Like everybody I’m very sad and disappointed that the R&A has canceled The Open,” reigning champion Shane Lowry said in a video tweet. “You can trust me when I say the Claret Jug is going to be in safe hands for another year.”
The PGA Tour canceled the Players Championship after the opening round on March 12 and later canceled or postponed all tournaments through the PGA Championship, which originally was supposed to be played May 14-17.
The Tour did not confirm whether there would be any further postponements. As of now, the season is expected to resume with the Charles Schwab Championship, May 21-24, but it did state in the joint release that it will seek to reschedule tournaments into the weeks formerly occupied by the U.S. Open, The Open Championship and the Men’s Olympic golf competition in June and July. The Tour will make further announcements about this potential, as well as its fall schedule, in the coming weeks.
“This is a difficult and challenging time for everyone coping with the effects of this pandemic. We remain very mindful of the obstacles ahead, and each organization will continue to follow the guidance of the leading public health authorities, conducting competitions only if it is safe and responsible to do so,” golf’s governing bodies and tours said in a joint statement. “In recent weeks, the global golf community has come together to collectively put forward a calendar of events that will, we hope, serve to entertain and inspire golf fans around the world. We are grateful to our respective partners, sponsors and players, who have allowed us to make decisions – some of them, very tough decisions – in order to move the game and the industry forward.
“We want to reiterate that Augusta National Golf Club, European Tour, LPGA, PGA of America, PGA Tour, The R&A and USGA collectively value the health and well-being of everyone, within the game of golf and beyond, above all else. We encourage everyone to follow all responsible precautions and make effort to remain healthy and safe.”