Although pressure has been applied to golf tournaments in Georgia to relocate after the passing of a controversial voter bill, the PGA Tour said this week it will continue to hold the final event in the FedEx Cup Playoffs in Atlanta.
However, according to a statement from the Tour, “our intention to stage an event in a particular market should not be construed as indifference to the current national conversation around voting rights. The PGA Tour fully supports efforts to protect the right of all Americans to vote and to eliminate any barriers that may prevent citizens’ voices from being heard and counted.”
This follows a call from the National Black Justice Coalition to pull the Masters from Augusta National Golf Club in reaction to the recent passing of Georgia’s voter bill, SB 202. The NBJC is also urging professional golfers to boycott playing in Georgia until the bill is repealed.
The Masters is run by Augusta National Golf Club, however, and is just loosely affiliated with the PGA Tour. The next major Tour event in the state will be the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in early September.
Major League Baseball has announced it will move its All-Star Game out of Atlanta after the state passed the bill, an action that commissioner Rob Manfred on Friday said is the “best way to demonstrate our values as a sport.”
Here’s the full note from the Tour:
At the heart of the PGA Tour’s charitable mission is a commitment to serving and supporting communities where we play, across the country and around the world. In Georgia, this commitment has resulted in more than $38 million generated for local charitable organizations since the Tour Championship—our season-ending event—moved to Atlanta in 1998. The Tour Championship’s commitment to East Lake has helped our partners transform distressed neighborhoods into healthy and thriving ones, which is a key to ending the cycle of intergenerational poverty.
The charitable and economic benefits that have led to these substantial changes would not continue if we simply walked away from those in need. We intend to maintain our commitment to the East Lake Foundation, Grove Park Foundation, Purpose Built Schools Atlanta and First Tee of Metro Atlanta by staging the Tour Championship at the East Lake Golf Club in September, and we will work with our community partners to continue to deliver much-needed support and influence positive change.
However, our intention to stage an event in a particular market should not be construed as indifference to the current national conversation around voting rights. The PGA Tour fully supports efforts to protect the right of all Americans to vote and to eliminate any barriers that may prevent citizens’ voices from being heard and counted. It is the foundation of our great country and a critical national priority to listen to the concerns about voter suppression—especially from communities of color that have been marginalized in the past—and work together to make voting easier for all eligible citizens.
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