By Rahul Banerji
The PGA Tour is expected to shortly announce an earlier than expected return to tournament play post-Covid with the first event likely to be held as early as in June.
Multiple US media outlets reported on Tuesday that the first event post the corona-virus pandemic lockdown will be the Charles Schwab Challenge at the Colonial Country Club in Texas from June 11 to 14.
Golf Digest reported the development, quoting unnamed sources as saying that the Fort Worth event, and a few subsequent tournaments were expected to be played minus spectators, in line with government health and safety guidelines.
Fresh calendar
Last week, the PGA of America and several other global golf bodies announced a fresh calendar of tournaments that included the Ryder Cup and three of the year’s four majors, the July 13 to 19 Open Championship at Sandwich in England the only casualty.
The new development was based on a memo circulated amongst the Tour’s player members. Besides the Schwab Challenge, it said that the RBC Canadian Open from June 11 to 14 would be dropped to open up the slot for an alternate.
The new schedule was also based on talks with the PGA Tour’s Players Advisory Council in a conference call on Tuesday, Golf Digest said.
Expected to be up next is a replacement tournament for the June 18 to 21 US Open, most likely the RBC Heritage that was originally scheduled for this week.
After that are the Travelers Championship (June 25 to 28), the Rocket Mortgage Classic (July 2 to 5), the John Deere Classic (July 9 to 12), the Memorial (July 16 to 19; the 3M Open (July 23 to 26), and the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational and Barracuda Championship (both from July 30 to August 2).
Following this chunk of dates, the schedule reverts to the one announced on April 7 that included the PGA Championship (August 3 to 9), the US Open (September 14 to 20), Ryder Cup (September 22 to 27) and the Augusta Masters (November 9 to 15).
The earlier revised schedule
To Be Confirmed: June 15 to 21 (US Open week) potential PGA Tour event
Cancelled: July 13-19, The Open Championship, Royal St. George’s GC, Sandwich, Kent, England
TBC: July 13-19 (formerly The Open Championship week) potential PGA Tour event
TBC: July 27-August 2 (formerly Olympic week) potential PGA Tour event
Confirmed
August 3-9 – PGA Championship, TPC Harding Park, San Francisco, California
August 10-16 – Wyndham Championship, Sedgefield Country Club, Greensboro, North Carolina
August 17-23 – The Northern Trust, TPC Boston, Norton, Massachusetts
August 24-30 – BMW Championship, Olympia Fields CC, Olympia Fields, Illinois
August 31-September 7– Tour Championship, East Lake Golf Club, Atlanta, Georgia
September 14-20 – US Open, Winged Foot Golf Club, Mamaroneck, New York
September 22-27 –Ryder Cup, Whistling Straits, Kohler, Wisconsin (reconfirmed)
November 9-15 – the Masters Tournament, Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta, Georgia
Also read: Three majors and the Ryder Cup on as golf scrambles to find fresh dates
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