BY AAGD STAFF
APRIL 6, 2020
The PGA Tour, USGA, R&A, PGA of America and Augusta National Golf Club clarified Monday morning in a joint statement that three of the four annual majors will be played, however, the events will be held on different dates than originally scheduled.
In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the Masters and PGA Championship were both postponed, and many wondered if the events would take place at all this year while hoping the U.S. Open would still be held in June and that the Ryder Cup would proceed as scheduled for September. The joint statement that was released today provides this information:
- PGA Championship — Aug. 6-9 at TPC Harding Park (previously in May)
- U.S. Open — Sept. 17-20 at Winged Foot (previously in June)
- Ryder Cup — Sept. 25-27 at Whistling Straits
- Masters — Nov. 12-15 at Augusta National (previously in April)
In its 83 years of competitive play, since 1934, the only time in which the Masters was canceled was from 1943-45, and that was because of World War II.
“We remain very mindful of the extraordinary and unprecedented challenges presented by the coronavirus around the world,” said Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley in a memorandum. “As such, we continue to keep in close contact with local, state and national health authorities to help inform our decisions. In collaboration with the leading organizations in golf, Augusta National Golf Club has identified November 9-15 as the intended dates to host the 2020 Masters. While more details will be shared in the weeks and months to come, we, like all of you, will continue to focus on all mandated precautions and guidelines to fight against the Coronavirus.
“Along the way, we hope the anticipation of staging the Masters Tournament in the fall brings a moment of joy to the Augusta community and all those who love the sport. We want to emphasize that our future plans are incumbent upon favorable counsel and direction from health officials. Provided that occurs and we can conduct the 2020 Masters, we intend to invite those professionals and amateurs who would have qualified for our original April date and welcome all existing ticket holders to enjoy the excitement of Masters week.”
Imagine, having two Masters tournaments within only five months of each other. One in November 2020 and another in April 2021. Would the players be up to it? We know the fans would! Now, we just have to wait and see if COVIT-19 will allow all of this to happen.
Now, let’s take a look at what other events will be impacted. The U.S. Open and Ryder Cup are both being played in back-to-back weeks. This means a rigorous preparation for players on both teams, who will be busy in September and then, just shy of 60 days, looking straight into the eye of the Masters for November.
The memorandum continued, “After careful consideration and following an extensive review process, we also have made the difficult decision to cancel the 2020 Augusta National Women’s Amateur. Ultimately, the many
scheduling challenges with NCAA tournaments, the World Amateur Team Championships, the LPGA Q-Series and other events when women’s amateur golf resumes led to this decision.”
With regards to the 2020 PGA Championship (August) and 2020 Ryder Cup (September)– both events are on schedule, as originally planned.
“We will continue to follow the guidance of public health officials but are hopeful that it will be safe and responsible to conduct the PGA Championship in August and the Ryder Cup as planned from September 25-27 at Whistling Straits,” said PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh. “… With our country going through extremely difficult times, it will be an honor for all of us at the PGA of America to hopefully help turn a page in August with the PGA Championship and September with the Ryder Cup.”
Disappointingly, news arrived that the 2020 Open Championship has been formally canceled. The R&A said it attempted to try to move this preeminent event into a different date in 2020 but several difficulties for the plan failed. Royal St. George’s, which was set to host this year, will host the 149th edition of the event in 2021 with St. Andrews shifting to host the 150th Open in 2020.
“I can assure everyone that we have explored every option for playing The Open this year but it is not going to be possible,” said R&A CEO Martin Slumbers in a statement.
For right now, the PGA Tour does not have any official dates listed for non-majors but hope to be able to find some dates during summer that have been made available by the moving major championships. All this is still based on how the coronavirus pandemic continues to impact our country. Also announced, was that the Wyndham Championship and three FedEx Cup Playoffs events have been scaled to a week back, ending on Labor Day weekend. The U.S. Open will then be played two weeks later.
