PGA postponed; new date if ‘safe, responsible’

Golf

The PGA Championship became the second major championship to announce it is postponing its tournament while the PGA Tour on Tuesday announced that four more tournaments through May 10 have been canceled.

The PGA Championship, scheduled for May 14-17 at Harding Park in San Francisco, will look for a later date, according to PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh.

“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,” Waugh said in a statement.

Waugh said the PGA of America hoped to reschedule the tournament sometime in the summer “when it is once again safe and responsible to do so.”

The Masters, the first major of the season scheduled for April 9-12, was postponed indefinitely last week and is also looking at possible dates later in the year.

“This is a reflection of a thoughtful process,” Waugh said. “We are and have been working in concert with commissioner Jay Monahan and our partners and friends at the PGA TOUR to find an alternative date that works for all. We are all very hopeful for a great outcome.”

Last week, the PGA Tour canceled the Players Championship as well as this week’s Valspar Championship, the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play Championship and the Valero Texas Open.

The tour’s announcement Tuesday takes cancellations past the Masters and into May: the RBC Heritage, the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, the Wells Fargo Championship and the AT&T Byron Nelson.

“As we receive more clarity in the coming weeks, the Tour will be working with our tournament organizations and title sponsors, in collaboration with golf’s governing bodies, to build a PGA TOUR schedule for 2020 that ensures the health and safety for all associated with our sport and a meaningful conclusion to the season,” the tour said in a statement. “We will provide further updates when those plans come into focus.”

The United States Golf Association earlier announced Tuesday that it was canceling local qualifying for the U.S. Open, but that the championship in June, for now, remains as scheduled.

The tour also announced that it has canceled or postponed several events across its other tours, including PGA Tour Champions, the Korn Ferry Tour, Mackenzie Tour and PGA Tour Series-China.

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