Shane Lowry wins the 148th Open Championship at Royal Portrush

Professional golf remains at the mercy of the coronavirus but while The Open has been cancelled, the game’s leading organisations hope to stage almost all of golf’s major events in the latter half of 2020.

“This is a difficult and challenging time for everyone coping with the effects of this pandemic,” Augusta National Golf Club, the European Tour, the LPGA, the PGA of America, the PGA TOUR, The R&A and USGA said in a joint statement.

“We remain very mindful of the obstacles ahead, and each organisation will continue to follow the guidance of the leading public health authorities, conducting competitions only if it is safe and responsible to do so.

“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 efforts to remain healthy and safe.”

The 9th hole of Winged Foot Golf Club West Course in Mamaroneck, N.Y. photographed on June 26-27, 2019 (Copyright USGA/Russell Kirk)

USGA and the US Open

The U.S. Open, previously scheduled for June 15-21 at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York, has been officially rescheduled for September 17-20..

“We are hopeful that postponing the championship will offer us the opportunity to mitigate health and safety issues while still providing us with the best opportunity to conduct the U.S. Open this year,” said Mike Davis, CEO of the USGA. “We are incredibly thankful to the membership and staff at Winged Foot for their flexibility and support. We are also grateful for the wonderful collaboration among the professional tours and other majors in working through a complicated schedule.”

In addition to the postponement of the U.S. Open, the USGA has made the decision to cancel the U.S. Senior Open and U.S. Senior Women’s Open Championships for 2020.

The 41st U.S. Senior Open had been scheduled for June 25-28 at Newport Country Club in Newport, R.I. The 41st edition of the championship will now be played at Omaha (Neb.) Country Club from July 8-11, 2021.

The 3rd U.S. Senior Women’s Open, which was scheduled to take place July 9-12 at Brooklawn Country Club in Fairfield, Conn., will not be conducted this year. More information about future sites and dates will be announced in the coming weeks.

The USGA will continue to rely on CDC and WHO recommendations in determining schedule considerations for the remaining eight 2020 amateur championships. The first two scheduled championships for 2020, the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball and U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball, were cancelled on March 17.

On April 3, the USGA announced the postponement of the 75th U.S. Women’s Open to Dec. 10-13 at Champions Golf Club in Houston, Texas.

The R&A and The Open

The R&A has decided to cancel The Open in 2020 due to the current Covid-19 pandemic, and the Championship will next be played at Royal St. George’s in 2021.

The Open was due to be played in Kent, England, from July 12-19, but it has been necessary to cancel the Championship based on guidance from the UK Government, the health authorities, public services and The R&A’s advisers.

The R&A’s Chief Executive, Martin Slumbers, said: “Our absolute priority is to protect the health and safety of the fans, players, officials, volunteers and staff involved in The Open. We care deeply about this historic Championship and have made this decision with a heavy heart. We appreciate that this will be disappointing for a great many people around the world but we have to act responsibly during this pandemic and it is the right thing to do.

“I can assure everyone that we have explored every option for playing The Open this year but it is not going to be possible.

“There are many different considerations that go into organising a major sporting event of this scale. We rely on the support of the emergency services, local authorities and a range of other organisations to stage the Championship and it would be unreasonable to place any additional demands on them when they have far more urgent priorities to deal with.

"In recent weeks we have been working closely with those organisations as well as Royal St George’s, St Andrews Links Trust and the other golf bodies to resolve the remaining external factors and have done so as soon as we possibly could. We are grateful to all of them for their assistance and co-operation throughout this process.

“Most of all I would like to thank our fans around the world and all of our partners for their support and understanding. At a difficult time like this we have to recognise that sport must stand aside to let people focus on keeping themselves and their families healthy and safe. We are committed to supporting our community in the weeks and months ahead and will do everything in our power to help golf come through this crisis.”

The R&A’s remaining professional and amateur championships scheduled this year are under review and we will continue to update on any further changes.

PGA of America, the PGA Championship & Ryder Cup

The PGA of America announced that the PGA Championship is now scheduled to take place August 3-9 and will remain at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco, California. The PGA Championship was originally slated for May 11-17 but was postponed on March 17.

Furthermore, the PGA reconfirmed the Ryder Cup remains as originally scheduled, September 22-27, at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wisconsin.

"Sports, and particularly the game of golf, are important vehicles for healing and hope,” said PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh. “With the help of the City and County of San Francisco, our friends at the PGA TOUR, and our partners CBS Sports and ESPN, we are holding August 3-9 as dates for a rescheduled 2020 PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park.

"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 22-27 at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wisconsin with our NBC Sports partners. With our country going through extremely difficult times, it will be an honour 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."

The 13th green at Augusta National Golf Club. © Brian Keogh

Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters Tournament

Augusta National has identified November 9-15 as the intended dates to host the 2020 Masters Tournament, which was previously scheduled for April 6-12 and postponed on March 13.

Fred Ridley, Chairman of Augusta National Golf Club, said: “We remain very mindful of the extraordinary and unprecedented challenges presented by the Coronavirus around the world. 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 organisations 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 emphasiSe that our future plans are incumbent upon favourable 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.

“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.

“Each player who accepted an invitation for the 2020 championship will be invited to compete in the 2021 Augusta National Women’s Amateur, provided she remains an amateur.

“Also, those who purchased tickets will be sent a refund in May and given the opportunity to purchase tickets for the event next year. We thank everyone for their understanding of this decision, and we look forward to the championship returning in full strength next spring.”

PGA TOUR schedule

While collaborating with the PGA of America to find a viable date for the PGA Championship in August, the PGA TOUR worked with its host organizations and title sponsors to move the Regular Season finale – the Wyndham Championship – and all three FedExCup Playoffs events one week later, starting the week of August 10 and concluding with a Monday, September 7, Labor Day finish for the TOUR Championship.

The TOUR 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.

European Tour schedule

Due to the many complexities involved, the European Tour is currently working through various scenarios in relation to the rescheduling of our tournaments for the 2020 season. The European Tour will make further announcements on these in due course.

However, they did confirm the postponement of Trophée Hassan II and the cancellation of the Scandinavian Mixed hosted by Henrik and Annika, due to the continuing threat posed by the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19).

The Lalla Meryem Cup on the Ladies European Tour, which was scheduled to take place concurrently with Trophée Hassan II at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam, Rabat, Morocco from June 4-7, 2020, has also been postponed. The decision to postpone both events in Morocco was taken following consultation between the Hassan II Trophy Association, chaired by His Royal Highness Prince Moulay Rachid, the European Tour and the Ladies European Tour.

The Scandinavian Mixed – an innovative mixed event hosted by Major Champions Henrik Stenson and Annika Sorenstam - was scheduled to take place at Bro Hof Slott Golf Club in Stockholm, Sweden from June 11-14, 2020, with men and women set to go head-to-head for the first time on the same course competing for one prize fund and one trophy.

Following this season’s cancellation - which was agreed in consultation with all stakeholders - the event will be included on the European Tour and Ladies European Tour schedules from 2021.

Keith Pelley, European Tour Chief Executive, said: “We will continue to monitor the global situation in relation to Coronavirus and evaluate its impact on all our tournaments, with public health and well-being our absolute priority. We thank all stakeholders involved in Trophée Hassan II and the Scandinavian Mixed – including His Royal Highness Prince Moulay Rachid and the Hassan II Trophy Association, the Ladies European Tour and Henrik Stenson and Annika Sorenstam.

“Discussions regarding the possible rescheduling of all postponed tournaments will remain ongoing until we have clarity on the global situation.”

Leona Maguire hits her tee shot on the 12th hole during the second round at the 2019 U.S. Women's Open at Country Club of Charleston in Charleston, S.C. on Friday, May 31, 2019. (Copyright USGA/Chris Keane)

Alexandra Armas, Chief Executive Officer of the Ladies European Tour, said: “We are deeply grateful for the incredible support and flexibility shown by our partners at this challenging time and would like to thank the Hassan II Trophy Association and the European Tour for their unwavering commitment to working together. As we monitor the global situation with regards to Covid-19, we continue to wish for the health and safety of the entire golfing community.”

LPGA Tour schedule

On April 3, the LPGA released a revised look at the LPGA Tour’s 2020 summer schedule, beginning on the week of June 15 with the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G. In addition, the LPGA Tour announced that they have successfully rescheduled their first two majors of the year (the ANA Inspiration moves to the week of September 7 at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California; and the U.S. Women’s Open conducted by the USGA moves to the week of December 7 at Champions Golf Club in Houston, Texas).

Summary

A listing of the revised schedule of events announced today follows:

TBC: June 15-21 (formerly U.S. 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 Men’s Olympic Competition week) – potential PGA TOUR event
CONFIRMED: August 3-9 – PGA Championship, TPC Harding Park, San Francisco, California
CONFIRMED: PGA TOUR’s season-ending event/FedExCup Playoffs
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 (Labor Day) – TOUR Championship, East Lake Golf Club, Atlanta, Georgia
CONFIRMED: September 14-20 – U.S. Open, Winged Foot Golf Club, Mamaroneck, New York
RECONFIRMED: September 22-27: Ryder Cup, Whistling Straits, Kohler, Wisconsin
CONFIRMED: November 9-15: the Masters Tournament, Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta, Georgia