Confirmed: PGA Championship behind closed doors
Brooks Koepka hits his tee shot on the second during the first round of the 101st PGA Championship held at Bethpage Black on May 16, 2019. (Photo by Darren Carroll/PGA of America)
Two-time defending champion Brooks Koepka will be going to a hattrick of PGA Championship titles behind closed doors after the PGA of America confirmed the event will be contested without spectators on-site at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco from August 3-9.
As revealed by the San Francisco Chronicle last week, the decision to play golf’s first men’s major championship of 2020 without spectators was made in coordination with the state of California and city and county of San Francisco, with the health and well-being of all involved as the top priority.
“We are thrilled to welcome the PGA Championship to San Francisco,” said San Francisco Mayor London N. Breed. “We are able to safely take this step toward reopening because of the ongoing sacrifices of our citizens, the continued committed work of our healthcare workers and the early action we took to battle COVID-19.”
TPC Harding Park
The PGA of America will continue to monitor COVID-19 developments and work in concert with the state of California and San Francisco city and county public health authorities and the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention through Championship Week.
Seven of the past 10 winners of the PGA Championship went on to become No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking, including Koepka, who won his second consecutive PGA Championship in May 2019 at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, New York.
The two-time defending PGA Champion will use the season’s initial men’s major championship to bid for history, as he’ll seek to become the first player to win the same major three consecutive times since Australia’s Peter Thomson claimed three straight Open Championships from 1954-56.
The field also will once again include the top 20 PGA Club Professionals, who will qualify during the PGA Professional Championship to be played in late July at Omni Barton Creek Resort in Austin, Texas.
Prior to its postponement on March 17, the PGA Championship was originally scheduled for play May 14-17.
