After weeks of uncertainty and collaboration among golf’s leading organizations a restructured schedule has been cobbled together that will allow for three of the year’s four major championships and the Ryder Cup to be played this year.
While the R&A announced on Monday the official cancellation of the Open Championship at Royal St. Georges, a joint announcement confirmed:
- The Masters is expected to be played the week of Nov. 9-15 at Augusta National;
- The U.S. Open has been rescheduled to the week of Sept. 14-20 at Winged Foot Golf Club, moving from its mid-June dates, while the U.S. Senior Open and the U.S. Senior Women’s Open have been canceled;
- The PGA Championship is now scheduled to be played the week of Aug. 3-9 at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco, nearly three months after its original May dates;
- Also, the PGA Tour has moved the Wyndham Championship and its three FedEx Cup events back by one week, to start the week of Aug. 10 in Greensboro and concluding Sept. 7 in Atlanta;
- As for when the PGA Tour will resume, it remains a moving target. With open dates where the U.S. Open, the Open Championship and the Olympics were scheduled to be played, the Tour has flexibility to adjust the order of events. It currently lists the Charles Schwab Challenge, May 21-24 in Fort Worth, Texas, as the next scheduled event but that is subject to change;
- The LPGA already has released a new schedule starting the week of June 15 with two major championships – the ANA Championship and the U.S. Women’s Open – being moved to September and December, respectively.
The Ryder Cup is still scheduled to be played as planned Sept. 25-27 at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin.
The announcements came on what would have been the first day of Masters week.
“In collaboration with the leading organizations in golf, Augusta National Golf Club has identified Nov. 9-15 as the intended dates to host the 2020 Masters,” chairman Fred Ridley said in a statement on the tournament website. “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.”
Ridley also said the Augusta Women’s Amateur will not be played this year.
In moving the U.S. Open to September at Winged Foot, the USGA ended speculation that the championship could move to a different site – Pebble Beach and Torrey Pines had been mentioned. It is contingent upon conditions improving dramatically in the New York City area which has become the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The USGA indicated that exemption categories and the qualifying process still are being analyzed in light of the postponement. Playing in September in New York will limit available daylight hours, shortening from approximately 15 hours in June to 12½ hours in September.
The cancellation of the Open Championship was not unexpected. With reports the R&A has an insurance policy that fully covers a cancellation and given the difficult conditions in the UK, the decision was made to wait until next year. The Open will be played at Royal St. Georges in July, 2021 and the 150th Open Championship will be played at the Old Course at St. Andrews in 2022.
“Our absolute priority is to protect the health and safety of the fans, players, officials, volunteers and staff involved in The Open,” Martin Slumbers, chief executive of the R&A, said in a statement. “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 this pandemic is severely affecting the UK and we have to act responsibly. 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.”
Also, the European Tour announced the postponement of the Trophée Hassan II and the cancelation of the Scandanavian Mixed hosted by Henrik (Stenson) and Annika (Sørenstam) along with the Lalla Meryem Cup on the Ladies European Tour.
The Scandinavian Mixed will be moved to the 2021 European Tour schedule. It includes men and women competing in the same event for the same prize money for the first time.
Click logos below for full scheduling changes
