2020 Golf Schedule Updates: PGA Championship Postponed, Ryder Cup Still On

As the country continued to shut down due to growing Coronavirus COVID-19 concerns, more dominoes fell Tuesday in the increasingly uncertain professional golf schedule.

Not surprisingly, the PGA of America announced the postponement of the PGA Championship, originally scheduled to take place at TPC Harding Park, May 14-17. While no rescheduling date was announced, a press release stated that it would be “later this summer” at the same venue.

“This is a reflection of a thoughtful process,” said PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh. “We are and have been working in concert with [PGA Tour] 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.”

Meanwhile, the future of another PGA of America-managed event remains unclear.

A report in The Telegraph stated that this year’s Ryder Cup, scheduled for Sept. 25-27 at Whistling Straits, is “expected to be postponed until 2021 due to coronavirus crisis.”

Later in the day, however, Twitter feeds for both the PGA of America and the European Tour’s managed side denied that report, each posting: “Reports today that the 2020 @rydercup is expected to be postponed are inaccurate.”

The news hardly stopped there.

It was announced by the PGA TOUR that in addition to the five events which were already canceled – The Players Championship, Valspar Championship, WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship and Valero Texas Open – four more have similarly been called off. The RBC Heritage, Zurich Classic of New Orleans, Wells Fargo Championship and AT&T Byron Nelson are now off the schedule.

With the PGA Championship initially scheduled for the following week, this means the earliest we might see a possible return for the PGA TOUR would be May 21-24 for the Charles Schwab Challenge.

The USGA also announced changes to its original schedule.

While there’s been no official word yet on either the U.S. Open, scheduled for June 18-21 at Winged Foot Golf Club, or the U.S. Women’s Open, scheduled June 4-7 at Cypress Creek Club, the USGA announced there will be neither local qualifying for the U.S. Open nor sectional qualifying for the U.S. Women’s Open this year.

“[We] will look to redesign qualifying going forward as events unfold,” it was stated in a press release.

In the same release, it was announced that the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball and U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball have both been canceled.

Of course, perhaps the biggest puzzle piece similarly remains in limbo.

On Friday, Augusta National Golf Club announced that it had postponed this year’s Masters Tournament. A report published by ESPN.com speculated that Oct. 8-11 might eventually wind up being the rescheduled date, based on hotels in the Augusta area raising prices for that week, though nothing official has been offered by Augusta National.

Earlier this week, the European Tour, which has already canceled seven tournaments, was suspending ticket and hospitality sales

If there was one glimmer of hope Tuesday in a ray of cancellations and postponements, it came from PGA TOUR Champions, the senior circuit which is owned and operated by the PGA TOUR.

Originally scheduled for May 7-10, the Regions Tradition, one of senior golf’s five major championships, has been rescheduled for Sept. 24-27. It is believed to be the first postponed event on any major circuit that has been rescheduled already.