On the heels of the PGA announcing that the PGA Championship will now be played August 6-9, we get news that the Masters and U.S. Open have also been rescheduled.
The sad news is that the Open Championship has been completely cancelled. This is likely because travelling overseas may be quite complicated.
“I can assure everyone that we have explored every option for playing The Open this year but it is not going to be possible,” R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers said in a statement. “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.”
The Masters will now be played the week over November 9th and the U.S. Open will be played September 17-20th.
“In collaboration with the leading organizations in golf, Augusta National Golf Club has identified November 9-15 as the intended dates to host the 2020 Masters,” said Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley in a statement. “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.
The U.S. Open will now be played A WEEK BEFORE THE RYDER CUP!
“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.”
This sets up a crazy fall schedule with the first two majors of the year coming in back-to-back months as well as the Ryder Cup just a week after the U.S. Open, followed by a month off from majors and the Masters in November.
- August 6th – 9th — PGA Championship
- September 17th – 20th — U.S. Open
- September 25th – 27th — Ryder Cup
- November 12th – 15th — Masters
- Open Championship — Cancelled
“We want to emphasize that our future plans are incumbent upon favorable 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,” said Ridley.
California Governor Gavin Newsom isn’t very optimistic about the PGA Championship taking place in August.
“I’m not anticipating that happening in this state,” Newsom said. “I’m not here to second-guess anybody, but I am here to say this: Our decision on that basis, at least here in the state of California, will be determined by the facts, will be determined by the health experts … and having the appropriate community surveillance and testing to confidently determine whether that’s appropriate.”
Hopefully people listen and stay home and avoid each other for the time being so that we can get back to our regularly scheduled lives and enjoy one of the best fall golf seasons EVER!