New Masters date, canceled British Open headline new PGA Tour schedule for 2020

Golf’s governing bodies announced on Monday that three of the four men’s majors will be rescheduled for later dates in 2020, while the 2020 Open Championship will be canceled.

The first major championship of the year will be the PGA Championship. Originally scheduled for May 14-17, the 2020 PGA will now be played Aug. 6-9 and will remain at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco.

The next major on the list will be the U.S. Open, which will be contested Sept. 17-20 at Winged Foot in New York. Finally, the 2020 Masters has been rescheduled for the week of Nov. 9, confirming rumors that suggested a fall event at Augusta National was in the offing.

“We want to emphasize that our future plans are incumbent upon favorable counsel and direction from health officials,” Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley said in a statement. “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.”

The Open Championship, on the other hand, is the odd major out. The 2020 Open will be canceled instead of rescheduled. Royal St. George’s in England, which was supposed to play host to this year’s event, will now host the 2021 tournament July 15-18, pushing the 150th Open Championship at St. Andrews to 2022.

“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.”

Outside of the majors, another big golf event also received good news. The 2020 Ryder Cup will retain its original spot on the schedule. The U.S. and European teams will compete Sept. 25-27 at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin, just one week after the rescheduled U.S. Open.

Most other PGA Tour events will not see the light of day in 2020, except for four big ones at the end of the year. The Wyndham Championship and the three FedEx Cup Playoff events will be moved back one week, beginning Aug. 10 and ending Sept. 7.

The announcement comes after weeks of speculation around whether the 2020 majors would be played at all in light of the coronavirus pandemic. The crisis has shuttered sports leagues around the world, including all of golf’s major tours. On May 13, the PGA Tour canceled the Players Championship after one round had already been played. The Tour announced the cancellation of three other spring events at the same time.

The next day, Augusta National postponed the 2020 Masters, confirming for many that pro golf would be shut down for a considerable amount of time. Just a few days later, the Tour announced the postponement of PGA and the cancellation of all events up to that week.

All in all, it’s great news for golf fans, many of whom feared we wouldn’t see major championship golf again until 2021. Many wrinkles still have to be ironed out, such as how these tournaments will be televised. Given the new fall dates, they will have to contend with other major sports that traditionally occur in the fall, most notably the NFL.

Here’s the complete new schedule for 2020.

NEW PGA TOUR SCHEDULE FOR 2020

August 6-9: PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park, San Francisco, Calif.

August 13-16: Wyndham Championship at Sedgefield CC, Greensboro, N.C.

August 20-23: Northern Trust at TPC Boston, Norton, Mass.

August 27-30: BMW Championship at Olympia Fields CC, Olympia Fields, Ill.

September 4-7: Tour Championship at East Lake GC, Atlanta, Ga.

September 17-20: U.S. Open at Winged Foot GC, Mamaroneck, N.Y.

September 25-27: Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits, Kohler, Wisc.

November 12-15: Masters at Augusta National, Augusta, Ga.

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