Rescheduled PGA Professional Championship Cancelled Over Austin COVID-19 Surge, Travel Restrictions

Unfortunate news for the top PGA of America professionals in the U.S. who have seen their annual championship rescheduled and now, cancelled.

Set for Austin in late July, with the top 20 going to the PGA Championship in San Francisco and the top 3 recently announced as U.S. Open exemptions, it’s both a shame and also an eye-opener for August’s championship given the mention of travel restrictions. The PGA Championship will retain the 20 spots for PGA pros by exempting 2019 PGA Player Of The Year standings.

The news was emailed to PGA members. Ron Mintz posted the sad news:

The PGA of America announced on Monday that it has canceled the PGA Professional Championship.

1 of 2

— Ron Mintz (@MintzGolf) June 30, 2020

“With the health and well-being of our PGA Members, volunteers, rules officials and staff serving as our guiding principles throughout this effort, recent COVID-19 surges in the area and various travel restrictions made our collective pursuit prohibitive.” 2 of 2

— Ron Mintz (@MintzGolf) June 30, 2020

PGA Championship Gets the Green Light Without Fans

Minus fans, the PGA of America confirms reports of plans to to move ahead with the PGA Championship in August. Undoubtedly this is a shame on so many levels, particularly with the organization returning to the west coast, on a true public course and where the galleries would have been such a big part of the week.

The details from their press release, including ticket refund information for those who planned on going.

For Immediate Release:

2020 PGA CHAMPIONSHIP TO BE PLAYED AT TPC HARDING PARK WITHOUT SPECTATORS

Brooks Koepka Goes for Rare Three-peat in 

First Men’s Major Championship of the Year  

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. (June 22, 2020) 一 The City of San Francisco and the PGA of America today announced that the 2020 PGA Championship, in which two-time defending champion Brooks Koepka aims for a historic three-peat, will be contested without spectators on-site, August 3-9 at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco. 

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.” 

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.

“We are both inspired and honored to ‘play on,’” said PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh. “In doing so, we will spotlight not only the beauty of TPC Harding Park, but the fortitude of San Francisco and its remarkable people. We'd like to thank the state of California and the city and county of San Francisco for being terrific partners in helping us get to this place. While the local community cannot be with us physically on-site, we will certainly carry their spirit of resilience and unity with us as we stage our major championship, on their behalf, for all the world to see and enjoy.”

Many of golf’s greatest champions, from Walter Hagen, Gene Sarazen, Sam Snead, Byron Nelson and Ben Hogan, to Lee Trevino, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Brooks Koepka, have had their names inscribed on the famed Wanamaker Trophy. 

“It has been gratifying for our PGA Professionals to play a meaningful role in helping people find healthy, outdoor recreation during the various phases of reopening golf,” noted PGA of America President Suzy Whaley. “It’s been encouraging to see our entire country and such a wide diversity of people embrace golf as a responsible, yet fun, activity to share with family and friends. We also look forward to returning to San Francisco and The Olympic Club for the PGA Championship in 2028 and the Ryder Cup in 2032, when we will again share this great game with the people of the Bay Area.”

In the coming days, those who purchased tickets directly from the PGA of America will be contacted to facilitate refunds. Updates will be posted at pgachampionship.com and on social media @PGAChampionship.

Those who purchased tickets from a secondary market platform other than pgachampionship.com should contact that site directly. The PGA of America will be unable to process refunds for those tickets. 

The 2020 PGA Championship – the first in the PGA of America’s landmark 11-year media rights agreement with CBS and ESPN – will feature CBS Sports, ESPN and ESPN+ combining to deliver an unprecedented amount of broadcast and digital coverage.

Globally, the PGA Championship will be broadcast in 164 countries and territories reaching more than a half-billion households.

“Welcoming the PGA Championship to San Francisco is the high point of a very unusual year. We are looking forward to sharing the beauty of TPC Harding Park and San Francisco with the players, the media and viewers all over the world,” said Joe D’Alessandro, president and CEO of the San Francisco Travel Association, the official destination marketing organization.

TPC Harding Park, which is managed by the City’s Recreation and Park Department, is the fourth municipal golf course to host the PGA Championship. 

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.

Follow Up On PGA of America's Inclusion Efforts: CEO Waugh Reaches Out

Wendell Haskins wrote to his former employers at the PGA of America on Monday about the failed inclusion efforts while he was there.

Perhaps coincidentally, or not, Haskins was contacted by PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh Thursday after Wednesday night’s post here and, well, Waugh reports a good talk.

"I had never met Wendell so I reached out to him and had a two hour video chat. I listened carefully to his ideas and took them to heart in our ongoing efforts to make the PGA of America and the game of golf more inclusive and diverse. I appreciate the opportunity to share views and we thank him for the dialogue."

Poll Update: Postponing Ryder Cup To ‘21 Wins, Surprising Number Of Voters Open To Fan-Free Event This Year

Thanks to everyone for voting in the poll adding one key provision to questions surrounding the what to do with the 2020 Ryder Cup.

Just a reminder: most top players the Ryder Cup cannot go forward until next year without the energy of fans. Some feel it should go no matter what, some think a quieter proceeding minus running high-fives and threats of violence against family members might be more appropriate in these times, and recently, signs have suggested the best case scenario may be very limited galleries.

Yet as we learned from the AP’s Doug Ferguson, top players surveyed last week were not given the option to postpone to next year due to the PGA Tour’s unwillingness to push back the 2021 Presidents Cup at Quail Hollow.

That’s why the tour went to some of the top players last week at Colonial for a survey. Players were asked to prioritize the following scenarios: a Ryder Cup this year with no fans, a Ryder Cup with half the fans or a Ryder Cup in 2022.

So the results are in and they are, frankly, surprising. Thanks to over 500 of you for voting so far.

A majority want the Ryder Cup played this year and a majority of those voters are fine with it played minus fans. But, the biggest vote-getter was for postponement to 2021. Not shockingly, few took the PGA Tour option of postponement to 2022.

Ex-PGA Of America Diversity Officer: Organization Lacked Inclusiveness, Diversity As Championed In Floyd Statement

After the death of George Floyd and ensuing protests, PGA of America President Suzy Whaley and CEO Seth Waugh both penned letters asking for ideas from members and imploring the organization to be more inclusive.

From Whaley’s letter:

Together, each one of us has the power to effect change and build an industry that is accepting, compassionate, and proud to stand together. Stand with us in the possibility and the hope that we cannot ignore our lack of inclusion. Stand with us and let’s all take the necessary steps to change it. Please feel free to share your thoughts and ideas through email at Inclusion@pgahq.com.

And from Waugh:

We recognize that golf can’t cure all of society’s challenges. But because of our nearly 29,000 PGA Golf Professionals, I believe we are positioned to lead the conversation and take action on how golf can help. We are certainly not proud of every chapter in golf’s imperfect past, including our own failings, but we can certainly be proud of the future we can build together if we become a committed part of the solution. PGA WORKS and PGA LEAD are intentional steps we have taken to make a difference in our sport. But now we must do more and reach higher.

One person who shared his thoughts in response to the letters: Wendell Haskins, a four year member (2014-17) of the PGA staff who started as the director of inclusion efforts followed by a promotion to marketing role.

And now with a CMO job and some distance from Palm Beach Gardens, Haskins penned this letter about his experiences as a black executive for the PGA. As always, I urge you to hit the link and read it all.

Some of the key points, which Haskins says he had never shared publicly, kicks into gear with this on trying to right the wrongs committed against Charlie Sifford:

·      When I started at the PGA of America in 2014 as Sr. Director of Diversity I proposed that I pursue the Presidential Medal of Freedom for Charlie Sifford (golf’s Jackie Robinson and PGA member) as well as petition the board to induct him into the PGA of America Hall of fame. This was to give Sifford the deserved recognition while he was alive and to create an opportunity for atonement and better relations between the PGA of America and the Black community.

·      In November of 2014 no PGA of America leadership came to Washington D.C. to congratulate Charlie Sifford for receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

·      Charlie Sifford was denied being expedited into the PGA of America Hall of Fame at 92 years old. My petition was denied by the board and Sifford ended up being inducted posthumously.

·      My peer-supervisor directed one of my co-workers to blind copy her on all of her emails with me regarding the Sifford initiative. (Yes, my white coworker was kind enough to inform me)

·      My peer-supervisor instructed me to return 12 complimentary Delta Travel certificates that I arranged through my relationship with a Delta Airlines Employee (who happened to be African American and my college alumni) to fly certain dignitaries that had written letters to the President, to attend my PGA private dinner congratulating Sifford. The people included Jim Brown, Bill Russell, Alonzo Mourning, Renee Powell, Pete McDaniel, Jesse Jackson, Ken Chenault and others. Subsequently, I was not approved to invite these guests and the dinner for Sifford was diminished to a humble gathering. My supervisor at the time emailed me saying, “if people weren’t going to the actual White House ceremony she didn’t see why anyone would be interested in attending a dinner for Sifford.”

It doesn’t get any better from there on the Sifford front. Especially given that he’s talking about things like this going on in the last five years. And this:

·      In 2014 Ted Bishop was permanently ousted as PGA President for his Facebook comments stating that Ian Poulter “sounds like a little school girl squealing during recess”, meanwhile Donald Trump said he can “grab women by the pu@#y” and is awarded the organizations major championship. This is dreadfully inconsistent with the organizations stated values.

And…

·      In 2016 I tapped NBA All Star Chris Paul to do a “Thanks PGA Pro” commercial in a national campaign promoting the PGA professionals. The commercial featured Chris, his father and brother enjoying golf and fun banter with their PGA professional Jeremy Story at Sage Valley https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivriHmpY0QY . I was confused and disappointed when the Senior Director of Media didn’t want to release the commercial on Golf Channel because he felt it was “too different.” 

He goes on to make several recommendations.

5.    Compensate Your Minority Employees Fairly There aren’t any Black employees at the PGA of America HQ that earn a six-figure salary (with the exception of possibly one). 

6.    Reinstate the PGA Post Graduate Diversity Program This program attracted more Black people to become PGA professionals. Bring it back. 

And…

8.    Tie Diversity Into Performance Diversity requires setting goals, creating benchmarks and accountability. If there are no consequences for not meeting certain goals and expectations around diversity it’s pointless. 

9.    Rename The Horton Smith Award – He was a racist. 

You can read the full letter here.

Take The PGA Tour's Ryder Cup Poll...Only With The Obvious Missing Question

AP’s Doug Ferguson lays out the issues facing those charged with determining the 2020 Ryder Cup’s fate. It seems saving the 2021 Presidents Cup—yes the Presidents Cup—because it has been pre-sold, would be a blow to the PGA Tour coffers. So they surveyed top players last week about what to do.

One small problem?

A possible survey winner, Ferguson reports, was not included as an option for a decision that is not even the PGA Tour’s to make.

That’s why the tour went to some of the top players last week at Colonial for a survey. Players were asked to prioritize the following scenarios: a Ryder Cup this year with no fans, a Ryder Cup with half the fans or a Ryder Cup in 2022.

I’m sure it was just an administrative oversight to leave out the other option some might select: postpone the Ryder Cup to 2021.

So in the interest of helping the PGA Tour make a decision that is not theirs to make—the PGA of America controls the 2020 Ryder Cup date—why don’t we do our own poll here with all of the appropriate options?

Given what we currently know, pick the "highest priority" option for the 2020 Ryder Cup:

Play the Ryder Cup in 2020 even if fans are not allowed

Play the Ryder Cup in 2020 if galleries can be present in some form

Postpone the Ryder Cup to 2021

Postpone the Ryder Cup to 2022

 

pollcode.com free polls

PGA Championship A Go In August, Without Fans

Ron Kroichick with the exclusive details for the San Francisco Chronicle.

The tournament will be played at TPC Harding Park August 6-9.

The tournament website has yet to be updated to reflect the change.

Lawrenson On Fan-Free Ryder Cup Showdown, European Tour Likely Returning With 1990s Purses:

Derek Lawrenson in his Daily Mail column considers the state of the players v. administrators face off over a fan-free Ryder Cup (he has the players winning right now).

Meanwhile, on the European Tour, there has been only silence in recent weeks as they try to put together a revised schedule. Expect an announcement before the end of the month, with a behind-closed-doors British Masters kicking things off a week earlier than currently scheduled in July.

All told, the revised schedule should run for five months featuring around 21 events, including a run in the British Isles in August and a strong cluster of tournaments in October. But it's a sobering reminder of the effects of the pandemic that half of those tournaments are likely to feature total prize money in the region of the $1.1 million that McIlroy won for his charity on Sunday night simply for a shot that finished closest to the pin.

Well when you put it that way…

Quail Hollow Lands 2025 PGA Championship On Top Of Next Year's Presidents Cup And Maybe Even This Year's PGA

Don’t get me wrong. LOVE Charlotte. The people, the places, the food, the short rental car center walk.

But how Quail Hollow became America’s southeastern St Andrews, I have no clue.

The over-renovated, over-extended and over-glorified club is kind of everything that seems past its time, if it had a time: long, light on character, ugly and expensive blinding-white bunkers set on the outside of doglegs, bales of Bermudagrass rough, an elitist vibe and extreme overexposure.

With that said, the club finalized a second PGA Championship in 2025 today in case you were mapping out your summer five years from now. The club is scheduled to host next year’s Presidents Cup, probably has Wells Fargo’s on PGA Tour the 2022-24 calendars, and based on what I’m reading from Dave Shedloski of Golf World, this year’s PGA. That is, when it’s officially apparent California and other states are not an option.

The PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh acknowledged California’s “Phase 4” reopening of the state will not happen by August, all but killing Harding Park’s chances of hosting with or without fans.

You do not need a doctorate to see a possible replacement site is down to a pair of venues if the PGA Championship is played in 2020.

As for major-caliber layouts on the CBS schedule, once you eliminate California contenders Riviera Country Club and Torrey Pines, the leaders would be Muirfield Village Golf Club, in Dublin, Ohio, and Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte. It’s doubtful Muirfield Village, which has held a Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup, would get the nod when it’s annual Memorial Tournament, hosted by Nicklaus, is rescheduled for July 16-19. Quail Hollow was the site of the 2017 PGA, won by Justin Thomas, and was just announced Thursday that it was being awarded the 2025 PGA Championship. The course wouldn’t require much extra effort to get into shape, because the Wells Fargo Championship that Quail Hollow was slated to host through May 3 was among the nine tournaments the PGA Tour was forced to cancel during the pandemic.

PGA "Talking About" Possible 2020 PGA Championship Venue Change

With California looking unlikely to have a fan-filled sporting event and increasing doubts about one played with 156 players from around the world, the PGA of America’s Kerry Haigh acknowledged alternatives are under consideration for the postponed 2020 PGA.

From Rex Hoggard’s GolfChannel.com item:

Although California began lifting its stay-at-home restrictions last week, the state is still trailing other areas of the country in its return to something close to normal. Haigh acknowledged there is also a Plan B.

“We have been talking about [possibly changing venues],” Haigh said. “Ultimately, it’s going to depend on what the city, county and state allow us to do and not do. Safety of everyone is utmost in our mind.”

Would this be a bad time to remind the PGA of the suggestion to play their championship outside the United States in Olympic years to make the schedule more palatable and bring international prestige to the decidedly fourth major?

Australia can be beautiful in December as learned every year during the swing of events Down Under. It’s a thought…

More News You Just Didn't Need To Know This Week: PGA of America Locks In Previously Announced 2030 PGA At Southern Hills

A decade from now and the lone golf writer will look back and say, wow, the PGA of America locked in the 2030 PGA Championship after previously having already announced this likelihood. All while the country was in a pandemic with a few thousand people dying daily and golf fans only wondering if the 2020 PGA will be played. How odd, said the lone golf writer.

Anyway, what was official became more official with the recently restored Southern Hills returning to major championship golf ten years from now. Here is something on the Hanse Design restoration by The Fried Egg and some flyovers in this YouTube video below so you can start imaging how it’ll play in May, 2030.

Bittersweet Monday At Harding Park On What Would Have Been PGA Championship Week

Will Gray talks to Harding Park GM Tom Smith on what would have been PGA Championship Monday for the San Francisco muni turned TPC.

Play has been robust at the course but thoughts are turning to a possible hosting in August.

Like with many PGA Tour events slated for later this year, there are still two distinct possibilities in terms of tournament operations: one that calls for the event to be played in front of at least some fans, and one that would include no fans at all. While Smith still holds out hope for fans to be able to experience a “traditional PGA Championship” in what would be the first PGA played on the West Coast since 1998, he admitted that course officials will be reacting to – and not making – the decision to allow fans.

“I think that’s really the unknown at this point,” Smith said. “We’re working scenarios right now for when it’s safe, when it’s responsible to do so, and of course under the guidance of the public health officials here, we will resume the build with whatever we are presented in terms of fan scenarios for August. Right now everything is in a holding pattern.”

The with-fans possibility appears all but dead and there is, sadly, a third-and-increasingly likely scenario: no PGA at all. Bay Area counties, which were the earliest in the country to order stay-at-home measures, are still “nowhere near” meeting reopening criteria as of Monday.

With Major League Baseball rolling out a proposed schedule keeping teams closer to home and playing without fans, Governor Gavin Newsom reiterated that much will need to happen even for the California teams to play in their stadiums.

From Jeff Passan’s ESPN.com story:

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said during a media conference Monday that he had spoken to the commissioner as well. "He said, 'We won't do anything that's not consistent with state guidelines,'" Newsom said. "We certainly look forward to Major League Baseball and all sports resuming, but again, the question is when. And that will be determined on the basis of public health and public safety and the spread of this virus."

In contrast to baseball, the PGA Championship would be attempting to bring players from all over the world 15 weeks from now.

Waugh: PGA Championship Prepared To Play Without Fans

GolfDigest.com’s Daniel Rappaport sums up PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh’s comments to satellite radio.

In short, the PGA of America is confident they will play a “fairly normal” PGA at TPC Harding Park rescheduled for early August.

“If the safest and/or the only way to [hold the PGA] is to do it without fans, we’re fully prepared to do that,” Waugh said. “We believe that having it as a television event is worth doing regardless of whether there’s fans there or not.

“Obviously that’ll change the experience, but we think the world is starved for entertainment—particularly in sports—and we think golf has the unique ability to be first out among sports in that we’re played over a couple hundred acres.”

Oh no, the acreage thing again.

Anyway, Gavin Newsom, the Golden State’s Governor, spoke today and presented primary issues as part of a three-state effort to restart the west coast economy. He indicated that large gatherings will almost assuredly be unlikely this August:

Gov. Newsom: “The prospect of mass gatherings is negligible at best until we get to herd immunity or a vaccine.”

But... “Things can change radically” if there’s therapeutics and tracing.

Says any sort of large gathering of strangers in June, July, August is extremely unlikely

— Dieter Kurtenbach (@dieter) April 14, 2020

Here is the clip of Waugh speaking to Sirius/XM’s Dave Marr:

.@PGA CEO Seth Waugh currently has 3 plans for the @PGAChampionship scheduled August 6th-9th at @TPCHardingPark:

Plan A) Hold it as normal with fans
Plan B) Hold it as normal without fans
Plan C) Stage it at another site pic.twitter.com/uc6CeT5vPf

— SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio (@SiriusXMPGATOUR) April 14, 2020

Golf Emergency Relief: PGA Of America Adds $5 Million And Matching Funds

Will Gray of GolfChannel.com reports on the PGA of America joining the USGA in giving back during the COVID-19 pandemic, also in the form of a relief fund. Augusta National previously gave $2 million to help health care operations in Georgia.

The PGA of America has put up an impressive $5 million, while also pledging another $2.5 in matching funds from third parties. From the story:

Those funds are the product of voluntary salary reductions from "every member of the executive leadership team" as well as personal donations from members of the board of directors.

"The golf industry is in an unprecedented crisis, and our friends, colleagues and their families need our help right away," said PGA president Suzy Whaley. "We have to ensure that the heart and soul of our game - our people - are able to get back on their feet and continue to serve others down the road. Eventually, golf will return, but first we need to reach out and help people in our industry during this national emergency."

Gray says the fund will have a third party operator and that applicants could come from “a wide swath of the golf industry, ranging from PGA of America professionals to caddies, superintendents, golf course owners and developmental tour players.”

Here is the link to apply for relief.

"PGA Tour, other tours should take cue from Olympics"

One of the more lucid reads in a while on golf tournaments, postponements and the big picture comes from Morning Read’s Dave Seanor. He highlights both the tough-but-necessary call by the IOC to postpone the Olympics, as well as the reasoned stance of the International Golf Federation head Antony Scanlon.

As it turns out, the IOC was ahead of the curve. In the ensuing weeks, only the R&A has taken similar forward-thinking action by postponing the 149th British Open until July 2021. The PGA of America, U.S. Golf Association and PGA Tour continue to operate under the wishful thinking that the PGA Championship, U.S. Open and various Tour events can be played in 2021. Ditto for Augusta National Golf Club, which holds out hope that a November date for the Masters will be doable. (It’s noteworthy that Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, unlike his counterparts in California and New York, resisted early shelter-in-place directives and recently displayed a commerce-over-citizens’-health predilection by opening his state’s beaches against the wishes of local governments.)

The IOC, of course, had to consider the needs of many more sports than golf. While it may have dilly-dallied for several weeks, it ultimately concluded that a piecemeal attempt to salvage Tokyo 2020 would have been futile. International sports federations welcomed the schedule clarity, but the IGF still finds itself at the mercy of various pro tours hoping to rescue some portion of their 2020 seasons.

“Now that we know the new dates, we will work to finalize the qualification system for the Tokyo Games and adapt all our operational plans accordingly,” Scanlon said.

Scanlon’s positive outlook in a bleak time highlights how you’d hope an executive would think. That’s a nice way of saying he appears to have grasped reality and is thinking how to properly position golf when the time is right.