PGA Championship Pencils In Early August Date Just As California Governor Suggests September Sports Unlikely

The San Francisco Chronicle’s Ron Kroichick and Scott Ostler report that the PGA of America has settled on the first week of August for its postponed PGA Championship. For now.

This early August date may conflict with President Donald Trump’s projection of “August or September” for a return to fans watching live sports in person nationwide. His comment was made on a conference call of sports executives joined by the PGA Tour’s Jay Monahan and the LPGA Tour’s Mike Whan. (Their tours are currently scheduled to return in May or mid-June and June, respectively.)

California Governor Gavin Newsom’s responded to the president’s timeline by saying it was an optimistic goal for gatherings of large sports. From Helene Elliott’s LA Times column on when sports might return:

“I’m not anticipating that happening in this state,” he said, pointing to the return of COVID-19 in Asia after it was believed the worst was over. “We have to be careful not to overpromise. 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, will be determined by the capacity to meet this moment, bend the curve and have the appropriate community surveillance and testing to confidently determine whether or not that’s appropriate. ... That’s not something I anticipate happening in the next few months.”

The NFL’s chief medical officer also said over the weekend that widespread testing is essential to sports returning.

The Senior PGA Championship, set for May 21-24 in Michigan, was cancelled this week by the PGA of America.

And all of the schedule talk remains insignificant as the United States faces the fourth day in a row of over 1000 deaths caused by COVID-19, with an unprecedented week ahead. This from Elliott’s column seems an appropriate response to any scheduling concerns:

Dr. Alan Drummond of the Canadian Association of Emergency Room Physicians was blunt when asked by TSN.ca about the resumption of play in the NHL and other leagues. “Nobody gives [an expletive] right now. Better to turn hockey rinks into makeshift hospitals or morgues,” he said. “I love sports as much as anyone but this is really not the time.”