Jun 8, 2020
What to know about the PGA Tour's re-start
For the first time since March 12, the PGA Tour is back to playing golf. This week, in Fort Worth, Texas, the game’s top players will compete at the Charles Schwab Challenge. As golf gets set to re-start, here’s where the golf world currently sits, Bob Weeks writes.
By Bob Weeks
For the first time since March 12, the PGA Tour is back to playing golf.
This week, the game’s top players will compete at the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas.
In the pre-COVID-19 era, this would have been the week of the RBC Canadian Open, but that was cancelled along with 10 other tournaments.
As golf gets set to re-start, here’s where the golf world currently sits:
What’s different
This week’s return will be played with no fans in attendance. On site will be players, caddies, PGA Tour staff, approximately 300 volunteers, television personnel and ShotLink workers.
There will also be a mobile testing facility, which will provide tests for all those at the tournament site including players. Results will be known in two to four hours.
Social distancing will be in effect with players and caddies encouraged to keep apart during play.
There will be no stands or corporate hospitality tents and more scaled down clubhouse and locker room facilities than usual. Electronic leaderboards will be on the course, and holes will be roped and staked. Television scaffolding will be in place as will advertising signage on tees and around greens.
The Field
This week’s event has a field as deep as any tournament outside of the majors. The top five players and eight of the top 10 on the Official World Golf Ranking are entered. The top three – Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Brooks Koepka – will play together for the first two rounds.
It’s the best field the event, being played at the Colonial Country Club, has had in recent memory.
Canadians
Three Canadians will tee it up this week, with Adam Hadwin, Corey Conners and Mackenzie Hughes entered. Nick Taylor, who could have entered, is at home in Abbotsford, B.C., and will likely return to action next month.
David Hearn, Michael Gligic and Roger Sloan, did not get into the field this week. Hearn and Gligic will instead play at the Korn Ferry Tour event in Jacksonville, Fla., while Sloan will start next week at the RBC Heritage in Hilton Head, S.C.
Tiger Woods
Woods is not entered in this week’s tournament at Colonial Country Club and there’s no word on when he’ll make his return to action. There is some speculation it could happen next week at the RBC Heritage, in small part because he could get there using his boat and have that as his base. Woods may also choose to wait until the Memorial in July before playing again and then gear up for the majors.
The Majors
Speaking of the majors, there are three remaining after the cancellation of the Open Championship. The PGA Championship, Aug. 6-9, is first up followed by the U.S. Open, Sept. 17-20 and concluding with The Masters, Nov. 12-15. No final decision has been made on whether fans will be in attendance at the first two with both the PGA of America and the United States Golf Association saying there are contingencies in place to go without spectators if necessary.
FedEx Cup
The FedEx Cup playoffs will start two weeks after the PGA Championship with the Northern Trust, Aug. 20-23. The BMW Invitational follows Aug. 27-30 and then the Tour Championship, Sept. 4-7.
The first event includes the top 125 on the FedEx Cup points list which is cut down to the top 70 for the second week and finally the top 30.
Currently Brooks Koepka, Sergio Garcia, Justin Rose, Zach Johnson, Shane Lowry and Francesco Molinari are outside the top 125 and would not qualify for the playoffs.