The PGA Tour announced plans Thursday to return in mid-June with a revised slate of events through Thanksgiving, starting at the Charles Schwab Challenge.
The Fort Worth, Texas, event is scheduled for June 11-14, assuming health and government officials allow it, and would be played at Colonial Country Club without spectators. It has been rescheduled from its original late May date.
If the ambitious schedule plays out, it would mean 24 consecutive weeks of golf leading to Thanksgiving, with a few weeks where a second event is played. The weeks in which major championships had previously been scheduled have been filled by PGA Tour events.
“The health and safety of all associated with the PGA Tour and our global community continues to be our No. 1 priority, and our hope is to play a role — responsibly — in the world’s return to enjoying the things we love,” PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said in a statement. “Today’s announcement is another positive step for our fans and players as we look toward the future, but as we’ve stressed on several occasions, we will resume competition only when — working closely with our tournaments, partners and communities — it is considered safe to do so under the guidance of the leading public health authorities.”
The first four events on the revised scheduled are planned to be played without spectators.
The PGA Tour canceled the Players Championship in March after one round and immediately canceled three other events and postponed another before later adding four more to the list, including this week’s RBC Heritage, which has now been moved to the week following the Schwab tournament.
Last week, the R&A announced it was canceling this year’s Open Championship at Royal St. George’s and playing it at that venue next year, while the other majors announced new dates: the PGA Championship at Harding Park Aug. 6-9, the U.S. Open at Winged Foot Sept. 17-20 and the Masters Nov. 12-15.
The way the schedule is set up, the FedEx Cup playoffs will conclude with the Tour Championship on Labor Day weekend, with the final round on Sept. 7. The 2020-21 season would then begin the following week at the Safeway Championship (Sept. 10-13), with the U.S. Open to follow.
The current setup would mean just one major championship this season, but the potential for six in the 2020-21 season.