The US PGA Tour is considering various scenarios to a return to competition in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, including playing some events without fans, Golf Digest reported Friday.
The tour told players in a memo sent Thursday, and obtained by Golf Digest, that it was targeting a return for the Charles Schwab Challenge on May 21 at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas.
The tour suspended its season after the first round of the Players Championship last month and has since called off tournaments through the Byron Nelson Championship scheduled for May 7-10.
ESPN reported that the tour is expected to announce more cancellations next week.
Players were told in the tour memo that officials hope to "preserve the maximum number of events we can while giving us more time as the crisis evolves."
Officials told players they will rely on guidance from health and government authorities before deciding on a resumption of play.
If a May resumption of play is not possible as shelter-in-place directives remain in effect, a re-start at Colonial could be moved to June 11-14, taking the dates originally set for the Canadian Open, which is expected to be cancelled.
The tour told players they would have three to four weeks' notice before the season resumes.
"We understand many of you may be impacted by travel restrictions and/or the inability to practice in your area, thus we want to be able to give you as much time as possible to allow you to come back fully prepared," the memo said.
The tour announced on Monday that it was rescheduling its season finale, the Wyndham Championship, for August 13-16, with the season-ending tour playoffs to follow over the next three weeks.
Those dates were worked out with the rescheduling of three of the year's four major championships, the US PGA Championship moving to September to be followed by the Ryder Cup and the US Open with the Masters to be held in November.
The British Open, originally scheduled for July, has been cancelled.
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Kevin Na rebounded from a double-bogey on the back nine to grab a two-stroke lead after three rounds of the PGA Tour's Charles Schwab Challenge on Saturday, while Jordan Spieth's deft touch on the greens saw him move into a tie for second.
Na shook off the double at the 11th hole to birdie the 13th on his way to a one-under par 69 at a Colonial Country Club layout in Fort Worth, Texas made tougher by breezy conditions.
While the birdies did not fall as frequently as they had in Friday's round of 62, Na still managed three as he moved to nine-under 201 for the tournament.
"I bounced back nicely and kept myself in it," Na told CBS Sports, adding that he had been distracted by a fan at the 11th.
"From fairway in, I am a pretty good player so I think it plays right into my game," Na said of Colonial, a course he considers one of his favourites.
Spieth, meanwhile, continued his impressive putting to shoot 68 and tie with four others at seven under -- Canadian Mackenzie Hughes (65), Taiwan's Pan Cheng-tsung (68) and Americans Jim Furyk (68) and Tony Finau (71).
Spieth, the local favourite and a former champion, still had trouble with his ball striking, hitting only four fairways.
A shot into the rough led to his only bogey of the day at 17 after he had made three birdies on the front nine, including a 37-foot putt at the seventh.
"My speed control has been really good this week," the Texan told PGA Tour Radio.
Pan, who goes by the initials C.T., had grabbed the lead briefly after Na's double-bogey but slipped back by dropping strokes on 17 and 18.
Finau could have been a stroke closer but let a shot slip away at the last after driving his ball into the water.
Sweden's Jonas Blixt, the second-round leader by a stroke, was never in contention after a bogey at the first. He shot a four-over 74 to drop four strokes off the pace.
World number three Justin Rose, the defending champion, also turned in a 74 to sit on five-over par 215 after 54 holes.
American Charley Hoffman had the low round of the day, a 63 in morning play to sit three back.
(Reporting by Gene Cherry in Raleigh, North Carolina, editing by Ed Osmond/Peter Rutherford)
source: news.abs-cbn.com
