The PGA Tour officially announced Thursday its plan to restart the 2019-20 season in mid-June.
With a three-month suspension of play – and perhaps longer, if the impact of the coronavirus pandemic lingers into the summer – there was plenty of schedule maneuvering.
As currently constituted, the adjusted season-long schedule now consists of 36 events, which includes three FedExCup playoff events that will culminate with the Tour Championship over Labor Day weekend. Prior to the shutdown, the Tour had completed 22 events, through the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
So what’s different?
Here is a rundown of the changes:
• The RBC Canadian Open has been canceled. Originally scheduled for June 11-14, the tournament’s future was in doubt after the city of Toronto announced last month that all major events and permits have been canceled through June 30. In place of the Canadian Open is the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial, which is the new targeted return date for the Tour.
• The RBC Heritage, originally scheduled for this week, will now be played June 18-21. Those dates were previously held by the U.S. Open, which has been rescheduled for September.
• The Rocket Mortgage Classic, in its second year at Detroit Golf Club, is being pushed back about a month: from May 28-31 to July 2-5, in a spot previously occupied by the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. The WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, then, will slide back a month, to July 30-Aug. 2, which is when the Olympic Games were supposed to be held. The Olympics have been rescheduled for summer 2021.
• Scheduled for June 4-7, The Memorial Tournament will now be held July 16-19. That’s when the Open Championship was supposed to be held, but the R&A announced earlier this month that the year’s final major has been canceled.
• Joining the Canadian Open on the newest list of cancelations: the Barbasol Championship, which was originally scheduled for July 16-19, opposite The Open. Looking ahead to the 2020-21 season, the Tour has ended its relationship with the Greenbrier event. The Safeway Open will now kick off next season, Sept. 10-13 – the week following the Tour Championship and a week prior to the U.S. Open.