The PGA Tour plans to use chartered planes to shuttle golfers and caddies between tournaments when the circuit returns from its coronavirus hiatus at the Charles Schwab Challenge in June.
Kevin Streelman, a two-time winner on the PGA Tour, says the plan is part of safety measures being put place to protect players and caddies during the Covid-19 pandemic that forced a shutdown of the PGA Tour at the Players Championship in mid-March.
“There will probably be four, five, six of us who will split a plane to get to Colonial,” Streelman told Golfweek.
“The tour has chartered planes, like big ones, for all the players and caddies in between events, trying to keep our bubble nice and tight.”
The PGA Tour released a revised schedule in April, with the first four events to be played without spectators, starting with the June 11-14 Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas.
In addition to the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club, the tournaments currently slated to be held without fans are the RBC Heritage (June 18-21) in Hilton Head, the Travellers Championship (June 25-28) in Cromwell, Connecticut, and the Rocket Mortgage Classic (July 2-5) in Detroit.
The first tournament tentatively preparing for spectators is the July 6-12 John Deere Classic in Silvis, Illinois, followed by the Memorial.
“It’s going to be different for sure [playing without fans],” said Streelman, following the pro-am at the Scottsdale (Arizona) Open mini-tour event.
“It’s necessary and the priority is getting good competition, have a nice TV product for our fans, that’s definitely the priority.”
Meanwhile, the Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma will host the PGA Championship for a record fifth time in 2030, the PGA said in a statement.
The club last hosted the tournament in 2007, when Tiger Woods romped to a two- stroke victory over runner-up Woody Austin.
Southern Hills first hosted a major in 1958 when it staged the US Open and six majors have since taken place at the site.
Southern Hills will also host the 2021 Senior PGA Championship, considered the most prestigious tournament in senior golf, from May 25-30.
This year’s PGA Championship was due to take place at Harding Park from May 14-17, but has been rescheduled for August 6-9.
AAP
