PGA plays on without fans in gallery

LPGA postpones next three events

With every major sports league closing down as North America comes to grips with coronavirus, the PGA Tour announced it’s going ahead with the Players Championship and its upcoming schedule, but without fans in attendance.

Spectators were on-site watching first round play at TPC Sawgrass on Thursday when tour commissioner Jay Monahan announced that beginning with Friday’s second-round spectators would not be allowed in.

“At this point in time, PGA Tour events across all tours will currently proceed as scheduled, but will do so without fans,” Monahan said at noon on Thursday.

“This policy starts at The Players Championship tomorrow and continues through the Valero Texas Open.”

The Valero Texas Open is the final PGA Tour event before the Masters in April. Augusta National has previously stated they plan to go ahead with the tournament, although an update is expected next week.

The LPGA is postponing its next three events, including the ANA Inspiration, the season’s first major.

Many golfers were on the course when the announcement was made. Canadian golfer Nick Taylor didn’t hear the news until he walked up the final fairway more than two hours after Monahan’s news conference.

“I’m just trying to process it,” Taylor said after shooting a 1-over 73.

“I think it was on the table after last night when the NBA suspended their season, so I’m not surprised by it. It sounds like the right thing to do and

I’m sure it’s what’s best for all the fans. It’s going to be weird, but I think it’s what’s best and I’m sure it can change any second.”

With the NBA, NHL and MLB all choosing to suspend their seasons and the NCAA’S March Madness cancelled, there are those questioning why the PGA Tour chose to continue play.

“Obviously, we’re an outdoor sport, we’re not in a stadium, and here this week at TPC Sawgrass our players are making their way over 400 acres,” Monahan said.

“And so we feel like we have, because of the nature of that and the fact that you’ve got 144 players here and over the course of a round our players generally do socially distance themselves, we felt like by taking this step to address the problem with our fans, we’re in a position where we can continue to operate the events as of right now.”