Australian PGA tournament postponed to February

BRISBANE, Australia, Sept 16, (AP): The Australian PGA tournament has been postponed to February because of uncertainties over coronavirus-enforced restrictions.

The PGA of Australia on Wednesday said the European Tour co-sanctioned golf tournament, scheduled for early December at Royal Queensland in Brisbane, is now tentatively scheduled for Feb 18-21, but the status of the event will be reviewed again in December.

It follows the postponement of November’s Australian Open at Melbourne’s Kingston Heath to sometime next year. Victoria state is experiencing a second wave of COVID-19 infections and deaths, and the city of Melbourne is in lockdown with nightly curfews.

“The uncertainty created by the COVID-19 pandemic makes it extremely difficult to stage events at the level we would normally expect,” PGA of Australia chief executive Gavin Kirkman said. “Our new date will be subject to health regulations and will be reviewed again in early December, when we expect to be armed with a more accurate prediction of COVID-19 impact across the country during summer.

“At that time we will determine whether the event will proceed in February or, as a last resort, canceled.”

Adam Scott won last year’s Australian PGA at Royal Pines on the Gold Coast, where it had been played for seven years.

Scott, the 2013 Masters winner at Augusta, begins play Thursday at the delayed US Open in a group with Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose.