Mcilroy hits out at lax US virus reaction
Northern Irishman fears hosts being ‘too casual’ Organisers insist US PGA will go ahead as planned
Rory Mcilroy has expressed his concern over what he calls the “casual” American reaction to coronavirus and fears that the US PGA Championship, the year’s second major, could be affected by the outbreak.
The PGA of America, which runs the USPGA, denied yesterday that there were contingency plans to switch the tournament from Harding Park in San Francisco to Sawgrass, the venue here in Jacksonville that will host this week’s Players Championship.
But it is understood that the association is ready for a radical solution if Californian authorities advise that the region should not stage mass gatherings.
On Monday, Indian Wells, the tennis event in the south of the state, was called off and the organisers of the Ana Inspiration, the first women’s major of the campaign, are thought to be ready to postpone, or even cancel, the Palm Springs event in three weeks.
However, President Trump has urged for calm and has declared that he sees no reason why fans should be stopped from attending big events. Mcilroy is evidently not sure about that policy.
“It’s obviously very worrying,” he said. “I think the United States has really been casual about it compared to the rest of the world. I saw today that events have been cancelled and Indian Wells has been cancelled in California, and especially there they are taking it very seriously. What it means for the world of golf, with the major being played in May, who knows?
“All we can do as professionals is follow the guidelines from the CDC [the centre of disease control] and hope that it will all get resolved and people can get back to normal.”
Mcilroy is too worldly to be wrapped up solely in the cosseted environs of the PGA Tour, but there are increasingly desperate arrangements going on behind the scenes to ensure the schedule continues as planned. There have been rumours that the Masters could be played behind closed doors, while, given comments by Jay Monahan, the
PGA Tour commissioner, that seems almost inevitable at the WGC World Match Play in Austin in two weeks.
Monahan admitted that the circuits were considering “contingency” plans “for a lot of different scenarios” around its tournaments “given that this is an unprecedented situation”.
“This thing is so dynamic that we have to go hour to hour, day to day, but right now we have every assurance that we will be in Austin for the event,” Monahan said. “The health, safety and well-being of our players, our fans, everybody that’s involved in our ecosystem is of utmost importance.”
Pouring cold water on the PGA of America’s declaration, Monahan stressed the necessity for the golf powers to “work as closely together as you ever have to help each other get through this”.
The gloom surrounding the immediate future was a far cry from Monahan’s joy at securing a huge television deal for the next decade that will allow the Tour to increase the Fedex Cup winners’ first prize from $15 million to $25 million in the “next 10 years”. Monahan foresees the total Fedex purse increasing from $60 million to “above $100 million” in this timespan.