NO GREEN JACKET IN SPRING
No rite of spring for golf: Masters postponed due to virus
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLA. (AP) » Augusta National on Friday postponed the Masters, another massive hit to the spring sports calendar from the new coronaivirus that already is responsible for the loss of March Madness and the delay of opening day baseball.
So much for that annual rite of spring and the first week in April devoted to the brilliance of dogwoods and azaleas, Amen Corner and Tiger Woods chasing another green jacket.
“Unfortunately, the everincreasing risks associated with the widespread coronavirus have led us to a decision that undoubtedly will be disappointing to many, although I am confident is appropriate under these unique circumstances,” Masters chairman Fred Ridley said in a statement.
The Masters had been scheduled for April 9-12.
Ridley said he hoped the decision puts Augusta National in the best position to host the Masters and its two other amateur events “at some later
date.”
He did not indicate when the Masters could be played. The private club traditionally closes in May and does not open for its members until October.
“That’s not a fun message to get,” said J.T. Poston, among PGA Tour winners who had qualified for their first Masters. “That’s a tournament that I’ve been looking forward to since I was a kid, and still very much looking forward to it. I know I’ll get my chance at it. Just won’t know when that’ll be.”
The decision comes 12 hours after PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan canceled four tournaments, starting with the final three rounds of The Players Championship and its $15 million purse.
Players already were bracing for the Masters to be postponed as they left the TPC Sawgrass on Friday morning. The virus has a grip on the sporting world, and golf’s decision to cancel — after first wanting to try to playing The Players Championship without fans — was inevitable.
“Well, postponed is a comforting word — canceled is another,” said Xander Schauffele, who was a runner-up to Woods last year at the Masters. “As long as it says ‘postponed,’ I think the players will find hope in that word and just wait for go time.”
Even so, these were odd times for golfers who usually only step away for a month at a time at the end of the year. Schauffele said it felt like the last day of school.
“A lot of good golf, a big stretch of golf coming up, and we’ll be sitting at home waiting for someone to tell us when and where,” he said. “It’s a very strange feeling.”
For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, with the vast majority recovering in about two weeks.
The NBA and NHL have suspended their seasons indefinitely. Major League Baseball has postponed the start of its season, and one of the biggest events to be called off was the NCAA basketball tournament — March Madness — that captivates the country for three weeks. The championship game is the Monday night before the Masters.
Colleges are canceling spring sports.