Coronavirus delivers another blow to chance of PGA Tour holding Colonial in May
The Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club remains on schedule for next month.
But signs are not promising for Fort Worth’s annual PGA Tour event to be held May 21-24 with a number of events in that time frame being postponed or canceled amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The latest came on Friday with the USGA postponing the U.S. Women’s Open, an event scheduled to be played in Houston two weeks after the Colonial.
Colonial tournament director Michael Tothe saw the news and acknowledged it gave him “pause.” But, like every golf fan in the area, he’s still holding out hope the Colonial is played.
“We’re still planning on playing Memorial Day weekend until such a time someone tells me we’re not,” Tothe said. “Everything is starting to cancel around us, that’s for sure. You’re seeing it, I’m seeing it, but I think every one is a little bit different.”
As far as the U.S. Women’s Open being postponed, Tothe pointed to the women’s tour being predominantly international compared to the PGA Tour, which has a number of international stars, but not to the extent of the LGPA.
Additionally, the USGA runs a number of qualifying events for spots in the field in the weeks leading up to its tournaments. All of those would-be qualifying events have been affected by the pandemic.
Tothe said he hasn’t had any in-depth discussions with the PGA Tour about possibly hosting the Colonial without fans. But it is a possibility the PGA Tour is exploring, based on recommendations from health and government agencies.
“Anything is possible right now,” Tothe said. “If it’s canceled, we have to deal with it. If it’s players only, then we’ll deal with it. If it’s postponed, we’ll deal with it. We’re sort of ready for everything and anything.”
Asked if hosting a tournament with no fans is better than a cancellation, Tothe said: “People would still be watching from home and tuning in to Fort Worth, Texas, and Tarrant County and Colonial Country Club and Charles Schwab. Yeah, that is way better than not playing at all.”
Local PGA Tour player Ryan Palmer agreed.
Golfers love galleries and interacting with fans, but they’re itching to get back to competitive golf as soon as possible too.
“I think live golf would be great for people at home, hopefully boost some morale around the country,” Palmer said. “You could even bring a charitable aspect to it. Instead of a $7.5 million purse, make it a $5 million purse, and donate $2.5 million to charities that need it to help fight COVID-19.”
Along with whether to host tournaments without fans, Tothe said he doesn’t know whether the tournament would be canceled or postponed if it comes to that decision.
The only thing that has been decided is expanding the field from 120 to 144 competitors.
At the end of the day, the hope is that Colonial is played and becomes the PGA Tour’s first event back since March 13. This is a tournament that has been played every year since the flood of 1949.
“It’s our hope and desire to get back playing golf,” Tothe said. “Whether it’s us or not, I can’t tell you. We’re slated to be the first event back on Tour. I’m operating as if we’re on deck.”
Tiger interested?
If Colonial is able to go on as scheduled, Tothe said it goes without saying that field would be among the strongest in years. Every golfer is ready to get back and compete.
Tothe has heard from several who are interested, although he’s not heard from two of the biggest names — Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.
Woods made his only appearance at Colonial in 1997, when he finished tied for fourth. Mickelson, a two-time winner in 2000 and 2008, has played once, in 2017, over the last decade.
“I have not heard from Tiger and I’ve not heard from Phil,” Tothe said. “But I’ve heard from other guys and their representatives who might not have played since we were the week after the PGA Championship who are interested if we have a tournament. Again, if we have an opportunity to play, the field is going to be pretty good.”
This story was originally published April 3, 2020 at 1:54 PM.
