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PARIS (AFP) – The Masters and PGA Championship have been postponed indefinitely with the US Open and British Open expected to follow suit, while the coronavirus pandemic has prompted three of the five women’s majors to be rescheduled with tour action suspended until late May at the earliest.
Agence France-Presse Sport looks at what happens next for golf in 2020.
1. WOODS V MICKELSON SHOWDOWN UP NEXT?
With the leading men’s and women’s tours across the US and Europe on hold for the next two months, a rematch of the November 2018 one-on-one showdown between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson could be the next event on the golf calendar.
Reports indicate NFL greats Tom Brady and Peyton Manning could feature alongside Woods and Mickelson in a two-on-two sequel. Mickelson defeated his longtime rival in a winner-takes-all US$9 million (S$13 million) pay-per-view event dubbed “The Match” staged in Las Vegas two years ago.
The event would be played on a course without spectators, only a small crew to televise it, and each of the four sports stars would follow social distancing guidelines, with Golf.com saying the course would be an unspecified Florida venue.
The encounter would help raise money for coronavirus relief efforts, but it still requires approval from the US PGA Tour, which controls players’ media and television rights.
2. RYDER CUP RESHUFFLE ON THE CARDS?
Europe captain Padraig Harrington believes the Ryder Cup, planned for September 25-27 at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin, should go ahead as planned even if it is the first competition to be played after the shutdown.
“In many ways it would be perfect if the Ryder Cup was the first tournament back. Just 12 guys from Europe and 12 guys from America, with no prize money at stake and competing just for the glory,” Harrington told the Daily Mail.
“Wouldn’t that be a nice way for the sport to start back?” Harrington also said he would prefer to pick 12 players and do away with qualifying rather than delay the event.
However Paul Casey, a member of the winning Europe team in France in 2018, has called for the tournament to be put back 12 months, while Paris hero Tommy Fleetwood conceded it would be “fairer in qualification terms” were the event played in 2021.
Postponing the Ryder Cup could aid with schedule congestion and would also see it revert to odd years – as was the case before the biennial match was postponed by 12 months in 2001 after the 9/11 attacks on the United States.
The Presidents Cup could then shift to even years as a knock-on effect.
