Australian PGA postponed until February 2021
It was meant to be a triumphant return to the Royal Queensland Golf Club for the first time in 21 years, however the fallout from COVID-19 has now forced the postponement of the Australian PGA Championship until 18-21 February 2021.
The tournament, which is in its 105th year, joins the Australian Open in being rescheduled until 2021 in the hope that life will be back to some sort of normality by then.
Adam Scott won his second Australian PGA title in 2019 (Credit: PGA Australia)
“In conjunction with the Queensland Government and other key stakeholders, we have investigated numerous contingency plans to be able to stage the event in December, including players entering a hub and competing while serving a strict quarantine period,” said PGA Tour of Australasia Tournaments Director Nick Dastey.
“Different from other professional sports, golf is a week-to-week travelling tour and in addition to playing in front of no fans, players would have potentially been required to undertake a further period of quarantine prior to or at the conclusion of the tournament.”
“For interstate and international players, additional quarantine measures when returning to their home location or next tournament may have also meant a further 14-day quarantine.”
“While it is not a decision taken lightly these measures would not be in the best interests of our members, our fans, stakeholders and commercial partners, and as such we have made the decision to postpone the event with the hope that restrictions ease by 2021.”
PGA of Australia chief executive Gavin Kirkman said that the situation will be revisited in December and a final decision made about the staging of the tournament.
“At that time we will determine whether the event will proceed in February or, as a last resort, cancelled. This will ensure our members and key stakeholders are provided appropriate notice of any decision made.”
The Australian Open has yet to announce an exact timeframe, however, a date on either side of the Australian PGA in February seems to be the likely outcome.
