Hideki Matsuyama opened with a fabulous 9-under 63 including eight birdies, an eagle on the par-5, 9th and a lone bogey on the par-5 16th, and looked strong for his sixth PGA TOUR title. But, it was not to be.
Later in the day, PGA TOUR announced to go ahead with the tournament, without the fans, starting Friday (second-round) and after the conclusion of the day the tour announced cancelling the event until the Valero Texas Open (Apr. 2-5). The next event on the tour, yes you got that right, the holy grail, The Masters from April 9-12, where Tiger Woods will be looking ahead to defend his title and earn a sixth green jacket.
The Tour statement:
It is with regret that we are announcing the cancellation of THE PLAYERS Championship.
We have also decided to cancel all PGA TOUR events – across all of our Tours – in the coming weeks, through the Valero Texas Open.
We have pledged from the start to be responsible, thoughtful and transparent with our decision process. We did everything possible to create a safe environment for our players in order to continue the event throughout the weekend, and we were endeavouring to give our fans a much-needed respite from the current climate. But at this point – and as the situation continues to rapidly change – the right thing to do for our players and our fans is to pause.
Later next week, DLF Golf & Country Club was all set to organise the Hero Indian Open from March 19-22, but the event has been postponed without any new dates in sight. Joining in the announcement of cancelling/postponing the tourneys are LPGA, Symetra and PGTI Tour too.
Other sporting events cancelled due to COVID-19 –
F1 – Australian Grand Prix
Statement from F1 boss, Ross Brawn –
NBA announcement –
NHL –
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