The 2020 US PGA Championship will take place on its rescheduled date in August without spectators’ present.
TPC Harding Park in San Francisco will host the first major of the year, which was initially postponed from its May 14 start, between August 6 and 9. The City of San Francisco and the PGA of America made a joint announcement on Monday.
It was confirmed fans would not be able to attend to ensure "the health and well-being of all involved".
That came after the PGA closely consulted with the state of California and city and county of San Francisco, having initially hoped to allow patrons in.
Brooks Koepka is the defending US PGA champion. He won the tournament for a second consecutive year when he triumphed at Bethpage Black in May 2019. The rescheduled event will come before the U.S. Open, which was moved to September, while the Masters was switched to November and the Open Championship was cancelled.
"We are both inspired and honoured to play on," said PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh.
"In doing so, we will spotlight not only the beauty of TPC Harding Park, but the fortitude of San Francisco and its remarkable people.
"We'd like to thank the state of California and the city and county of San Francisco for being terrific partners in helping us get to this place.
"While the local community cannot be with us physically on-site, we will certainly carry their spirit of resilience and unity with us as we stage our major championship, on their behalf, for all the world to see and enjoy."
The PGA Tour has held two events behind closed doors since restarting amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Daniel Berger and Webb Simpson triumphed at the Charles Schwab Challenge and RBC Heritage respectively.
Nick Watney withdrew from the RBC Heritage after only one round when he became the first PGA Tour player to receive a positive test result for COVID-19.
The Tour confirmed on Saturday they had tested 11 people who had been in close contact with him, with all results coming back negative.
This week's Travelers Championship will be the first of a further three events taking place behind closed doors.
There are then plans for a limited number of fans to attend for the first time since lockdown when the Memorial Tournament is held in Ohio from July 16.
Source – OPTA
