U.S. Golf Association says no U.S. Open postponement decision has been made
The New York Post reported that the Open, scheduled for June 18-21 at Winged Foot had been postponed. The USGA said it doesn't plan to announce a decision until mid-April.
The New York Post, quoting sources, has reported that the U.S. Open, scheduled for June 18-21 at Winged Foot Golf Club, has been postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic. However, the U.S. Golf Association said Friday that a decision on whether to postpone has yet to be made.
A USGA spokeswoman referenced a statement released by the association earlier in the week that any speculation on a postponement would be “premature.”
“We continue to hold the dates for the U.S. Open at Winged Foot in June and monitor all available guidance and regulations from the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, World Health Organization], and other federal, state and local authorities to do what is in the best interests of the community for the health and safety of all those involved,” the statement said.
“Given that postponement could be a possibility, we are creating contingency plans should we need to pivot. It is premature at this point to speculate on any potential date or location changes, but we expect to make a decision sometime in the middle of April.”
The Post reported the postponement Thursday night and quoted sources as saying that Winged Foot officials remain optimistic that the Open could be played sometime in September.
The 120th Open would be the sixth to be held at Winged Foot, located in Mamaroneck, N.Y., a northern suburb of New York near the U.S. epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak. A postponement would make it the third major championship not to be played on its originally scheduled dates, joining the Masters and the PGA Championship.
Work on assembling the infrastructure for the U.S. Open, including bleachers and corporate tents, was halted earlier this week after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered the suspension of all nonessential work in the state.
As for when the events could be rescheduled, the postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics opens up the weekend of July 30 through Aug. 2. September and October dates also are being considered but would interfere with early tournaments on the 2020-21 PGA Tour schedule.
The Tour has canceled eight tournaments thus far, through the Byron Nelson Classic from May 7-10, which was to be followed by the PGA Championship.