The 120th United States Open will be played in September without fans at the Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York, the United States Golf Association announced Wednesday.
Spectators will also not be allowed at next week’s PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“After months of consultation and scenario planning with state and local health officials, we have jointly decided that hosting the US Open without spectators will provide the best opportunity to safely conduct the championship for all involved,” said the USGA CEO Mike Davis in a statement. “We will miss the excitement of the fans and what their presence brings to the championship. We look forward to welcoming them again to future US openings.”
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said that even without spectators, the United States Open will be “a welcome show for sports fans across the country and will help restore a sense of normalcy as we rebuild better than before.” .
Originally, the US Open was scheduled to be played at Winged Foot June 18-21, but was held Sept. 17-20 due to the pandemic.
“This will not be a typical United States Open in several respects,” John Bodenhamer, general manager of USGA championships, said in a statement. “Would it have been easier to simply cancel or even move the 2020 championship instead of playing it in what has been the epicenter of the virus in our country? Possibly. But all of us at the USGA know how much the US Open matters, and we were not willing to give up playing it at Winged Foot Golf Club so easily. We are very proud to offer our competitors and champions a platform to pursue their dreams. Their perseverance motivates us, in a year where such tenacity means a lot. “
The Masters Tournament, scheduled for Nov. 12-15 at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia, has yet to announce whether fans will be allowed.
Fans have not been allowed in the first eight PGA Tour events since the game restart, including this week’s WGC-FedEx St. Jude’s Invitational at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee. Webb Simpson, the 2012 US Open champion, said next week’s PGA Championship would feel different without thousands of fans lined up on the streets and surrounding greens at TPC Harding Park.
“I think we have had no fans, and that has been very unusual,” Simpson said Wednesday, before the USGA announcement. “We are starting to get used to it. But I think next week will seem unusual again, being a major one, when there are tens of thousands lined up on the 10-row-deep streets. We are used to that, each major is exhausted by far time in advance.
“I think next week he will feel a little bit different, and who knows what will happen at the US Open or Masters. But then again, if we don’t have fans there, he won’t feel like a normal major. As much as we want him to, I do not think it does “.
The USGA said that tickets purchased directly through the USGA for the US Open will be automatically refunded.
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