At least two of the top three this year will be played without spectators.
The USGA announced Wednesday, along with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, that the US Open at Winged Foot will be played without fans 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,” he said. Mike Davis, CEO of the USGA. “We will miss the excitement of the fans and what their presence brings to the championship. We look forward to welcoming you again to future openings in the United States. ”
Winged Foot is located in Mamaroneck, New York, which is located in Westchester County, one of the original hot spots for the virus. As recently as last month, the USGA held out hope that the event, rescheduled for Sept. 17-20, could be played with a limited number of spectators. New York City began reopening on June 8, after being in one of the nation’s strictest locks, but eventually not enough improvements were made to allow for a full-scale reunion.
No tournament with fans has been played on the site since the PGA Tour restarted its season in mid-June. This week alone, at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, the Tour began allowing a maximum of 50 sponsoring guests per day at tournament sites, but those attendees do not have access to the course or face-to-face interaction with competitors. It is unknown when fans will be allowed at Tour events, but commissioner Jay Monahan earlier this month said officials are “hopeful” of having viewers sometime in the “last quarter of the year.”
Next week’s PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco will take place without spectators. Augusta National has yet to announce whether to allow clients for the Masters, now scheduled for November 12-15.
The USGA had previously canceled all local and sectional qualifications for the US Open, citing the risk of hosting events across the country. To complete the field of 144 players, the USGA will use its traditional exemption categories in addition to the 70 best in the world when the rankings were frozen; the top two, not exempt, in minor Tour events that start at the Memorial and end at the Wyndham Championship; the 3 best finalists of the PGA; the top five in aggregate points from the UK Swing of the European Tour; the top five players in the Korn Ferry Tour regular and final season point standings; the seven highest ranked players (not exempt) in the World Amateur Golf Ranking after US Amateur; and the leaders of the Order of Merit on various international tours. The OWGR ranking as of August 23 will be used to determine the few final places in the field, as well as the alternate list.
Winged Foot has not hosted a US Open since 2006.
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