Coronavirus: PGA Tour announces June return with no spectators

New York, April 17: The PGA Tour has announced plans for tournaments to resume behind closed doors in the second week of June.

A number of events have either been put on hold or called off entirely since mid-March in an effort to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

However, the Tour hopes to resume the season in two months' time with the Charles Schwab Challenge at the Colonial Country Club in Texas.

The first four events will be staged without spectators, falling in line with COVID-19 safety protocols that will continue to be monitored.

"The health and safety of all associated with the PGA Tour and our global community continues to be our number-one priority, and our hope is to play a role - responsibly - in the world's return to enjoying the things we love," said PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan.

A new golf calendar for 2020.https://t.co/JKA5gYh3A9

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) April 16, 2020

"Today's announcement is another positive step for our fans and players as we look toward the future, but as we've stressed on several occasions, we will resume competition only when - working closely with our tournaments, partners and communities - it is considered safe to do so under the guidance of the leading public health authorities."

The Memorial, originally scheduled for the middle of June, will now be staged between July 16-19, a weekend made free by the cancellation of the Open.

The WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational has been pushed back to the final week of July, just before the US PGA Championship is down to take place.

As outlined last week, the aim is for the rearranged 2020 Masters to be held in November.

Meanwhile, the Tour also confirmed that the fields for the Charles Schwab Challenge, RBC Heritage and the Memorial Tournament have been increased to 144 players.