Australian PGA Championship moved to 2021 due to coronavirus
Event has been provisionally rescheduled for February 2021; Decision on whether the event can go ahead to be made in December
By Ali Stafford
Last Updated: 16/09/20 12:51pm
The Australian PGA Championship has become the latest event to be removed from the European Tour's 2020 schedule due to coronavirus.
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The event, co-sanctioned with the ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia, had been due to be held at Royal Queensland from December 3-6 but has been postponed due to strict travel and quarantining restrictions.
Tournament organisers are hoping to reschedule the tournament for February 18-21 and play the event twice in a calendar year in 2021, with a final decision on whether it can go ahead set to be made in December.
"The uncertainty created by the Covid-19 pandemic makes it extremely difficult to stage events at the level we would normally expect," said PGA of Australia chief executive Gavin Kirkman.
"We will continue to be agile and rely on the expert advice of the Queensland Government to safeguard against the spread of the virus.
"Our new date will be subject to health regulations and will be reviewed again in early December, when we expect to be armed with a more accurate prediction of Covid-19's impact across the country during summer.
"At that time we will determine whether the event will proceed in February or, as a last resort, cancelled. This will ensure our members and key stakeholders are provided appropriate notice of any decision made."
The decision follows the postponement in July of the 2020 Australian Open, which was due to have been held at Melbourne's Kingston Heath Golf Club, with the event still yet to be rescheduled.
The Magical Kenya Open - set for November 12-15 - was cancelled last week, with the European Tour now having three empty weeks in its disrupted 2020 schedule between the Masters and the season-ending DP World Tour Championship.
Adam Scott is defending champion of the Australian PGA Championship, having claimed a two-stroke victory over Michael Hendry at RACV Royal Pines in 2019.
