Report: The Ryder Cup Will Be Pushed Back To 2021 Due To Coronavirus Concerns
The Guardian- Confirmation that the Ryder Cup, due to be held in September at Whistling Straits, will be postponed until 2021 is expected next week. The PGA of America has announced the first major of the year, the US PGA Championship, will be held in early August without spectators. Talks between the PGA of America and the European Tour, who preside jointly over the Ryder Cup, and local government officials in Wisconsin are now close to completion despite a public line of “no change” to existing arrangements. Work on the spectator build at Whistling Straits, ordinarily well under way by now, is not believed to have meaningfully started.
Tommy Fleetwood: 'Ryder Cup without fans would be kind of sad' With health and safety concerns to the fore – playing the biennial competition without spectators has never been a serious option – postponement is now seen as the most responsible solution. As recently as last month hopes had been raised that the Ryder Cup could take place. The relevant parties have considered the US and Europe facing off in front of reduced numbers, with around 25,000 per day mooted, but that is not now thought viable amid coronavirus concerns. Ongoing travel restrictions – such as quarantine – are also a factor.
Well god damn. Another golf event bites the dust because of the fucking coronavirus. Although the Ryder Cup being postponed until 2021 isn't all that surprising because nothing is surprising in 2020. We're already living in a world where the Open Championship isn't happening at all this calendar year and the Masters is in NOVEMBER so we're not even close to dealing with reality in 2020. Talk about whether or not the Ryder Cup could happen (with or without fans) in 2020 has been widely debated but it sounds like the two governing bodies are close to coming to an agreement to postpone the event by a year. Hopefully (HOPEFULLY) by then the world will have COVID much more under control and the event can happen with fans. Fingers crossed.
By the way I think it's absolutely the right move to postpone the Ryder Cup until 2021. Regular golf tournaments like the Charles Scwhab Challenge and the RBC Heritage can be played without fans and it really doesn't make much of a difference at all. If you've been watching those events the last couple of weeks on TV you hardly even notice a difference. But the Ryder Cup? That would be a completely different event without fans. Fans from both sides going fucking ballistic at the Ryder Cup is what makes it so special. Drunk Americans chanting against drunk Euros is what the Ryder Cup is really all about. Sure it's also about the golf being played but, more than any other golf event in the world, the fans at the Ryder Cup are almost just as important as the golfers themselves.
Like imagine these moments sans fans
Don't get me wrong, it still would've been awesome because Reed and Rory were straight fucking savages, but it wouldn't have been as awesome as it was. So you just postpone the event for a year, let the world try and get a better handle on the horrific global pandemic that's going on, and hopefully you have it next year with fans in attendance. Boom, done. The right call.