PGA Championship Is On — But No Fans Allowed At Harding Park

Yes, there will be a PGA Championship at Harding Park in San Francisco, starting August 6.

No, there will be no one there to cheer for great shots, groan for missed putts and applaud the first major champion of the 2020 season.

The San Francisco Chronicle did some digging with the health department trolls out there in the City By The Bay and reported that the PGA will proceed — minus spectators.

PGA of America big-wigs had hoped to have up to 40,000 fans per day at Harding Park — but that won’t happen.  Not 4,000, not even 400.

Grandstand construction had begun at Harding Park earlier this year before the world grew to know the words — Corona Virus.

The PGA of America explored alternative locations until California state and San Francisco local officials gave the go-ahead to host the event.

But it came with a price — it will have to be spectator-free.

Which means things will be deathly quiet during the season’s first major — the way they were in Fort Worth last week.

Brooks Koepka, who will go after a third-straight PGA Championship, didn’t want to play the Ryder Cup without fans.

Makes you wonder what he’ll think of defending a major title in basic silence.

LPGA Makes Change, Will Return With Special Inverness Event:

The LPGA Tour was supposed to re-start its 2020 schedule on July 23 at the Marathon Classic.

That has changed.

The Tour announced on Tuesday that it will have a special return event at the Inverness Club in Toledo.

The event will be called the LPGA Drive On Championship.  It will be a 54-hole event, starting July 31.  It is an unsponsored event, with the intent to celebrate the official return of the Tour at the site of the 2021 Solheim Cup  — the Inverness Club.

To accommodate the return, the Marathon Classic agreed to move its dates to August 6-9, same dates as the men’s first major — the PGA Championship at fan-less Harding Park.

Justin Rose Splits With Swing Coach Sean Foley:

First Justin Rose ditched the Honma equipment in his bag.

Now, he’s parted ways with swing coach Sean Foley.

Rose worked on his own over the 91-day layoff and judging by his performance at the Charles Schwab Challenge, his game’s in pretty good shape.

“I spent the past three months working on my game at home. I made a lot of progress and wanted to keep that momentum going when I returned to competition in Fort Worth. I felt it was a good time to take complete ownership of my swing and game. That idea is something Sean has always wanted for me,” Rose explained.

“I am grateful for the successes I had under his tutelage and the career goals I was able to achieve,” Rose continued.  “The door is open whenever I have questions or want his guidance, as he continues to be one of my closest friends.”