Report: PGA Tour Eyes U.S. West Coast For 2020 Asia Swing

There is a key detail missing in Doug Ferguson’s AP report saying the PGA Tour is exploring a move of its fall Asia swing to the west coast of the United States.

Naturally, there will be no creativity shown with field size and format but some fall west coast golf is a nice alternative. Tough conversations will have to take place with sponsors whose primary sponsorship interest lies in bringing top players to their part of the world.

So no, those aren’t the details missing. It’s something else.

Wait, I’ve got it!

The rest of the world, flattening the curve, will want no part of a mostly-American group of golfers, their luggage handlers, and a tour featuring COVID-19 positive-testing-but-not-negative groupings (going off in two twosomes with GMac quietly added to that dubious division).

I think that’s what’s missing in this reporting?

Ferguson writes:

The tour has begun exploring the idea of moving each to the western part of the United States for this fall only. Even if the coronavirus situation is stable in Asia by the fall,

Eh em…it’s stable now, minus India and Indonesia while at the same time today the CDC director made a dire prediction for the American fall. But go on…

it's unlikely many of the top players would build a trip to the Far East into their schedules just a few weeks before the Masters on Nov. 12-15. Any move was described as being a long way off. Two people aware of the talks said one possibility for the Zozo Championship was Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, California. That's where Woods previously held his World Challenge in December, and it was recently the site of a PGA Tour Champions event. The CJ Cup in South Korea is scheduled for the week after Las Vegas, leading to speculation the PGA Tour would look into staying in Vegas for two weeks. The people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the discussions are in the early stages, and other sites are under consideration depending on the title sponsors.

Again, nice intentions and I a necessary pivot by the PGA Tour. But at some point, the pro golf world is going to have to come to accept that the glove may not be very welcoming to Americans.