Eddie Pepperell is focusing on the European Tour”s plans to play between September and December after the coronavirus wiped out the spring season and early summer events. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

FRILFORD Heath’s Eddie Pepperell believes August’s USPGA Championship is the most likely date for any meaningful return to golf.

With all four of the 2020 Majors rearranged – or in the case of The Open at Royal St George’s, which has been cancelled until 2021 – the PGA Tour is reportedly about to announce a return to action in June.

Speculation has been rife in the past 24 hours that Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial, from June 11-14, is the event the PGA Tour will choose to kick off its resumed schedule, after The Players Championship was abandoned after just 18 holes in March.

Pepperell, who finished tied third at Sawgrass a year ago but was not eligible for the 2020 Players Championship – the last event to be played in the USA – still thinks the middle of June may be both “optimistic and unrealistic” for a resumption.

Speaking to Sky Sports News, Pepperell said the USPGA at San Francisco’s TPC Harding, was more likely to go ahead – possibly without spectators.

Pepperell said: “We’re still quite a long time away from August. I could see it happening, but maybe with no crowds.

“The issue is how international the field is. You’re going to have Asian, South American or African players who may be under severe travel restrictions. So then, how fair is it?

“Personally, I would go if it’s deemed safe to do so,” added Pepperell, who has been in lockdown with his dog Gus at his Oxfordshire home, near Abingdon.

But the former England international, who has two European Tour wins under his belt, admitted he was not keen on the idea of having to spend up to 14 days in isolation in the USA before playing the USPGA.

Eddie, who made his debut in the USPGA at Bellerive, in 2018, added: “I’m not in that much of a hurry to get back to golf that I’d be willing to quarantine myself in a hotel for a week beforehand.

“That would change the game for me,” said Pepperell, who won the Portuguese Amateur in 2011.

Eddie Pepperell – winner of the 2018 Betfred British Masters – is looking forward to a run of events in the UK later in the year if the European Tour plans to reschedule the season work. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

We may have to take 30-50% pay cut

EUROPEAN Tour chief Keith Pelley wrote to all the players earlier this week warning them to expect major pay cuts and less “perks” on Tour.

Tour chiefs based at Wentworth have been working hard on condensing their own events into a possible 16-week window between September and Christmas.

That plan may see events concentrated in the UK with more than one event in the same week – and possibly more than one tournament played at the same venue.

The most likely scenario could see the Scottish Open, the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, the BMW PGA at Wentworth and the British Masters all played in the UK within a month.

That would minimise disruption for overseas players who may be required to self-isolate before being cleared to play, as well as the need for testing for COVID-19 before players could compete.

Pepperell, who won the British Masters at Walton Heath, in October 2018, and sits on the European Tour’s influential Tournament Committee has backed such an idea.

“It would be great,” he said. “If someone said to me now that, come September, we’re going to be playing 15 events before Christmas, crikey that would be something to look forward to.”

Pepperell, who is well-known for his insightful, funny and sometimes controversial views in his personal blog, and his comments on Twitter, has admitted he is not always the most positive thinker.

But former Drayton Park junior is still hoping that golf can get back to some sort of normality – along with the rest of society – over the coming months, even if life is unlikely to be the same for the foreseeable future.

The 30-year-old said: “Obviously, selfishly, I hope things will be fine.

“I suspect they won’t be. I suspect we’re going to have to take a serious pay cut.

“But if golfers and footballers and high-earners have to take a 30-50 per cent pay cut, this isn’t a disaster.

“I do have concerns. I’m not naturally the most optimistic person in the world.

“But I can see a scenario where the European Tour comes out of this OK, with some legs to stand on.

“The Tour and its sponsors may survive much in the way they did 10 years ago.

“I just hope that individuals, small businesses and people who have really taken risks over the last few years to make something of their lives come out the other end of this.

“Big companies can always survive, but my brother is a golf pro and I know he’s going to face difficulties.”

Eddie Pepperell knows any move to postpone the 2020 Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits will help his own selelction hopes. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

‘Better chance to make Ryder Cup if it’s 2021’

PEPPERELL realises any decision to postpone September’s Ryder Cup clash against America could work to his benefit.

Having gone off the boil since his strong finish at Sawgrass just over a year ago, Pepperell – who was being tipped for the 2020 Ryder Cup at the start of the 2019 season – has slipped well down the rankings with only one top 10 finish since July.

He currently sits in 63rd place on the European Money list on the Ryder Cup rankings – two years ago he came close to making Thomas Bjorn’s team for Le Golf National in Paris – where his former B.B&O. team-mate Tyrrell Hatton made his debut.

Pepperell is not convinced the contest at Whistling Straits can go ahead

“I can’t see how they can keep the qualification process the same with theoretically only one Major before the Ryder Cup that will count,” he told Sky Sports News.

“I can’t see how Padraig Harrington is going to be keen to keep the same system – he’s going to have to change the way he picks.

“If it is postponed, then it gives me theoretically more chances to get in the team,” Eddie added.

“Maybe come September when things are clearing up, we’re going to be itching for something like the Ryder Cup.

“It could come at a brilliant time and I know Whistling Straits is just amazing – so it is going to be a great Ryder Cup there.

“From what I’m hearing, the 2022 Ryder Cup isn’t going to budge, so it’d be interesting to have back-to-back Ryder Cup years.”

• Eddie Pepperell switched from being a Mizuno staff player to play Ping clubs in 2020.

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PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monaghan announced the decision to cancel The 2020 Players Championship after the first round had finished late on Thursday

GOLF fans across the UK were shocked to wake up to news that the PGA Tour had cancelled The Players Championship after the first round had been completed.

The decision was made in the early hours UK time after play had finished for the day at Sawgrass with Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama leading after a superb nine-under par 63.

After what had been a bad for the British players – defending champion Rory McIlroy had to battle to get back to level par to end the day in a large tie for 83rd – the PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan made the shock announcement that ALL PGA Tour events were being cancelled up until the Texas Open, in early April.

The decision – in reaction to the declaration of the Coronavirus epidemic being declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisations – sent more shockwaves around the world of golf.

A week ago, the European Tour cancelled this week’s Magical Kenya Open, and earlier this week the Hero Indian Open – scheduled for the end of the month – was also postponed.

The European Tour has also cancelled the Czech Masters in Prague, in August, and two Challenge Tour events in Slovakia and the Czech Republic in June and July – the latter two tournaments have the same sponsor.

Mr Monaghan had said at a press conference after the start of Thursday’s play that The Players would continue on Friday with no spectators being admitted to the course at Sawgrass.

But later that evening after hastily arranged emergency discussions, the decision was made to call a halt to the tournament immediately.

Mr Monaghan spoke on Friday morning at the PGA Tour’s Florida HQ at Ponte Vedra.

He said: “When you looked to that moment in time where you have two theme parks that are located between Jacksonville and Tampa cancel, to me that really was the thing that was the final thing that we had heard that said, you know what, even though we feel like we have a safe environment and we’ve done all the right things, we can’t proceed – and it’s not right to proceed.”

A number of international players in the strongest field at a PGA Tour event annually, approached the PGA Tour with concerns after Disney and Busch Gardens had announced they were closing to the public, because of the threat posed by Coronavirus (COVID 19).

Monahan added: “And when you use ‘doing the right thing’ as the litmus test, to me that was the final – those two things together were really the things that drove the decision.”

Some players had brought their families to Florida who were spending time at the two large theme parks – and were also concerned about travel arrangements, with more restrictions being imposed by governments, after the President Donald Trump imposed a ban on people entering America from European countries.

Defending the PGA Tour’s decision to change its policy during the build-up and start to The Players, its chief said they were making decisions in real-time in response to a rapidly-changing and escalating worldwide situation.

Monaghan had said when announcing the spectator ban from Friday: “This is a difficult situation, one with consequences that impact our players, fans, and the communities in which we play,

“As I said earlier this week, we’ve had a team in place that has been carefully monitoring and assessing the situation and its implications for several weeks.”

As golf fans digested that not only would the 2020 Players Championship not be rescheduled later in the year, the next four tournaments were also being halted as golf joined basketball and ice hockey in suspending their seasons.

Events hit by Coronavirus outbreak

THE decision to abandon The Players Championship took the number of professional golf events now cancelled in 2020 to 25 – including the first LPGA Major of the year – the Ana Inspiration.

The events cancelled so far are:–
PGA Tour
The Players Championship (Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida March 11-14): Cancelled
Valspar Championship (Palm Harbor, Florida, March 19-22): Cancelled
WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play (Austin, Texas, March 25-29): Cancelled
Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship (Dominican Republic, March 26-29): Cancelled
Valero Texas Open (April 2-5): Cancelled

European Tour:
Magical Kenya Open (Nairobi, March 5-8): Cancelled
Hero Indian Open (New Delhi, March 19-22): Postponed
Maybank Championship (Malaysia, April 16-19): Postponed
Volvo China Open (Shenzhen, April 23-26): Postponed
Czech Masters (Prague, August 20-23): Cancelled

Challenge Tour:
D+D Real Czech Challenge (June 4-7): Cancelled
D+D Real Slovakia Challenge (July 2-5): Cancelled

LPGA:
Honda LPGA Thailand (Pattaya, February 20-23): Cancelled
HSBC Women’s World Championship (Singapore, February 27-March 1): Cancelled
Blue Bay LPGA (China, March 5-8): Cancelled
Founders Cup (Phoenix, Arizona, March 19-22): Postponed
Kia Classic (Carlsbad, California, March 26-29): Postponed
ANA Inspiration (Rancho Mirage, California, April 2-5): Postponed

Korn Ferry Tour:
Chitimacha Louisiana Open – Savannah Golf Championship (March 19-April 5): Cancelled

Symetra Tour: 
IOA Championship (Beaumont, California, March 27-29): Postponed
Windsor Golf Classic (Windsor, California, April 2-4): Postponed

Other events:
Women’s Amateur Asia Pacific (Thailand, February 12-15): Rescheduled October 7-10

PGA Tour Series-China
Two qualifying events postponed – season reduced from 14 to 10 events

PGA Tour Latinoamerica
Buenos Aires Championship (Argentina, March 26-29): Cancelled
Termas de Rio Hondo (Argentina, April 2-5): Cancelled

Taiwan’s C T Pan: Why I withdrew

TAIWAN’S C T Pan withdrew from The Players Championship before play began this week.

He said on Twitter: “I chose to withdraw from the Players Championship because my wife and I want to protect ourselves from the risk of exposure to the coronavirus.

“We are fine and our families are fine. Our lifestyle is like a circus, traveling from one place to another.

“We believe this is a time to exercise caution by not playing this week.”

Pelley: Travel bans hit Hero Indian Open

EUROPEAN Tour chief executive Keith Pelley (pictured) explained the reasoning behind the decision to call off the Hero Indian Open as the country’s government introduced travel restrictions.

He said: “In these difficult global circumstances, we fully understand and appreciate the recent restrictions introduced in respect of travel into India.

“As these new measures now prevent many members of both tours being able to play in the tournament, everyone involved in the staging of the Hero Indian Open felt it was the correct decision to postpone the tournament.”

The Hero Indian Open is co-sanctioned by the Asian and European Tours meaning organisers faced having players from some countries being unable to play despite being entered into the tournament, which was won in 2019 by Stephen Gallacher.

The tour chief had already cancelled the Maybank Championship and Volvo China Open in the first few weeks after the Coronavirus oubreak in China had been confirmed.

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