McGinley: Playing Rescheduled Tournaments Dates Is Unlikely

Longtime player, broadcaster, winning Ryder Cup captain and European Tour board director Paul McGinley took to SkySports.com to prepare us for the worst. The newly rescheduled fall 2020 majors and PGA Tour events look unlikely.

I continue to try to be positive but, deep down, most of us would probably agree it is unlikely.

The R&A has probably done the shrewdest thing and cancelled The 149th Open until July 2021, but what of the other majors and the Ryder Cup?

The very early talks on the lifting of lockdown are revealing some of the realities we are likely to face. Government regulations are expected to continue to restrict and monitor large gatherings of people as we come out. Strict social distancing guidelines are likely to endure for a while yet.

As we begin to become accustomed to our own new rules of social engagement, many are likely to continue to be reticent to gather in large groups at least in the short term. With this in mind, it seems probable then that the playing of any big sporting event will, if and when played, be either behind closed doors, or even where players and those involved will have been quarantined and tested before play commences.

McGinley also appears to be sending a signal to players: the European Tour is going to adapt, and so will your expectations for purse growth whenever play resumes.

These are unique times. The world is likely to be a changed place when we come through this pandemic and if sport has to reinvent itself in the short term let us all prepare to embrace that for what it is. The financial models that all sports are based on can readjust.