Ryder Cup postponed for one year as coronavirus continues to dominate golf headlines

Ryder Cup (Wikimedia Commons)

According to Mark Cannizzaro of The New York Post on Wednesday, The Ryder Cup has been delayed one year because of coronavirus. The event was scheduled to take place from September 25-27, 2020 from the Whistling Straits Golf Course in Haven, Wisconsin. However, due to the worst pandemic in our lifetime, the international golf competition between the best players from Europe versus the best players in the United States will now take place in 2021.

This will be the first time since 2001 that the Ryder Cup is being postponed a full year. Nineteen years ago the Ryder Cup was postponed because the event was scheduled to take place shortly after the September 11 attacks. In the state of Wisconsin, there have been 25, 763 cases of coronavirus with 757 deaths. There are currently 5154 active cases in the cheesehead state.

The decision to postpone the Ryder Cup for a full year will probably have some implications for the Presidents Cup. That was to take place from Quail Hollow Golf Club in Charlotte, North Carolina from September 30 to October 2, 2021, but it is very predictable that the American players would not be willing to do the Ryder Cup and the Presidents Cup in the same year.

Meanwhile, coronavirus continues to impact the PGA Tour. Cameron Champ of Sacramento, California tested positive on Tuesday for the disease and will not be participating on the PGA Tour for the foreseeable future. Also, the caddies of major champions Graeme McDowell and Brooks Koepka have also tested positive, meaning that McDowell and Koepka will not participate at the Travelers Championship from Cromwell, Connecticut starting on Thursday.