The PGA Tour is returning in June – but is it ambitious or simply wrong?

Golf will restart in Texas despite reservations from players and medical professionals, writes Tom Kershaw

The PGA Tour is ambitiously aiming to restart in June (Getty)

Perhaps, it is no surprise the sport renowned for its solitude shall be one of the first to attempt a return “behind closed doors”. After all, golf is defined by its propensity to survive in small country club enclaves, where cliques avoid one another, tee-times are separated by 10-minute intervals, and a selling-point of exclusivity can be suitably married with the stranding measures of social distancing.

In Austria, it has already become one of the first forms of leisure to make its revival after lockdown measures were loosened. In America, some states are belligerently keeping their courses open, insistent that this neutered form of nature is immune to the devastating impact of a virus shattering life across the country.

So on Thursday, in a move considered anywhere between wildly optimistic and aggressively delusional, the PGA Tour’s commissioner, Jay Monahan, announced his ambitious blueprint to restart professional golf in June. “Today’s announcement is another positive step for our fans and players as we look toward the future,” he said.