PGA Tour’s Memorial, other Ohio events ask governor to lighten up amid coronavirus restrictions

Gov. Mike DeWine issued a ban on public gathering of 10 or more, but tournament directors from 4 professional events appeal for limits to be lifted or eased ahead of summer tournaments

Sent: By officials from the Memorial Tournament and three other professional golf events in Ohio, a letter to Gov. Mike DeWine urging that a ban on large gatherings because of the coronavirus pandemic be lifted or eased, according to a report Tuesday by TheColumbus Dispatch’s Rob Oller. In the letter, signed by the tournament directors of the PGA Tour’s Memorial, LPGA’s Marathon Classic, Champions Tour’s Bridgestone Senior PGA and the Korn Ferry Tour’s Nationwide Children’s Championship, the officials said, “We appeal to you to permit the four Ohio professional tournaments to allow fans this coming July and August.” The governor’s order, enacted March 12, limits gatherings to 10 or fewer people. The tournament directors’ plea, dated May 15, outlines their safety measures to protect spectators. The golf officials added that “without fans these tournaments will not be successful or viable.” The Memorial, originally scheduled for June 4-7, was reset for July 16-19 at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin when the PGA Tour issued its revised schedule. The Tour has been suspended since March 12, when the Players Championship was scrapped after the first round. The PGA Tour’s first event in the restarted season will be the Charles Schwab Challenge on June 11-14 at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas.

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