Golf and the coronavirus: Latest updates from around the world

Is there any golf going on right now?

Golf at tour level is on hold, with a few exceptions. The Arizona-based Outlaw Tour is perhaps the most significant, having gained a degree of notoriety within certain circles - enough for several bookmakers to offer prices. Those weighing in with a bet on the favourite are in front thanks to Alex Cejka, who finished sixth at Scottsdale before winning next time, albeit there remains a degree of uncertainty attached to events which run for 36 or 54 holes.

Cejka has since added the Parker Open (non-affiliated) in remarkable style to make it two wins in three starts, not that his career earnings have received much of a boost - he's added around $12,000 to earnings of over $12million. Still, his desire to stay sharp is as clear as his class - that Parker Open victory saw him make up six shots on the leader over the final six holes, in part thanks to a hole-in-one, and then win a play-off.

The West Florida Golf Tour returns to action next week after taking April off. A total of 49 players handed in scorecards for the latest event, an 18-hole shootout which earned Lee Detmer a cheque for $2,000 at the end of March. To underline the strangeness of the times we are in, the field at Ritz-Carlton Members Club includes Jazz Janewattananond, the world number 39 and winner of seven of his last 100 tournaments, and brothers aged 13 and 15 from Canada. Daniel Chopra is in there too, as you might expect.

Before that, there's a fundraising event in Dallas which is headlined by two of the most promising you golfers on the planet and gets under way on Tuesday. Scottie Scheffler has contended several times in his rookie PGA Tour campaign and Viktor Hovland has gone one better, winning in Puerto Rico; along with Harry Higgs, they provide genuine quality which really ought to shine over 54 holes. Whether that entitles the first two to take up more than 80 percent of Paddy Power's book (11/8 Hovland, 6/4 Scheffler) is another matter entirely.

In the women's game, most of the focus has been on the Cactus Tour which teed off again on Monday in Arizona. Recent winners include Anna Nordqvist and Carlota Ciganda, both Solheim Cup players, plus talented US youngster Haley Moore. Only Moore keeps the wheels turning at Longbow this week, in a field made up largely of amateurs.

What about the main circuits?

The PGA Tour have revised their schedule with an aim to return in Texas on June 11. It remains unclear whether this date will prove achievable, but should the Charles Schwab Challenge take place, there will be no spectators at Colonial Country Club. In fact, the first four events on the new schedule will take place without fans and potentially more after that.

There have been reports that the PGA Tour will require up to a million coronavirus tests to complete the season, which is now set to run until September 7. That figure seems high - even in the event that 500 or so people require six tests each for every event, an upper estimate would be around 42,000 tests for the remainder of the season. Still, that is no small number and no easy operation, even setting aside the obvious concerns around the optics of professional sportspeople accessing tests at a time when, presumably, not all members of the public can.

Many other questions remain unanswered. Several PGA Tour members - believed to be around 25 - are currently outside of the United States, and their ability to get to Texas and then travel to other states is in doubt. There may be those who do not wish to travel or consider it a risk they are not willing to take. In that eventuality, the Tour would have to decide whether or not these players are entitled to keep hold of a playing card for the following season; it is assumed any player who contracts coronavirus would be given a medical extension, but rules will need rewriting for others.

In the unlikely event that all PGA Tour members are both willing and able to play, therein lies a further problem: opportunities to do so. Put simply, the PGA Tour has more members than there are places available in fields, even those which have been marginally increased such as the Charles Schwab Challenge. It would not be unreasonable for those in low categories to feel that they've not been given a fair chance to earn the points required to remain on the circuit. Equally, the PGA Tour is likely able to argue that no promises are made in terms of starts, and that sufficient events took place before the suspension.

These are difficult challenges for the Tour, and it's clear that any further delay will only intensify them. If and when a definite return date is confirmed, it is surely vital that they communicate plans and procedures in full, including how they intend to deal with the handing out of cards for 2021. There has already been talk of a suspension of promotion from the Korn Ferry Tour (also set to resume in June) to the PGA Tour and demotion the other way, but no decision has yet been made. It will have to be before a tee-shot is struck.

Less than two weeks ago, the European Tour added the BMW International Open and the Open de France to their lengthy and lengthening list of cancelled events, with the Scottish Open postponed to a date yet to be determined. That leaves the British Masters on July 30 as the earliest potential resumption, though the next after that is Switzerland on August 27. It appears unlikely that the British Masters will take place, and notable that chief executive Keith Pelley has mentioned a September resumption, albeit tentatively.

Should that be the case, Pelley has made clear that all avenues will be pursued in order to maximise playing opportunities. These could include playing three tournaments over the course of two weeks, which in turn may yet open up slots for the Scottish and Irish Opens to take place. Notwithstanding the complications of border crossing and dealing with multiple jurisdictions, the Irish Open might be more likely owing to Ireland's current situation, which is expected to evolve to allow for the resumption of horse racing in the coming weeks.

Still, these events will not take place before September, with daylight and weather potential barriers which are still to be addressed. The European Tour faces a complicated path to resumption and that extends to issues such as the Challenge Tour and Qualifying School, with the latter seemingly unlikely to take place this year despite contributing almost £2million to European Tour turnover in 2019.

It is not impossible - though it is unlikely - that the Challenge Tour resumes before its big brother, the European Tour. The next event on the 'Road to Mallorca' is now pencilled in for mid-July in Austria, which hopes to stage the first grand prix of the Formula One season at the start of the same month. Golf has more complications and, at Challenge Tour level, carries far less financial clout. Ultimately it is expected that whenever the Challenge Tour does return, it will be following the lead of the circuit it feeds.

There are, of course, numerous other major tours and the first of them to resume might be the KLPGA (Korean Ladies) Tour, with reports suggesting the Korean LPGA Championship will go ahead on May 14. That puts it five weeks ahead of the LPGA Tour, which is due to return in Arkansas on June 19 - one week before a major, the KPMG Women's PGA Championship, takes places in Pennsylvania.

The Sunshine Tour has moved to postpone a number of events, several of which have been rescheduled. The earliest date for a resumption is August, but no decision will be made until July 10, according to a newsletter released in mid-April. The Asian Tour is currently scheduled to return in September, while the Professional Golf Tour of India is among those yet to detail plans.

Clearly, tours face their own, unique challenges, and are having to adapt to a constantly changing landscape.

And the majors?

The Open Championship remains the only major (ignoring seniors golf) to be lost altogether. That news was confirmed on April 6 although, contrary to earlier speculation, Royal St George's will now host next year instead. In effect, the 149th Open Championship has been postponed, rather than cancelled, and the 150th will still take place at St Andrews, only in 2022.

The other three men's majors are still set to go ahead, beginning with the rescheduled PGA Championship in August. The PGA of America are proceeding with plans to tee off on August 6, with or without fans, though there are hurdles still to be cleared. Officials expect to be able to conduct the tournament with around 1,000 people on site in San Francisco, where a current 'shelter-in-place' order is set to be extended beyond the beginning of May.

New York has been hit even harder than San Francisco, which means that the US Open at Winged Foot is also uncertain despite the shift to a September date. Talk of a move to the west coast (Riviera and Torrey Pines were both mentioned) was soon downplayed, as were rumours of Oakmont stepping in on short notice. Since early April, there has been a notable lack of comment relating to the US Open, though more amateur events were cancelled by the USGA last week.

As for the Masters, a November date was announced just as the Open Championship was cancelled. Cooler conditions have given encouragement to Rory McIlroy, while Marc Leishman says he expects Augusta to be in even better condition than it would've been in April. But all depends on whether November proves to be a realistic date in a state which has made headlines for what some consider a premature easing of restrictive measures. Augusta National will no doubt be keeping a close eye on how things develop.

In the women's game, two of the five major championships have new dates, with all of them still on the calendar. That includes the Women's British Open, however, and 2018 champion Georgia Hall is far from alone in doubting that will prove possible. The Women's US Open meanwhile has been moved to December and will now take place across three courses in a necessary break from tradition.

As for the seniors, the US Open has been cancelled as has the Senior PGA Championship, while the Senior Open Championship has been postponed indefinitely and is unlikely to take place this year.

What of the Ryder Cup?

Perhaps the most hotly-contested subject in recent weeks has been the Ryder Cup, after rumours emerged that stakeholders were weighing up the possibility of playing the event on schedule, but behind closed doors.

The overwhelming response to this appears to fall in line with James Corrigan of the Telegraph, who called it a 'disgusting, wretched concept', and many considered Rory McIlroy's preference for a postponement to be the end of all such talk.

However, missing from most debate has been a key issue with suggestions that we should simply delay for a year, which in turn would bring the Ryder Cup back to odd-numbered years - as it was before the September 11 attacks in 2001 - and avoid future clashes with the Olympics, except of course for in 2021.

That issue involves the economics of an event said to be fundamental to the survival of the European Tour, and the realities of the coronavirus pandemic. There is no certainty that a vaccine or treatment will be discovered and distributed prior to September 2021, and that could mean organisers are faced with the double hit of a 12-month delay and still no fans.

With 250,000 having attended the event in Paris two years ago, it's likely that any Ryder Cup taking place this year would look very different. I would suggest leading health and science experts would also pour scorn on the idea that 250,000 can amble through the gates of Whistling Straits in less than 18 months' time.

For the avoidance of doubt, a Ryder Cup without spectators would be deeply unsatisfactory. And yet it will also be unsatisfactory if and when Liverpool win the Premier League at an empty Anfield, when only professionals can take part in the London Marathon, if the Derby takes place at Newmarket, or the cricket season is lost entirely.

Much will depend on just how essential the Ryder Cup is to those who get to decide. If it is indispensable, it may have to take place in September. If that's the case, I know I will be watching. And I suspect you will be too.