The Players Championship 2020: Remembering the week when golf shut down because of coronavirus

2:52 Rory McIlroy backed the decision to cancel The Players Championship

Further sports events and leagues across the globe announced postponements and cancellations during March 12, with widespread concern among the players leading to the PGA Tour deciding the “rapidly changing situation” was enough to cancel The Players and the forthcoming three events.

The aftermath

A tired-looking Monahan faced the media again early on Friday morning after receiving the full backing from the players for cancelling, with the commissioner defending his decision to start the tournament in the first place and explaining why the PGA Tour took a sudden change of direction.

“As the situation continued to escalate and there seemed to be more unknowns, it ultimately became a matter of when, and not if, we would need to call it a day,” said Monahan, who also indicated that the closure of two Florida theme parks was a factor in cancelling its “Super Bowl”.

Within hours, officials at The Masters announced they were postponing the opening major of the year, while the PGA Championship followed suit on March 17 – the same day the PGA Tour added four more events to its list of cancellations.

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The PGA Tour did not return until the Charles Schwab Challenge on June 11 and both the European Tour and LPGA Tour did not resume until the following month, while a reduced men’s major schedule saw The Open cancelled for the first time since World War II and only three taking place.

It would be several more months before fans attended tournaments again, with the Bermuda Championship and Vivint Houston Open the only other PGA Tour events in 2020 to allow limited crowds and all three men’s majors taking place behind closed doors.

6:34 We take a look back at the highs and lows from a disrupted 2020 golfing schedule, featuring major moments, pandemic programming and much more

Spectator levels have yet to reach pre-shutdown capacity but are slowly being allowed in larger numbers, as sport continues to adapt to the pandemic, with a reported 25 per cent capacity of tickets being sold for this year’s Players Championship.

Those lucky enough to get a ticket for TPC Sawgrass will be required to wear a mask and follow social distancing guidelines, while the presence of spectators around the iconic 17th hole this week will be a welcome sight to those hoping that sport is slowly moving back in a positive direction.

Watch The Players throughout the week live on Sky Sports’ dedicated channel – Sky Sports The Players!

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