Help Centre

It was meant to be all about the Masters for Adam Scott, but instead he'll tee it up in the sleepy Queensland Sunshine Coast town of Maleny in a Friday golf round set to be broadcast live on his Instagram account.

Australia's world No.6 won on the Gold Coast in December before breaking a four-year US PGA Tour title drought with victory at the Genesis Invitational in February.

But the coronavirus pandemic's arrival put Scott's promising bid for a second Masters green jacket on hold, forcing him home to Queensland, where golf clubs have been allowed to remain open despite the country's isolation measures.

Scott has been a regular at the picturesque Maleny course run by good friend and PGA professional Wayne Perske and the pair will go head-to-head over nine holes in a rare live broadcast sporting encounter from 8am on Friday.

Labelling the course a "hidden gem", Scott encouraged followers to send questions to his Instagram @adamscottofficial during the round, while he also plans to tell the story of the club among other golfing tales during the round.

Former tour pro Perske, 45, might have his hands full if Scott's form is anything to go by, with footage of him nailing a 268m two-iron from Maleny's 10th tee to the 12th green surfacing earlier this month.

"It went 100 storeys in the air and just dropped down beside the hole," Perske told PGA Australia.

"All the people here are on such a high because they never thought something like that would happen.

"He's our honorary touring professional at the moment and the Instagram Live match is going to be huge for Maleny Golf Club.

"I think we'll see him up here fairly often between now and when he goes back to the States, so he might do something even more special by then."

Australia's Hannah Green will get to keep her PGA Championship trophy at least until October after the year's first scheduled major was postponed Wednesday because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The women's PGA Championship was due to be held June 25-28 at Aronimink Golf Club in Pennsylvania but will now be played from October 8-11.

It is among a raft of changes because of COVID-19, with the season now scheduled to finish five days before Christmas.

Perth's Green won last year's tournamant at Hazeltine - her first victory on the LPGA Tour - to become the first Australian woman since Karrie Webb at the Kraft Nabisco in 2006 to win a major.

The ANA Inspiration and the US Women's Open, the two other US-based women's majors, had already been rescheduled, to September and December respectively.

Two other of the five women's majors, the Evian Championship in France and the women's British Open, are both set for August.

The Evian was moved back two weeks to August 6-9, while the British Open is scheduled for August 20-23 at Royal Troon, Scotland.

The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is hoping to get the 2020 season under way with the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational from July 15-18, the start of what will be a busy second half of the year.

The tournament at the Midland Country Club in Michigan is one of 21 to be staged between July and December, if a return to play is possible due to the virus.

"One thing that has become clear is that there will be no 'opening bell' regarding a return to safe play in this new normal of the COVID-19 pandemic," LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan said in a statement on Wednesday.

"We have built a schedule that we think is as safe as possible given what we know about travel bans, testing availability, and delivering events that our sponsors and our athletes will be excited to attend."

However, Whan warned the pandemic would have a "staggering" impact on finances and the organisation would emerge much leaner.

"It's a staggering financial impact year," he said. "It doesn't take us to our knees. It doesn't put us on a death watch.

"We've saved more money in the last 10 years than in the 60 years before, but it's possible in 2020 we could eat up most of the savings we saved in the last 10 years in 10 months.

"We can afford what 2020 is going to throw at us, but we'll definitely come out of this a much leaner LPGA than we were when we walked into 2020."

He said they were looking at playing fan-free in France (The Evian Championship) and Scotland (British Open) where the restrictions were still pretty tight.

"Will we have to play those fan free? We're going to decide in mid-to-late June the final decision and how we play, if we play each of those events."

Staging this year's Ryder Cup without fans is not in the event's best interests but it might have to proceed that way due to the COVID-19 crisis, according to Team Europe captain Padraig Harrington.

The golf calendar has been severely affected due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has infected more than 3.11 million people globally, causing over 216,000 deaths.

Three of the year's four majors have been rescheduled and the British Open has been cancelled, but the Ryder Cup is scheduled in Whistling Straits, Wisconsin during September 25-27 with PGA of America chief Seth Waugh saying it may be held without fans.

"Everyone wants fans to be there, but the question is does sport need the Ryder Cup and should the Ryder Cup take one for the team?" Irishman Harrington told the Times newspaper.

"Would it be for the greater good of sport? It wouldn't be in the Ryder Cup's best interests but it could be in the best interests of enough people who want to see a big sporting occasion on TV."

The PGA Tour plans to restart its season in June with the first four competitions closed to the public and Harrington said the PGA of America and European Tour would make a decision on the Ryder Cup after studying those events.

"If those PGA Tour events go well, behind closed doors, then we're far more likely to see a Ryder Cup as normal," three-times major winner Harrington added.

"It massively increases the odds of being with fans because by September we may have moved on. I assume there's no chance of a vaccine (by September) so we're looking at how well contained it is by then and how treatable it is."

With son Jacob's brain tumour scans showing positive signs, an upbeat John Senden is contesting a 54-hole charity golf event in Texas this week which he believes can lay a safety platform for the US PGA Tour's return in June.

Australian Senden is among several US PGA Tour players and celebrities such as NFL legend Tony Romo who will contest the Maridoe Samaritan Fund Invitational from Tuesday at Maridoe Golf Club outside Dallas.

Extreme Covid-19 safety measures allowing the event to go ahead include the absence of rakes in bunkers, as well as carts and caddies.

Players will carry or push their own bags and will not be allowed to arrive any earlier than 30 minutes before their tee times.

Scores will not be written down by players, instead recorded and collected by a scorer with each group.

The 72-player field includes US Tour winners such as Viktor Hovland, as well as Romo, former NBA guard Deron Williams and several NCAA college golf stars.

Top professional finishers will receive cash payouts from a purse of $US27,000. The remainder of the proceeds, including all entry fees of $US250 per player, will be donated to the club's full-time caddies, who have lost income because of covid-19.

With the US PGA Tour intending to return from its shutdown at the Charles Schwab Challenge in Dallas in mid-June, 49-year-old Senden says the charity event will be a good litmus test.

"The event will hopefully prove that golf can operate in a safe manner for everybody involved," Senden told AAP.

"I know the PGA Tour will be very interested to see how it goes."

US Tour players are usually supported by their caddie and typically arrive at tournaments at least 90 minutes before each round to warm up.

"It will be strange, yes," said Dallas-based Senden. "The only way I can beat that is living in the area, I can warm up at home.

"I have a small gym with a bike and rowing machine. I also have a hitting net and a synthetic putting green."

Senden, a two-time US PGA Tour winner, is buoyed by recent scans his son Jacob underwent for a brain tumuor he was diagnosed with in 2017.

"Jacob had an MRI four weeks ago and there was pretty much no change in the tumour again," he said.

"We will have one more six-monthly MRI in November, then hopefully Jacob will only need scans every 12 months after that.

"Jacob's health has been strong enough that we haven't had to worry too much about him getting the coronavirus and we haven't been going out exposing ourselves. We have been social distancing."

World No.1 Rory McIlroy would rather postpone the Ryder Cup until 2021 than play it this year without fans - even though it is scheduled to be played in the US.

The first two major championships of the year - the Masters and the US PGA - have been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, although the Ryder Cup is still scheduled for September.

However, in an Instagram Live with TaylorMade Golf, McIlroy said: "I have a pretty strong view on this.

"I get the financial implications for everyone involved ... there's a lot that goes into putting on the Ryder Cup that people don't probably know or appreciate - but having a Ryder Cup without fans is not a Ryder Cup.

"For me I would much rather they delay it until 2021 than play it at Whistling Straits without fans. And that's from a European going to America, knowing that I'm going to get abuse!"

The four-time major champion has previously said he felt more pressure playing in the Ryder Cup than the majors.

And he continued: "Obviously it would be better for Europeans to play without fans because we wouldn't have to deal with some of the stuff that you have to put up with - but at the same time it's not a Ryder Cup.

"It wouldn't be a great spectacle, there'd be no atmosphere, so if it came to whether they had to choose between not playing the Ryder Cup or playing it without fans, I would say just delay it for a year and play it in 2021.

"If they do delay it until 2021, the next Ryder Cup is supposed to be in Italy, and we know how badly affected Italy was by coronavirus, so it gives that country an extra year to prepare for the Ryder Cup in 2023 instead of 2022.

"This is only one opinion but if we have to play the Ryder Cup behind closed doors this year, I'd rather just delay it."

Plagued by injury and illness in recent years, Jason Day is prepared to test his limits with a marathon schedule of 11 tournaments in 13 weeks when tour golf returns.

Holed up in his Ohio home, 12-time US PGA Tour winner Day is eager to return to competition but admits anxiety surrounding the covid-19 pandemic will likely linger as players get back to work.

The US tour announced last week it aims to restart the season in mid-June with a revised schedule consisting of 14 tournaments, with virus testing to be conducted on site and no fans attending at least the first four events.

"It's going to feel strange but I think it will be strange for anyone returning to what they do for a living," Day told AAP.

The tour is set to restart with the Charles Schwab Challenge from June 11-14 at Colonial CC in Texas and conclude with the season-ending Tour Championship in Atlanta, Georgia from September 4-7.

Former world No.1 Day's planned schedule starts at Colonial CC before the RBC Heritage at South Carolina's Harbour Town course, the Travelers Championship in Connecticut and then the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit, Michigan.

He will then take a week off before another four-event stretch that begins with the Jack Nicklaus-hosted Memorial Tournament in Day's adopted home of Columbus, Ohio and ends with the US PGA Championship in San Francisco from August 6-9.

Day will then take another rest week before contesting all three events of the FedEx Cup play-offs series, providing he avoids elimination and advances to the BMW and Tour Championship.

It is a huge workload for Day, who has a chronic back injury which forced his withdrawal from the Arnold Palmer Invitational last month.

However he believes it may be necessary in a curtailed season if he's to challenge for the FedEx Cup.

"It is a lot of golf, but I have to get things going and get some results on the board to qualify for the Tour Championship," Day said.

After the Tour Championship, a rescheduled US Open will be held at New York's famed Winged Foot course in mid-September before an extraordinary Masters at Augusta National in mid-November.

It would be somewhat eerie if the majors are held without galleries of fans but that is likely with US authorities struggling to contain the coronavirus.

"I hope we can get past this and get back to playing golf with fans and the rest of officials and volunteers who operate tournaments," Day said.

Women's golf has lost another senior major tournament because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Senior LPGA Championship was cancelled on Friday having been scheduled to be played July 30-August 1 at French Lick Resort in Indiana, USA.

"Cancelling any golf event is a difficult and painful decision," LPGA commissioner Mike Whan said in a statement.

"We are extremely thankful for the support and flexibility from French Lick Resort and the Legends Tour during this trying time.

"Importantly, all of us are committed to this important senior women's tradition, and we cannot wait to watch the women legends of the game tee it up once again in 2021."

The USGA previously cancelled the US Senior Women's Open.

The Senior LPGA will stay at French Lick in 2021. The new dates will be determined later.

Accomplished caddie Steve Williams fancies former boss Tiger Woods' chances of matching the record six Masters titles of Jack Nicklaus if the postponed major is played in November.

The US PGA Tour is poised to resume events in mid-June, after announcements from organisers of the majors that the British Open has been cancelled, while the PGA Championship is rescheduled for August, the US Open for mid-September and the Masters for mid-November.

Experts, including Australian major champions Ian Baker-Finch and Steve Elkington, believe the postponement due to coronavirus will help the chronically-injured Woods' quest to surpass Nicklaus record for most major titles.

It allows him to recover physically without losing ground, having skipped three big tournaments in the lead-up to the Masters' original April date due to injury.

While 15-time time major winner Woods is now aged 44, Williams says passing Nicklaus' majors tally of 18 remains a real possibility.

"Age is not on his side, but you'd never ever put anything past him," Williams told AAP from Auckland.

"To break Jack's record is obviously going to take some kind of special achievement, but it's certainly something he could absolutely achieve.

"(Woods) is the greatest golfer who has ever played.

"There is no player who plays better under pressure than he does.

"When he gets in a situation to win golf tournaments, he has an incredible ratio."

Williams was on the bag for 13 of Woods' major victories, as well as Adam Scott's historic Masters win in 2013.

He rates Woods a great chance to match one Nicklaus record this year by collecting a sixth Masters title with a successful defence at Augusta National.

"Over 72 holes, (Woods') knowledge and experience at Augusta National is unrivalled," Williams said.

"If he's in good form, he will be near the lead.

"There's no reason he can't slip that green jacket on again when the Masters returns in November, if he is fit.

"Augusta National will be a stern test in November; cooler weather will make the course play longer.

"There will also be less chance of rain and cooler air, which should see firmer greens and that is when Augusta plays its hardest.

"Augusta will favour the longer hitters with the course playing longer and the greens firmer."

If he's to win, Woods may have do it without one not-so-secret weapon - the massive roars of the galleries who hang on his every shot at Augusta.

It's likely fans may not be allowed to attend tournaments for some time due to restrictive health and safety guidelines.

The US PGA Tour announced this week its revised schedule, beginning with the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas, from June 11-14.

The revamped schedule includes 14 tournaments concluding with the Tour Championship in Atlanta, Georgia from September 4-7.

"There is no guarantee any professional golf will be played this year," Williams said.

"However, should the PGA Championship, US Open and the Masters (go ahead) it shouldn't affect the players; they will all plan accordingly."

The PGA Tour has announced plans to resume in June, with the first four golf tournaments being closed to spectators due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The tour has been suspended since the Players Championship was cancelled after the opening round on March 12, with the first three majors of the year - the Masters, US PGA and US Open postponed and the Open Championship cancelled for 2020.

As a result, September's US Open and November's rescheduled Masters will form part of the PGA Tour's 2020-21 season, with 14 events remaining on the 2019-20 calendar.

The adjusted 2019-20 season is scheduled to resume June 11-15 in Fort Worth, Texas with the Charles Schwab Challenge that was originally set to be held May 18-24.

The tour had previously been scheduled to return on May 21 and the extended suspension means that the RBC Canadian Open and the Barbasol Championship have now been cancelled.

The second event will be the June 18-21 RBC Heritage in South Carolina, which was originally cancelled but will now fill the week vacated by the US Open.

The June 22-28 Travelers Championship in Connecticut and July 2-5 Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit make up the final two events currently set to be played with no spectators.

If play restarts as planned, the PGA Tour's season, which has played 22 events through the Arnold Palmer Invitational, will now consist of 36 events.

"The health and safety of all associated with the PGA Tour and our global community continues to be our No. 1 priority, and our hope is to play a role - responsibly - in the world's return to enjoying the things we love," PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said.

"Today's announcement is another positive step for our fans and players as we look toward the future, but as we've stressed on several occasions, we will resume competition only when - working closely with our tournaments, partners and communities - it is considered safe to do so under the guidance of the leading public health authorities."

A PGA Tour statement added: "At this time, the Tour plans to resume play with the first four events closed to the general public but will continue to monitor the situation and follow the recommendations of local and state authorities in order to determine the most appropriate on-site access in each market.

"As such, the Tour will continually review available COVID-19-related protocols that could be implemented at PGA TOUR events to ensure the health and well-being for all involved."

The PGA Tour is poised to announce a compacted calendar this week but the coronavirus-ravaged schedule will not include the Canadian Open, one of the world's oldest golf tournaments.

The revised calendar, which is expected to be announced on Thursday, will begin with the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas, from June 11-14.

The PGA Tour restart is also not likely to include fans with restrictive health and safety guidelines in place in the United States to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

The revamped schedule, according to Golf Digest, would include 13 tournaments concluding with the Tour Championship in Atlanta from September 3-7.

The Safeway Open in Napa, California, confirmed on Wednesday that it had been moved up into the September 10-13 slot, between the season-ending Tour Championships and the rescheduled US Open, becoming the opening event on the 2020-2021 PGA Tour schedule.

The Canadian Open, currently scheduled for June 11-14, has reportedly been cut this year due to border restrictions that limit non-essential travel between the US and Canada.

Anyone entering Canada from abroad is also subject to a 14-day quarantine period.

Canadian PGA Tour players were briefed on the decision during a Wednesday conference call with Golf Canada, TSN reported.

"It sucks," said Nick Taylor, winner of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

"This is definitely a tournament I circle on my calendar."

This year will include the PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco (August 6-), the US Open at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York, (September 17-20), the Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin (September 25-27) and the Masters at Augusta National (November 12-15).

The other major, the Open Championship at Royal St. George's, was cancelled.