This year’s Masters tournament, the season’s first major golf championship, has been postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak, Augusta National Golf Club chairman Fred Ridley announced yesterday.
“Considering the latest information and expert analysis, we have decided at this time to postpone the Masters tournament,” Ridley said in a statement.
The event was delayed, not cancelled, so defending champion Tiger Woods might get the chance to capture a 16th major title at the famed course at some uncertain future date.
The outbreak, which has prompted a virtual shutdown of American sport, also forced Ridley to postpone the Augusta National Women’s Amateur and youth Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals.
“Ultimately, the health and well-being of everyone associated with these events and the citizens of the Augusta community led us to this decision,” Ridley said.
“We hope this postponement puts us in the best position to safely host the Masters tournament and our amateur events at some later date.”
Augusta National typically closes soon after hosting the world’s top players, reopening later each year, so the possibility remains that it could be rescheduled later in the year, potentially in the fall after the 2019-20 US PGA season is complete given the schedule already booked through August.
The US PGA Tour has cancelled this week’s Players Championship and every other tune-up event for the original Masters date, leaving its next event currently on the calendar as the Heritage tournament, set to start on April 16. 
The next major championship on the schedule is now the PGA Championship on May 14-17 at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco, an area having been especially hard hit by coronavirus cases already.
“Unfortunately, the ever-increasing risks associated with the widespread coronavirus Covid-19 have led us to a decision that undoubtedly will be disappointing to many, although I am confident is appropriate under these unique circumstances,” Ridley said.
“We will continue to work with the World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Office of the Governor, the Georgia Department of Public Health, the City of Augusta and all other local authorities.”  Ridley asked for patience from Masters patrons.
“We will share any additional information as soon as it becomes available,” he said. “As Covid-19 continues to impact the lives of people everywhere, we seek your understanding of this decision and know you share our concern given these trying times.”
The Masters has been played every year since 1945, when the British Open was the only men’s golf major contested.
The event, which began in 1934, was halted from 1943-1945 due to World War II.
on Thursday night, the Players Championship golf tournament in Florida was cancelled after the first round.
“It is with regret that we are announcing the cancellation of The Players Championship and all events through the Valero Texas Open,” the PGA Tour said on Twitter.
The Tour sent players a text saying that the cancellation was due to a “rapidly changing situation” and that more information would follow.
Shortly afterwards it said in a statement: “We did everything possible to create a safe environment for our players in order to continue the event throughout the weekend, and we were endeavouring to give our fans a much-needed respite from the current climate.
“But at this point — and as the situation continues to rapidly change — the right thing to do for our players and our fans is to pause.”
Earlier on Thursday, commissioner Jay Monahan announced that the final three rounds of The Tour’s flagship event would be played without any spectators.
Monahan has scheduled an 8am local time (1200 GMT) news conference to address the reasons behind the cancellation.
The first round was played in front of spectators at TPC Sawgrass. Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama led at nine-under-par 63 in Ponte Vedra Beach.
The cancellation of the PGA Tour for the next month means that virtually no major sporting events will take place in the United States.
The top women’s circuit, the LPGA Tour, earlier on Thursday announced that it was cancelling its next three events, which were scheduled to be played in Arizona and California.