2020 PGA Championship Suspended Because of Coronavirus Concerns

The PGA Tour suspended the second major tournament of the season on Tuesday, postponing the PGA Championship because of the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Associated Press' Doug Ferguson.

The Tour already canceled the remainder of The Players Championship after the first round was completed last Thursday due to COVID-19. All events through the Valero Texas Open, which was set to tee off April 2, were canceled as well. 

Shortly after the PGA Tour's announcement, the Augusta National Golf Club postponed the Masters until a date yet to be determined.

The PGA Championship was originally scheduled to begin May 14 at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention effectively made that date untenable when it recommended an eight-week halt to events with more than 50 people beginning March 15.

A number of leagues have altered their plans in accordance with the CDC guideline, putting the sports world on hold until at least mid-May.

Tiger Woods was among those who expressed a need to err on the side of caution:

Rory McIlroy told reporters the situation in the United States is "going to get worse before it gets better" based on how the coronavirus has spread in other countries. According to CNN, more than 173,000 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed and at least 7,000 people have died from the disease.

"For us to keep playing on Tour, all players and people that are involved need to get tested," McIlroy said. "Everyone knows you can have it with no symptoms and pass it to someone that's more susceptible to getting very ill."

In conjunction with the postponement of the PGA Championship, Golf Digest's Brian Wacker reported the Tour planned to cancel additional events: the RBC Heritage, Zurich Classic of New Orleans, Wells Fargo Championship, and AT&T Byron Nelson.

That would leave the Charles Schwab Challenge on May 21 as the next event on the schedule.