Jack Nicklaus, founder and host of the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, said that he expects the event to move from June to July because of the Coronavirus pandemic.
The PGA Tour event still is scheduled for June 1-4, but Nicklaus believes it will be played on July 16-19, the original dates of the 149th Open Championship at Royal St. George’s Golf Club in Sandwich, England, which has been canceled until 2021.
“I don’t think they’ve announced it yet; they’re looking probably at the British Open week,” Nicklaus said on the CBS Sports First Cut podcast. “The British Open canceled and they could move us back into that.”
The PGA Tour has postponed or canceled events up to the Charles Schwab Championship at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, on May 21-24. More changes are expected and there is a possibility that play could resume without fans, but it would be televised.
Nicklaus added that nothing is certain until an announcement is made.
“Of course, right now the Memorial Tournament is still on in its regular date,” Nicklaus said. “Whether we’ll be ready in the first of June, I seriously doubt it. Whether we’ll be ready in the middle of July, I don’t know. But we certainly hope.”
Patrick Cantlay of Los Alamitos and UCLA is defending champion of the Memorial, and Bryson DeChambeau of Clovis claimed the title two years ago.
Nicklaus founded the tournament in 1976, when Roger Maltbie of Los Gatos and San Jose State won the first Memorial, with Nicklaus taking the title a year later.
Tiger Woods has captured the title a record five times, the last in 2012.
