PGA Championship will happen at Harding Park without fans

Last week, Ron Kroichick of the San Francisco Chronicle reported that the PGA Championship would go down at San Francisco's Harding Park without spectators because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The PGA Tour confirmed that news on Monday. 

As ESPN's Bob Harig wrote, the first major championship of the season won't be moved from Harding Park even though the Tour strongly considered relocating the tournament so that a percentage of spectators could watch the action in person. Instead, the PGA Championship postponed from May 14-17 to Aug. 6-9 will take place on the west coast as planned. 

Per an official statement, PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh said: 

"We are both inspired and honored to ‘play on.' In doing so, we will spotlight not only the beauty of TPC Harding Park, but the fortitude of San Francisco and its remarkable people. We'd like to thank the state of California and the city and county of San Francisco for being terrific partners in helping us get to this place. While the local community cannot be with us physically on-site, we will certainly carry their spirit of resilience and unity with us as we stage our major championship, on their behalf, for all the world to see and enjoy.”

Following the Tour's postponement of play in March because of the uncontrolled virus outbreak, the Charles Schwab Challenge and RBC Heritage occurred earlier this month without fans in attendance. 

Currently, up to 8,000 spectators will be allowed to attend the Jack Nicklaus Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Ohio next month.