ATLANTA – PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan confirmed Tuesday at the Tour Championship that the circuit still plans to play the Zozo Championship in Japan later this fall, but there will be no WGC-HSBC Champions for the second consecutive year.
“Zozo has been a great partner and we have been in regular contact with the government and local authorities about the plans to successfully stage this event this fall,” Monahan said. “The successful and safe golf competitions at the Tokyo Olympic Games helped provide some confidence going forward there.”
Full-field tee times from the Tour Championship
The Zozo Championship was played at Sherwood Country Club in California last year because of the pandemic and won by Patrick Cantlay. There had been some doubt top players would be willing to make the trip to Japan this fall, but the commissioner was confident the event could be played.
The second consecutive year without the World Golf Championship in China is a bigger concern, although the commissioner dismissed fears about the event’s long-term viability.
“It’s unfortunate that we’re not going to be able to play in Shanghai. I expect that we will be playing there as soon as it’s feasible to do so from a pandemic standpoint,” Monahan said. “We feel like we have got a long-term commitment to that marketplace in the form of a WGC.”