Details are beginning to emerge about how the Memorial Tournament plans to host spectators on-site, the first PGA Tour event to do so since the COVID-19 pandemic halted competition.
This week Ohio governor Mike DeWine approved the tournament’s request to allow limited spectators at the July 16-19 event at Muirfield Village. Tournament officials subsequently announced that they plan to release specifics “over the coming week,” but some of those plans are already taking shape.
According to a Columbus Dispatch report, the tournament expects to allow up to 8,000 spectators on-site at any given time, which would reportedly equate to 20 percent of the tournament’s typical capacity. There will be no on-site bleachers, with each hole featuring “designated sitting or standing corrals” where a pre-determined number of fans will be allowed to congregate.
Fans will be required to wear non-surgical masks, with the exception of certain recognized exemptions, and temperature checks will be conducted at every entrance as well as via handheld units on property.
Muirfield Village will also host a Tour event during the week of July 9-12, which will not include fans. Instead tournament officials expect to use that week to “test run” safety practices for players and other essential personnel, including temperature checks and COVID-19 tests.