Pros and cons of PGA Tour's plan to return in June

The PGA Tour announced a plan to resume the 2019-20 season on June 11 at the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas.

While the news is certainly exciting at a time when no sports are being played in North America, the PGA Tour's aggressive approach to making golf one of the first sports to return isn't without concerns.

Let's explore the pros and cons of the PGA Tour's plan to return in June:

Pros

Sports!

Fans are pulling their hair out while they wait for sports to finally return. The PGA Tour could be putting itself in a position to fill a giant void in many people's daily routines, and though golf isn't the most popular sport in North America, it's better than watching reruns of old games or stooping to marble races.

Salvaging the season

Assuming the PGA Tour returns on June 11 at the Charles Schwab Challenge and proceeds with all events included in the revised schedule, 33 events will be played during the 2019-20 season prior to the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Though there will have been only one major championship, the season can be considered salvaged and provide legitimacy to the 2020 postseason.

Stacked fields

Players will be itching to get back on the course and compete against their peers, meaning the world's best golfers will likely be in action on a weekly basis. There will be no lulls in what's left of the 2020 schedule and every field - regardless of its location or purse - will be headlined by the likes of Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka, and Justin Thomas.

No grandstands

The first four events following the PGA Tour's return will be played without spectators in attendance, and no fans mean no need for grandstands. Players will actually be punished for airmailing greens instead of having the luxury of a giant backboard directly behind the target. Perhaps grandstands are something only die-hard fans want to see gone, but either way, it will be interesting to see tournaments without any crowds.

Template for other leagues

If golf is indeed one of the first sports to return, the PGA Tour will act as the guinea pig for other professional leagues.

A successful return to play would provide other professional leagues the opportunity to determine exactly what's required to run a sporting event during the coronavirus pandemic. Lessons learned from the Tour's efforts to efficiently test players, safely travel between states, and piece together broadcasts with reduced crews could help accelerate the returns of other sports.

Cons

High risk

Being the first sport to return while the world continues to fight the coronavirus is a big risk for the PGA Tour. Even if it takes all the necessary precautions, players and caddies will face a greater risk of contracting the virus while traveling around the U.S. than they would at home.

The PGA Tour can't really be confined to a single city or state, a luxury other professional sports have the opportunity to explore. Not all players can afford to charter private flights, either; pros will be frequenting airports, staying in hotels, and eating at restaurants on the road.

Imagine the backlash if a player tests positive for COVID-19 after returning to action and the PGA Tour is forced to shut down yet again. This single con might outweigh all the pros combined.

Canadian Open canceled

It hasn't been officially canceled yet, but all signs point to the RBC Canadian Open getting axed from the 2019-20 schedule. Current travel restrictions likely forced the PGA Tour to plan for a season without its third-oldest event, but those same restrictions will need to be lifted if there's any hope of returning to play by mid-June. The Tour simply cannot host events with many of its European members stuck overseas.

Instead of canceling its historic event north of the border for the first time since 1944, the Tour should be rescheduling the Canadian Open. It was played in September before being moved into the summer months; why couldn't it return to a fall timeline?

False hope

All of the excitement around a potential June return could be for nothing. In the end, the PGA Tour will not be making the decision on when it's safe for sports to return. Various governments and key health organizations will have the final call, and it's safe to expect another revision to the Tour's latest schedule proposal in the coming months. For now, a return on June 11 can only be treated as a best-case scenario - and far from a concrete plan.