THE ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP on in Japan, WGC – HSBC Champions cancelled
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Written by Staff
ATLANTA – PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan said Tuesday that the PGA TOUR hopes to play THE ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP in Japan on Oct. 21-24 as part of the new 2021-22 TOUR season. It would be the TOUR's lone visit to Asia in the upcoming season, as Monahan also announced that the World Golf Championships–HSBC Champions, due to be played the week after in China, has been cancelled.
“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. The successful and safe golf competitions at the Tokyo Olympic games helped provide some confidence going forward,” Monahan said from East Lake Golf Club in the lead up to the TOUR Championship.
It was previously announced that the TOUR's stop in South Korea would be played Stateside for a second consecutive year. THE CJ CUP @ SUMMIT will be played Oct. 11-17 at Las Vegas' The Summit Club.
FedExCup leader Patrick Cantlay won the first of his three titles this season at THE ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP last fall, however the event was held at Sherwood Country Club in Los Angeles due to the pandemic. It’s first staging in Japan in 2019 saw Tiger Woods claim his record equaling 82nd PGA TOUR win. Once again Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club will be the host.
While Japan will host their event, China will miss out for the second consecutive year.
“Following discussions with HSBC, we can confirm the cancellation of the 2021 WGC-HSBC Champions. Although it's unfortunate to have to do so, we must ensure that we abide by the epidemic prevention policies of different markets which may cause inconvenience to the players and make tournament operations very challenging. Therefore, after careful consideration we had to make this difficult decision to cancel the event,” Monahan said.
The commissioner allayed any fears for the events long term future.
“It's unfortunate that we're not going to be able to play in Shanghai,” he said. “I expect that we will be playing there as soon as it's acceptable, feasible, to do so, from a pandemic standpoint. We feel like we have got a long-term commitment to that marketplace in the form of a WGC.”
Monahan also announced that with the cancellation in China the Bermuda Championship will now be played as a stand-alone event with full FedExCup points and an increase in the purse size. Brian Gay is the defending champion.