A limited number of spectators will be allowed on the course when the Korn Ferry Tour brings professional golf to Las Vegas next month.
Brooks Downing, CEO of bdG Sports, the firm operating the MGM Resorts Championship at Paiute, said the plan is to limit attendance to 250 spectators a day at the tournament, set for April 15-18 at Paiute Golf Resort.
That number, Downing said, will allow for players to experience a live audience and fans to see professional golf while keeping the safety of players and spectators as the top priority.
“We want to do this right,” Downing said. “That is our No. 1 priority, to keep the players healthy and swinging clubs.”
The tournament, now with a newly announced title sponsor on board, will feature 156 golfers playing for a $600,000 purse on the Sun Mountain course at Paiute.
This will be the first major golf event in the Las Vegas area to welcome back spectators since the coronavirus pandemic shut down tours one year ago this week. Two PGA Tour events played in Las Vegas in the fall — the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open at TPC Summerlin and the CJ Cup at Shadow Creek — were played without fans.
A new LPGA Tour event coming to Shadow Creek in late May has yet to decide on spectators.
“We are still finalizing details for the Bank of Hope LPGA Match Play event and do not yet have any final decisions on fan status,” said Christina Lance, director of tour media.
The PGA Tour has slowly started opening its doors to spectators, with 20 percent capacity being allowed in this week for its signature event, the Players Championship.
PGA Tour Commissioner said Jay Monahan said today that vaccines have provided a light at the end of the tunnel for the tour, but caution remains the overwhelming force guiding its policies.
“Until the pandemic is in our rear-view mirror, our commitment to health and safety continues,” Monahan said. “This week will mark our largest footprint to date, and our players are excited that we’re getting back to entertaining and inspiring our fans in person. But we remain conservative … so that we can continue to learn and adjust as we go, again with safety as our absolute priority.”
Tickets for the Korn Ferry event are priced at $100 daily and are available at mgmresortschampionship.com .
What fans will see at Paiute could come down to the weather. UNLV alum Harry Hall, playing the Sun Mountain course for the first time last week, shot a 65 from the tips on a calm day.
“It’s not the longest of golf courses, so there’s going to be a lot of birdie opportunities,” said Hall, who stands 70th on the Korn Ferry points list. “If the wind picks up, it will be challenging out here, especially with how quick the greens are.”
Downing and Paiute General Manager Jeff Reid are pleased with how the course is shaping up in what Downing called a sprint to the finish line. The tournament was not even on the schedule until late November.
“Ideally, we’d like to have a year to get ready, but we’re making the best of the five months we have,” Downing said.
Reid said his crew is working with PGA Tour officials to fine-tune the course for the tournament, working primarily on bunkers and tee boxes.
Chip Shots
— Phil Mickelson dropped to No. 101 in the Official World Golf Rankings this week, the first time he has fallen outside of the top 100 since November 1993, a record 1,435 weeks. Despite his 27-year run and 44 PGA Tour titles, Mickelson never made it to No. 1. He spent 270 weeks at No. 2 behind Tiger Woods.
— The Canadian Open has been dropped from the PGA Tour schedule for the second consecutive year because of the pandemic. Getting players, caddies and personnel across the border remains too cumbersome. Monahan said the tour hopes to add a different U.S.-based event in its place June 10-13.
Greg Robertson is a freelance reporter who covers golf for the Review-Journal. He can be reached at robertsongt@gmail.com .
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