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Australian world No.6 Adam Scott and Masters champion Tiger Woods are among few stars that will be missing when the PGA Tour returns after three months.

The 148-man field for the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial features the top five golfers in the world - Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas and Dustin Johnson.

The only players from the top 10 who are not playing are Scott, Patrick Cantlay and Tommy Fleetwood - Scott and Fleetwood live overseas and would have faced a 14-day quarantine upon arrival.

With Scott unavailable, world No.15 Marc Leishman will be the highest ranked Australian competing at Fort Worth along with fellow top 100 compatriots Cameron Smith, Jason Day and Matt Jones.

Woods, the biggest name in world golf, chose not to play.

He has only played Colonial once, in 1997, when he was going for his third straight victory and shot 72 in the final round to finish three shots behind.

The tour shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, along with the rest of sports, after the opening round of The Players Championship on March 12.

The return requires players to be tested for the coronavirus upon arrival and, for those taking a charter to the next tournament at Hilton Head, another test before they leave.

They will also have daily thermal readings and health questionnaires. That also applies to caddies and what the tour deems essential personnel.

Despite the missing names, the field features 18 of the top 25 in the world, giving it a strength-of-field comparable to a World Golf Championship.

The tour returns, if all goes according to plan, to a full schedule for the rest of the year.

Colonial marks the first of 27 tournaments over a 26-week period through to December 6.

That schedule includes three majors.

PGA Golf Professional Michael Jones and Sanctuary Cove Member Isabelle Taylor hosted the first of three Ladies’ coaching clinics in support of Cancer Council Queensland’s Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea (ABMT) on The Pines driving range on Tuesday 2 June.

The two-hour Ladies’ coaching clinic gave Sanctuary Cove Golf and Country Club Members and guests a chance to improve their golf skills while sharing a coffee and conversation with other ladies.

This was the Club’s seventh consecutive year in supporting ABMT with an event and its second year offering time on the ‘tee’. Despite further modifications being required this year to accommodate social distancing guidelines, the Club was determined to continue its traditional fundraising efforts.

“The event was entirely different last year, but not doing anything in 2020 wasn’t an option. Despite different and at times trying times with the COVID cloud, there are still people getting diagnosed with cancer, fighting cancer or supporting cancer patients,” Mr Jones said. The final of these events is being held on Friday 5 June at 1pm. To date, these events have raised over $1,300 for Cancer Council

Holding golf's Ryder Cup later this year without fans due to the COVID-19 pandemic would almost make the event "a "yawner", US captain Steve Stricker has said.

Golf's calendar has been decimated by the coronavirus outbreak, with three of the sport's four majors rescheduled and the British Open cancelled.

The biennial Ryder Cup competition between the United States and Europe is scheduled for September 25-27 at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin and fans are unlikely to be able to attend if it goes ahead.

"This event is made by the fans. If it was without fans, it almost would be a yawner of an event," Stricker told Golf Affect Radio. "To cheat out the Wisconsin fans would be a crime. I hope when we do have it, it can be up to its full potential.

"So far, we're planning it as it's a go ... But there's some obstacles that we're going to have to face," Stricker added.

Reports have said the PGA of America and the European Tour will decide this month if the event will go ahead.

World No.1 Rory McIlroy has said he thought the event is unlikely to take place this year and that postponing it would be the right call.

More than 106,000 people have died in the United States due to COVID-19.

The June and July 2020 Australian Golf Demo Date Listings are now online, featuring upcoming Demo Days and Fitting Days to check out the top new golf gear at an Australian golf club near you!

NOTE: Due to Covid-19 restrictions, The following dates are a partial list – we are aiming to gather more. It is highly recommended that you contact the club or course prior to your visit to ensure the event is still going ahead

CALLAWAY GOLF DEMO DATES – June:

CALLAWAY GOLF DEMO DATES – JULY

COBRA GOLF DEMO DATES – JUNE

PING DEMO DATES

Note from PING:

Dear Customers,

We are excited to recommence fitting events around Australia following the recent COVID-19 challenges. As we do so please understand that all fitting days will be by appointment only with many days still members only. We would expect that this will change as we move through winter. We would recommend that you contact your local authorised PING retail store/green grass account to confirm before attending.

When you arrive for your appointment you will notice that we are playing our part in assuring your health & safety – with clear instructions regarding hygiene highlighted for your attention.

If you have any flu like symptoms such as cough, cold, fever, runny nose or temperature etc, we would appreciate that you please do not attend the fitting day.

We ask as a condition for attending the fitting day to please use hand sanitiser and practicing social distancing at all times. We look forward to seeing you soon.

Jason Day is raring to go at next week's US PGA Tour restart, aiming to reboot his own career in the congested schedule ahead.

The former world No.1 used the coronavirus shutdown to rest his chronically-injured back before knuckling down to practice.

He is happy with his form after spending plenty of time recently working with long-time coach Colin Swatton - even though his mentor managed to upstage him with a hole-in-one during a practice round in Pittsburgh this week.

Without a victory in more than two years, 12-time US tour winner Day has seen his world ranking plummet to No.51.

He will be setting out to repair that when the tour resumes at the Charles Schwab Challenge tournament at Colonial CC in Texas next Thursday.

"Col and I have been putting in some decent hours and I've been playing well, so I can't wait to get things going," Day told AAP from Ohio.

"I'm really looking forward to getting after it because my back feels better. Overall, I'm really pleased with progress I've made in a short time.

"I have stepped up the practice during the last month or so. My game is feeling good and I just need to tighten the screws now."

On Wednesday, the tour announced a mobile coronavirus test centre supplied by sponsor Sanford Health will travel to each tournament to test players, caddies and essential personnel - there will be no crowds.

The test centre aims to give results within two to four hours, with some 400 individuals to be tested each event.

"The PGA Tour and (commissioner) Jay Monahan are doing the best job they possibly can to get us going again," Day said.

"At these first few events, everyone will be nervous about what they can and can't do but we will find our footing and the anxiety will ease a bit,."

Other Australians expected to tee up at Charles Schwab Challenge are Marc Leishman, Cameron Smith, Matt Jones and John Senden.

The US Tour will then stage the RBC Heritage in South Carolina, the Travelers Championship in Connecticut and Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit, Michigan.

After that, the Jack Nicklaus-designed Muirfield Village course in Ohio will host rare back-to-back events, according to Golf Digest.

A 156-player tournament sponsored by financial management company Workday will be held at the Columbus, Ohio course in place of the cancelled John Deere Classic.

Nicklaus will then host his prestigious Memorial invitational tournament for an elite field of 120.

"It will be a big relief to be able to play and stay at home," said Day, a Columbus resident.

While COVID-19 testing will be a condition of competition when the PGA Tour resumes next week, at-home tests before travelling to a tournament are "strongly encouraged", but not required.

A 34-page participant resource guide issued on Monday states players and caddies must begin self-screening for seven days prior to tournament travel.

The self-screening process includes a daily questionnaire and temperature readings. Any participant who tests positive at a tournament will only receive a stipend from the PGA Tour if they took an at-home test before travelling and tested negative.

"Without a vaccine, we know that we cannot mitigate all risk whether at work or in our daily lives. However, the plan we are implementing is designed to reduce the risk as much as possible," PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said in the guide.

"We all look forward to a return to normalcy, and that day will come. In the meantime, we ask that you embrace the necessary measures outlined in this document for the safety of everyone in our PGA Tour family."

The PGA Tour, which has been dormant since March 12, returns to action next week at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas.

The world's top five golfers headlines a stacked field at the June 11-14 tournament that will be closed to spectators.

Upon arriving in a tournament host city, players and caddies must proceed to the testing site to receive a nasal swab test and thermal screening.

The PGA Tour said it hopes to provide results in a matter of hours and players will have access to practice areas while they await their result.

Once a negative test result is received, players will be issued a wristband or lanyard that grants them access to the locker room and clubhouse.

Those who test positive will be quarantined while a "disinfecting/decontaminating response" is implemented to ensure all possible items and surfaces touched by the infected individual are quickly cleaned.

If a participant is denied access to a tournament due to a positive COVID-19 test, they must receive medical clearance from their doctor before being allowed to participate in future PGA Tour events.

The participant resource guide also says players and caddies must have social distancing requirements in the forefront of their minds, always staying at least six feet away from others, whenever possible.

After a quiet three-month break due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Australia’s Most-Read Golf Publication, Inside Golf, has announced it will return with the August 2020 issue.

With golf clubs, golf facilities and golf businesses around Australia enduring financial stress and hardship since the sport was restricted in March, Inside Golf management decided to suspend publishing for three issues.

“We felt it would have been inappropriate to call clients and request their advertising dollars during this chaotic and uncertain time,” explains Inside Golf publisher, Sam Arthur. “Businesses across the industry have been hit extremely hard after a tumultuous six months of drought, fires and Covid-19—and were (and still are) consolidating expenses to build up cash reserves for spring…or in many cases to simply stay afloat—so I just couldn’t ask our five state representatives to call golf businesses and “sell” during this time. We know very well how difficult it has become to run a business.

“Instead, we chose to continue (as we always have) to proactively support clubs and the larger industry in any way we could—like offering to promote the hardest-hit clubs/businesses via our extensive online, email and social media community, or simply just travelling to some of these clubs and towns (when and where it was allowed, of course) and giving them our custom. The Aussie golf community is a close-knit, supportive group, so like Aussies always do, we help each other out,” Arthur added.   

Now, as restrictions ease around the country, the magazine is gearing up to publish a massive August issue, promoting golf all around the country. Facilities are starting to open and Inside Golf will be ready to promote golf “bigger and better” than ever before. 

“Inside Golf, as well as golf across Australia, will bounce back very quickly as we head into spring, the golf majors, The Ryder Cup, summer and Christmas,” Arthur adds. “We believe golf will boom big time! And with overseas travel still off the cards, our readers will be choosing to have a hit locally, playing golf all over this country, especially in regional areas. And we’ll be there to help clubs and facilities get the word out!”

To cater to this predicted boom of regional and state-based golf—and help courses, clubs and facilities get a much-needed boost leading into spring and summer, the August issue of Inside Golf (with a full 40,000-plus circulation, to over 400 golf clubs across Australia) will publish their highly-popular “Great Aussie Golf Getaways” feature, which aims to promote the great golf to be found within our own borders, at clubs and courses across Australia.

For more information about the August issue, please contact us.

As always, Inside Golf thanks all readers, advertisers and partners for their continued support.

European Tour golf will resume from July 22 with a so-called "UK Swing" of six tournaments starting with the British Masters at Close House, near Newcastle.

Five further events will then take place concluding with the UK Championships at the Belfry from August 27.

They are initially scheduled to take place without fans as golf emerges from its enforced coronavirus suspension in early March.

Tour chief executive Keith Pelley says the new schedule has been informed by medical advisers and government guidance.

The UK government has announced a 14-day quarantine for arrivals to the country from next month.

A succession of tournaments in the country would seem to ease potential problems.

"As golf's global Tour, diversity is ordinarily one of our biggest strengths, but in this instance it has become one of our biggest challenges," Pelley on Thursday.

"Initially, therefore, based on the expert guidance we received, playing in clusters, in one territory, is the best option in terms of testing, travel and accommodation."

Other events will be slotted into a schedule which already has the four Rolex Series tournaments pencilled in with two in October and two, including the World Tour Championship, in Dubai in December.

In the US, the PGA Tour will resume from the middle of next month.

The Open Championship, the only major held outside the US, has been scrapped this year with the PGA Championship moved to early August.

The US Open has been given a September slot and the Masters concludes the majors in November.

The Ryder Cup remains planned for late September in the US but is in severe doubt as many consider it impossible to play without fans in attendance.

World No.1 Rory McIlroy does not think the Ryder Cup will be played this year.

It is scheduled to be played September 25-27 at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin, where Europe will be aiming to retain the trophy it won in 2018.

But a host of major 2020 sporting events have already been cancelled or postponed due to coronavirus and McIlroy thinks the biennial Ryder Cup will suffer the same fate.

"My personal hunch is that I don't see how it is going to happen, so I do not think that it will happen," McIlroy told BBC Sport NI.

"I think the majority of players would like to see it pushed back until 2021 so that they can play in front of crowds and have the atmosphere that makes the Ryder Cup so special.

"The players are the ones that make the Ryder Cup. If they are not on board with it and don't want to play then there is no Ryder Cup.

"I see it being pushed back until 2021 and, honestly, I think that will be the right call."

The PGA Tour is set to resume on June 11 in Texas, with McIlroy already confirming he will play the first three events.

The 31-year-old said he would have no issues returning to the European Tour later in the year.

"It's a tough one. There are a lot of things up in the air, but if there are some big events in autumn time, then I can," McIlroy said.

"Maybe if Wentworth gets moved to October, which they are thinking of, then I could see myself going over and playing that event.

"I was just as disappointed as everyone else that the Open got cancelled this year.

"I think it would have been a good date in September if we were able to play it.

"I wouldn't have concerns about travelling to Europe.

"I think if you stick to the guidelines then I don't see any reason why we should feel scared to travel."

This is your chance to tee it up like the pros have for the past years at **RACV Royal Pines Resort** and be treated to a world class course. Enjoy a 2 person ambrose in carts with burger buffet at completion and $1000s of prizes for $219 per person.

**EZGO Lithium Golf Cart Values Over $17,000 For Hole In One**

* Location: RACV Royal Pines Resort

* Date: Friday 4th December 2020.

* Shotgun: 8.00am.

* 2 Person Ambrose Team event.

* Includes shared cart.

* Live Mobile Scoring and Leaderboard.

* Event is open to players with and without an official AGU Handicap.

* Handicapped players will be in Division 1 and Non Handicapped players in Division 2

* Division 1 Players earn points for Golfer Tour Order of Merit

*  $119 per player - Open to male and female players.

* Inclusions:

- Lunch at the completion of the round.

- Hole in one prize.

- Nearest the pin prizes.

- Longest Drive sponsored by "Naked Wines":https://www.nakedwines.com.au/tgn3x2

- Plus many more prizes.