Ranking the remaining PGA Tour tournaments on the new schedule

Most casual golf fans probably don't know much about this event. Hosted in the Dominican Republic, this tournament was originally scheduled to be held in late March, but the coronavirus pandemic postponed it until the fall. It's now slated to be the second-to-last tournament held as part of the 2019-20 PGA Tour season. It's also the same weekend as the Ryder Cup. Graeme McDowell won last season's event. 

This will be the third stop on the revised 2020 PGA Tour schedule. It's also uncertain just who will be in the field. The new schedule is pretty compact, yet, this event is early enough that a good number of the Tour's best players might want to get into a flow and possibly be more visible early on in the process. Chez Reavie won the 2019 title.

There will be golf over the Fourth of July weekend, and the setting will be the Detroit Golf Club. At the moment, it does not look like fans will be allowed into any PGA Tour events by that point, but the fact there's still professional sports available to watch while America celebrates its independence, well, that might be reason alone to feel good about things.

It was at the 2019 installment of the Barracuda that Collin Morikawa won his first PGA Tour event, just weeks after turning pro. Morikawa is certainly someone to watch as the Tour gets going again. Regardless how he fares leading up to this event, expect Morikawa, assuming he's in the field, to have some extra incentive at the Old Greenwood course. 

Much like Collin Morikawa, Matthew Wolff won his first PGA Tour event shortly after becoming a professional. Actually, Wolff topped Morikawa to win the 3M Open last season. On a side note away from golf, this could possibly be one of the first major sports events held in the Twin Cities area following the tragic death of George Floyd. The area is still hurting. Can sports, in any way, provide a momentary salve?

The Wyndham is pushed back by one week. It's also quite interestingly positioned within the revised schedule, as it follows the PGA Championship and is right before the start of the FedEx Cup Playoffs. So there could be plenty on the line for those golfers on the playoff bubble, meaning, this could end up being a pretty talented field — or go in the opposite direction, with some of the bigger Tour names taking the week off if they already qualified.

Golf will officially return this week . Sure, no spectators will be in attendance, but this is obviously a nice first step toward normalcy within the sport. Though Tiger Woods won't be there, plenty of other big names will be in the house, including Rory, Brooks, Justin Thomas, Xander Schauffele and Jon Rahm. Not a bad field to help get golf back going again. Kevin Na is your defending champ. 

The St. Jude is usually a popular PGA Tour stop, and TPC Southwind has long been one of the great competitive courses over the years. However, it's also the same week as the aforementioned Barracuda Championship. But since it's a WGC event, we expect most of the Tour's marquee members will be part of the field, like Brooks Koepka, the reigning tournament champion.

There's some buzz, or a guess at the very least, that this could be when Tiger Woods makes his return to the links. That's also next week, so if that's the case, fans of Woods will not have to wait long. Regardless, Harbour Town is one of the more picturesque tracks on the PGA Tour, most notably for its famed lighthouse nearby. C.T. Pan won last season's event. 

Word on the street is that this will be the first tournament to allow fans. It will be interesting to see how this goes, as there will be a cap on the attendance figures, and it's uncertain what physical distancing factors — if any — will be put in place. That's more than a month away, so there is plenty of time to see what transpires. 

The FedEx Cup Playoffs begin outside Boston. The race to get into the playoff will be condensed because of the rescheduling that's been needed. It will be interesting to see how that goes, and who is left out of the chase for the Cup. It's quite possible that every event will be at a premium, meaning some of the bigger names on Tour might be in danger of missing the playoff if they decide to sit out tournaments or struggle to place high in others. 

South suburban Chicago will host the second leg of the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Olympia Fields is a old-timey, historic course that's hosted a number of significant events. One storyline to follow is that Illinois has been one of the slower states to open up amid the coronavirus. A large number of gatherings/concerts/events in the Chicago area have already been canceled, so it will be interesting to see if it will be in a position to allow crowds.  

The final rung on the FedEx Cup ladder, and Rory McIlroy could again be in contention to defend his title. The East Lake Golf Club will play host to the event that has added some late-season excitement to the PGA Tour. Of course, this season there's a chance it gets lost in the shuffle since some of the more prestigious tournaments on Tour have been rescheduled until after this event.

Though not intended, the PGA Championship will again be held in August. That month was the longtime home of the event, as the final major of the season. That all changed in 2019 when it was moved to May. San Francisco's TPC Harding Park plays host, and Brooks Koepka will try to become the first golfer to win three consecutive PGA Championship titles since Walter Hagen's run of four straight from 1924-27.

While the Open Championship was disappointingly canceled, the U.S. Open managed to the survive the coronavirus pandemic. At least for now. Famed Winged Foot will host the event, which will now be played in potentially fall-like conditions. Adding to the dynamic, the U.S. Open will be staged the week before the Ryder Cup — which will be held at Wisconsin's Whistling Straits.

There is a lot that can happen between now and November. And we're not just talking about golf, but that's another topic. If the world is still spinning, the Masters in November should be one of the biggest sports stories of this hectic year. This will be quite interesting — assuming it even happens. Will Tiger Woods be healthy enough to defend his title? Much to look forward to, but also plenty of questions.