The Masters in October?

Only twice in the 83 hostings has the Masters not been held entirely in the month of April and that was the first hosting of the Masters from March 22nd to 25th in 1934 and with the 1939 Masters commencing on March 30th and ending April 3rd.

But now after fears over the Coronavirus pandemic the 2020 Masters has been postponed and with heavy speculation, and only if the virus fears has eased, the Masters will be held from 8th to 12th October.

And if observations in this earlier report http://www.golfbytourmiss.com/2020/03/harrington-remains-optimistic-for-a-september-ryder-cup-a-fortnight-before-the-masters/   are corrent then the 84th Masters will surely be in October.

The Masters cannot be held any earlier as Augusta Natio nal is completely closed even to members from May to the end of September due to the intense summertime heat.

Also the later in the year the Masters may return to the 2020 season schedule the shorter the daylight hours.

Rory McIlroy warms to the notion of a rescheduled Masters being played in October.

It’s was a question put to World No. 1 Rory McIlroy in speaking with Brad Faxon on SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio.

“It gives us some room for maneuvering, depending on what happens over the next few weeks,” McIlroy said.

“A Masters in the fall, October time, I think it would be pretty cool. It would be a very different look than what you usually see at Augusta. I think it’s definitely a possibility if they want to get the 2020 Masters in, I think that could definitely be a possibility. I’m sure they can make it happen if they want it to happen.”

McIlroy pointed out to Faxon other major international events later in the summer, including the staging of the 149th Open Championship from 16th to 19th July and the following fortnight’s Summer Olympics in Japan along with the 2020 Ryder Cup in the last week of September, could very well also be postponed.

Though the World No. 1 remains optimistic full competition will resume in a ‘couple of months’.

“I like to think that we can get a handle on this over the next sort of couple of months, and things can return to some sort of normality,” McIlroy said.

“But I don’t think anyone knows, really.”