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The European Tour plans to resume its season the last full weekend in July with six tournaments in England and Wales that will include COVID-19 testing and depend on the U.K. lifting its quarantine restrictions. It would start July 22 with the British Masters, hosted by Lee Westwood. The next five in the “U.K. Swing” are new tournaments the European Tour will pay for out of its tournament development fund. Three will be at former Ryder Cup venues — two at Celtic Manor in Wales, one at The Belfry in England. The purse at each new event is 1 million euros. The tour said it will add 500,000 euros for the U.K. Swing for charities — half for the markets they play, half for the top 10 players from a “mini money list” to decide. No spectators will be allowed at least for the UK swing. “There is no question that we’re back,” Keith Pelley, the tour’s chief executive, said in a conference call Thursday. The European Tour also set dates for four Rolex Series events — the Scottish Open and BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth in October, the Nedbank Challenge in South Africa and DP World Tour Championship in Dubai in December. Pelley expects the rest of the schedule — with hopes for 24 events — to be announced later. He said the U.K. Swing depends largely on lifting the 14-day quarantine for players arriving from other countries. The PGA Championship in San Francisco is scheduled for Aug. 6-9. If the quarantine is not lifted, top European Tour players would have to choose between a major and four European Tour events with minimal prize money. “Hotels need to be in operation and the quarantine needs to be lifted to continue with these events,” Pelley said. He said he was encouraged and optimistic that will be the case, based on numerous conversations with government officials. “We wouldn’t be announcing these events without having had significant dialogue with the UK government,” Pelley said. “They know about the announcements. They’re worked feverishly with us.” The tour returns under an initiative called “Golf for Good,” which Pelley said will underpin the rest of 2020. The key points are the charitable contributions — 50,000 euros to the five venues and 250,000 euros for the leading 10 players from a money list of the U.K. Swing. He recalled a conversation with one European Tour partner in which Pelley said, “This might not be the biggest event that you have ever done in terms of crowds and hospitality, but it will be the most important event, and it should be the most emotional event.” The European Tour was last played March 8 at the Qatar Masters. Eight tournaments have been canceled, including a World Golf Championships event in Texas and the British Open. Nine others have been postponed, and officials across several tours worldwide have been trying to piece together the season. The majors set the framework with the PGA Championship going to Aug. 6-9, the U.S. Open planned for Sept. 17-20 in New York and the Masters moving to Nov. 12-15. Pelley did not take any questions on the Ryder Cup — with or without fans — except to say it remains on the schedule for Sept. 25-27 in Wisconsin. The Scottish Open, originally planned for July, moves to Oct. 8-11 and precedes the European Tour’s flagship event, the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth. He said other events, such as the Irish Open and other key stops in continental Europe, were close to being announced. Pelley was quick to point out the tour’s strength — a worldwide tour — has become an obstacle from having to work with so many different governments and their regulations for the pandemic. “Moving 30 events with one in its place (Dunhill Championship in Scotland on Oct. 1-4) has been challenging,” he said. Andrew Murray, the tour’s chief medical officer, says testing will include an antigen test for the coronavirus when players arrive, along with daily thermal readings and questionnaires about their health. No media will be allowed at tournaments for the U.K. Swing, and the tour expects no more than 500 people on site. Pelley said fans and hospitality account for only 5% of revenue, so having fans is more important for optics than business. Even so, he expects tournaments to gradually have more spectators. However the rest of the season is put together, all will offer Race To Dubai points toward the conclusion. The European Tour said no one will lose status for 2021 and there will not be a Q-school at the end of the year.

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AUGUSTA, Ga. – A man trying to stretch his back accidentally pokes another man in the nose, and everywhere fans carry rolled-up umbrellas and stacks of empty, plastic beer cups. Wisps of cigar smoke hang in the air, and footing is slippery over the fine, green Leprechaun flour that covers the bare spots at Augusta National. You are out amongst the masses to watch Tiger Woods make history at the 83rd Masters, and you’re doing your best. You interpret the roars, jockey for sight lines, fill in the gaps. There are no video boards, but the big, manual scoreboards are a help. The groans tell you a lot. The chatter, too. RELATED: Final leaderboard | Tiger emerges from tight leaderboard | What’s in Tiger’s bag | For a while it doesn’t look good as Woods makes back-to-back bogeys and misses an 11-foot birdie putt at the par-3 sixth. But back-to-back birdies at the seventh and eighth holes fuel a comeback, and by the time he splits the 15th fairway with a 293-yard drive, it starts to look like it might actually happen. His fifth Masters. His 15th major. Age 43. “Believe, Tiger!â€� a fan shouts as Woods walks off the tee. “Just believe!â€� Woods looks to his right, directly at the woman, Virginia Martinson of Chapel Hill. And he nods. Martinson, in a blue North Carolina golf shirt—her daughter used to coach the women’s golf team—beams with delight, as does her husband, Bill, in a white, floppy Amana hat. “It’s her squeaky voice!â€� Bill says. “Normally he don’t hear a thing!â€� Woods is tied for the lead, Xander Schauffele and Brooks Koepka and even Dustin Johnson and Patrick Cantlay doing their best to turn him away. To deny history. He has 234 yards remaining over water to an upside-down cereal bowl of a green. Woods rears back and swings, and his ball becomes a spec in the air. “He likes it,â€� someone says. Commentary. You hear a lot of it, watching history amongst the masses. And you appreciate it. You also hear a woman say, “When I got the e-mail, I thought, Oh, I probably got some practice-round tickets. But Sunday! Quickest $230 I ever spent.â€� And you hear a man say, “If for some reason we get separated: World of Beers.â€� Woods’ second shot lands on the 15th green, 44 feet right of the pin, and fans pump their fists as he two-putts for birdie. This is happening. This is real. His tee shot at 16 nearly goes in, and the throngs on the bank left of the green are delirious with excitement. Another birdie. It’s more than real, now—it’s practically over. He’s 14-under. He’s done enough. All he needs now is to make sure the wheels don’t fly off. His fans are beside themselves. A man in a tiger-print T-shirt. Two other men in green T-shirts with the image of a hybrid sort of creature that’s between a tiger and a goat. As in, Tiger is the Greatest Of All Time. Is he? It’s certainly been the greatest comeback story, from being unable to live pain-free to a last-ditch spinal fusion to winning major No. 15. Those leaps are quantum. You strike up a conversation with a kid in a TW cap, his old logo, and he introduces himself as Brandon Jones of Phoenix. He’s 24, and pledged he would buy the hat as soon as his dad told him a year ago that the family would be traveling to watch the Masters. “My brother is the biggest Tiger fan,â€� Jones says. “It’s fun to watch his reaction to this. He’s five years older than me, but he’s acting like a 12-year-old.â€� Tiger’s kids, son Charlie Axel, 10, and daughter Sam Alexis, 11, are here. They’ve never seen their old man win a major until now. It’s happening right in front of them. It’s not YouTube. Woods pars 17, and makes a meaningless bogey on 18 to win by a shot over Johnson, Koepka and Schauffele. “We did it!â€� Woods screams after hugging his caddie, Joe LaCava. “We did it!â€� Woods walks off the green and hugs his son, Charlie, which the TV people will juxtapose with Woods hugging his father, Earl, after winning the 1997 Masters. The symmetry is spectacular. You’re thinking a lot about Earl, who would have been 87 today. Because sitting on one of those long, black metal benches on the concourse leading up to the first hole is Eugene Hicks, 72. He’s not Earl, but he could be. Hicks is wearing an Army-green Vietnam cap, a yellow polo shirt, and khaki cargo shorts. A thick scar runs up each knee, the result of parachuting out of airplanes. “It’s all good,â€� he says with a smile as he details his multiple knee replacements. “If you survived two wars, Vietnam and Desert Storm in Iraq, this is nothing.â€� Hicks hasn’t seen any of the golf. Not Woods’ 4-under performance over the final 12 holes, not Molinari’s mistakes on 12 and 15, not Johnson and Schauffele shooting 68, nor Koepka’s 70. Instead, he’s listened to it. With certain roars, Hicks has gotten up off that bench and hobbled over to the giant manual scoreboard nearby to confirm his suspicions. No, he’s not Earl, but they’re connected. Hicks fought in the Tet Offensive in 1968, with the 173rd Airborne Brigade. And he’s followed Tiger’s career since the day he was watching TV and came upon The Mike Douglas Show, featuring Earl and his 2-year-old son. “I’m thinkin’, look at that kid!â€� Hicks says. He shakes his head. “Earl was Airborne, too,â€� he adds, “but he was Special Forces, I think. I think he was an officer. I was a grunt.â€� Hicks smiles at this. He has boys of his own, 50 and 46, both with good jobs, one for AARP and the other for George Washington University. “Of course I wish they were golfers, like Tiger,â€� he says with a rueful chuckle, “but that’s alright. Whenever we talk on the phone, they end it with, ‘I love you, Dad.’ “I could see that love with Tiger and Earl,â€� he continues. “With that hug they shared, you know. Remember that? It shows. I’m not saying Earl did everything right, but he did right by that boy.â€� The patrons are streaming for the exits, the storm coming on fast; the evacuation siren will blow before Woods even gets to the interview room. His five Masters are one shy of Jack Nicklaus’ total, his 15 majors just three behind the great Golden Bear’s final tally. Nicklaus won here at 46, and now Woods has done it at 43 after a nearly 11-year major drought. “He wins here, I guarantee he will win another major this year,â€� says Hicks. The PGA Championship will be at Bethpage, the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. Woods, of course, has won at both. Hicks won’t be there, but others will come in droves, and they, too, will believe.

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