The PGA Tour has switched course and declared the abrogation of The Players just as the following three occasions on the calendar due to the coronavirus flare-up.

The late-night choice comes under 12 hours after Tour chief Jay Monahan said that the circuit’s leader occasion would proceed for the following three adjusts however without onlookers.

Players were told by means of content at about 9:50 p.m. ET Thursday that the competition had been rejected in view of the “rapidly changing situation” with respect to COVID-19. In a subsequent book, the Tour said that the following three occasions (Valspar Championship, WGC-Dell Match Play and Valero Texas Open) were likewise dropped.

The following competition on the calendar is the Masters, which is scheduled to start April 9.

“We have pledged from the start to be responsible, thoughtful and transparent with our decision process,” the Tour said in a statement. “We did everything possible to create a safe environment for our players in order to continue the event through the weekend, and we were endeavoring to give our fans a much-needed respite from the current climate. But at this point – and as the situation continues to rapidly change – the right thing to do for our players and our fans is to pause.”

The Tour had discharged a definite tasks plan for the following three rounds, including player bolster administrations, communicate notes, stopping plans and media accessibility.

The Tour was confronting mounting pressure following an exceptional day in which almost every other significant games association dropped occasions, put their season on pause or pushed back the beginning of a season. One day after the NBA delayed its season after the Utah Jazz’s Rudy Gobert tried positive for the coronavirus, the NCAA settled on the uncommon choice to cancel its people’s school ball competitions, just as each other winter and spring title.

Beforehand, the NCAA had reported that the games would go on yet would be played in for the most part void fields. MLB has postponed its opening day by in any event two weeks, while the NHL, MLS and different associations additionally went on transitory break.

Prior Thursday, the LPGA reported that it was delaying its next three competitions – including the year’s first major, the ANA Inspiration – in light of the spread of the coronavirus. Showing up on Golf Channel’s “Live From The Players,” official Mike Whan said of the choice to reschedule the occasions later in the year: “This is a decision I may not like, but I don’t think I’ll ever regret. I just wasn’t willing to live with being wrong.”

Prior this week, during his yearly Players address, Monahan advised that, while it was a “very dynamic situation,” the Tour was “full steam ahead” subsequent to being in correspondence with different wellbeing associations.

Halfway through the opening round Thursday, notwithstanding, the Tour reported that there would be no fans for the last three rounds, and in any event the following three competitions through the Texas Open.

On a sun-sprinkled day and before average groups, Hideki Matsuyama tied the course record at TPC Sawgrass with a 9-under 63 in the opening round, taking a two-shot lead over Harris English, Si Woo Kim and Christiaan Bezuidenhout. World No. 1 Rory McIlroy was nine shots off the pace.

After his round, McIlroy required all players and caddies to be tried for the coronavirus. When inquired as to whether anybody tried positive, McIlroy stated: “We need to shut it down.”

“More than anything, everyone needs to get tested,” he said. “For us to keep playing on the PGA Tour, all the Tour players and people who are involved need to get tested and make sure no one has got it.”

The Players Championship is the Tour’s head occasion and highlights a $15 million tote, the most extravagant prize in golf. It was not promptly evident whether the occasion would be rescheduled.

Monahan is planned to hold a news meeting at 8 a.m. ET Friday.

The retraction stretches out to the entirety of the PGA Tour’s feeder circuits, including the Korn Ferry Tour. The entryway to the PGA Tour was booked to have three occasions in the following three weeks, yet now will be dropped through at any rate April 5.