Keyur Khamar

By Joel Beall
The PGA Tour announced that a new event will replace the cancelled John Deere Classic.

The Workday Charity Open will be a full-field event held at Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio beginning July 6. The tour will be at the property back-to-back weeks, as Jack Nicklaus’ Memorial Tournament follows the Workday event. This development was initially reported in early June.

“We are extremely pleased to join with Workday and Muirfield Village Golf Club to present this new event as we continue our Return to Golf efforts,” said Andy Pazder, chief tournament & competitions officer for the PGA Tour. “Our special thanks go to Workday for partnering with us as title sponsor and for their pledge to make a significant charitable impact with the event. Memorial Tournament host Jack Nicklaus has always done what is best for the game of golf and in these unprecedented times, we are most appreciative of his Muirfield Village Golf Club hosting the event the week prior to the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide.”

Muirfield Village is set to undergo major renovations following the Memorial, easing the burden of two weeks of tour play and strain on the course. However, while Ohio officials ruled the Memorial will have fans on property, the Workday event will be conducted sans spectators.

As part of the announcement Workday said it is committing $1 million to Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio and $500,000 to the Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation, founded by NBA star Stephen Curry.

“We’re absolutely thrilled to bring viewers one of the first live golf events of this truly unprecedented year,” said Aneel Bhusri, co-founder and CEO, Workday. “We’d like to use this moment to not only unify the golf community through this tournament, but to drive awareness and support for these and other notable causes.”

Tournament officials pulled the plug on the John Deere Classic in late May, believing state restrictions and guidelines towards the coronavirus pandemic limited its ability to host. In a statement, the tour confirmed the John Derere Classic would return to its schedule in 2021.