A Masters Tournament without dogwoods and azaleas in bloom? It could be one of the new firsts for Augusta National Golf Club.
The 2020 tournament was set to start April 9. No new date was announced when Augusta National opted to postpone golf's first major championship of the year in light of the coronavirus outbreak.
The Masters dates back to 1934. It has never been played outside of March or April.
Weather has forced a delay in finishing the tournament more than a half dozen times.
The last time the Masters had a Monday finish was in 1983. The Monday finish was forced by a full Friday rainout. In 1973, poor weather on Saturday moved the third round to Sunday and the final to Monday. Previously, Masters saw weather delays extend play by an extra day in 1961, ’36 and ’38.
Last year, the threat of torrential Sunday storms moved start times of the final 18 up to 7:30 a.m. Tiger Woods won his fifth championship at Augusta National with a back-nine charge ahead of foul weather.
Augusta National closes in late May and doesn't reopen for its members until October. If the tournament cannot be re-scheduled this calendar year it will the first time since 1949 that a Green Jacket is not awarded.
It was canceled from 1943 to ’45 because of World War II.
It has been played every year since 1946.
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