US Outlaw Tour Gives Golfers Events Despite Coronavirus

Los Angeles, April 6 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Apr, 2020 ) :There are desert rain downpours and tee box confusion with top prizes of only $4,500 (4,167 Euros), but golf's Outlaw Tour is playing through in Arizona despite the coronavirus pandemic.

The four-year-old men's developmental circuit typically attracts players in their 20s for 54-hole mid-week events with entry fees of $775-$875 and is set to play four final season events in April.

With almost every other sports league in the United States and worldwide shut down amid safety precautions for the deadly COVID-19 virus, the Outlaw Tour keeps going thanks to golf courses being declared an "essential business" in the state.

After two events since the PGA Tour halted play, the Outlaw Tour will stage the Orange Tree Classic at Scottsdale, Arizona, starting Tuesday with an 80-player field over a 6,739-yard layout.

The lineup features Germany's 49-year-old Alex Cejka, who won the 2015 PGA Puerto Rico Open and four European Tour titles from 1995-2002.

His best finish in 23 major starts was fourth at the 2003 PGA Championship.

Thomas Lehman and amateur Sean Lehman, sons of 1996 British Open champion and former world number one Tom Lehman, are also in the field.

At last week's Verrado Founders Championship, Scotland's Calum Hill, a 136th-ranked European Tour newcomer, closed with a 4-under par 68 to finish on 15-under 201 for a one-stroke victory over American Chris Korte.

But the big shocker came when 14 players were disqualified for playing off the wrong tee after a tee-box mix-up on a par-3 hole in the first round.

The tee was set up at 204 yards while scorecards showed the hole at 222 yards. The first group to reach the hole played off the wrong tee and others followed before the mistake was caught.