McIlroy, Rahm head strong field at Colonial

LOS ANGELES:

World number one Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm of Spain will highlight a strong field in Fort Worth, Texas next week as the PGA Tour returns from a three-month break due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Americans Dustin Johnson and Justin Thomas will also tee it up on Thursday at the Charles Schwab Challenge at the Colonial Country Club course.

The 148-player Fort Worth field also includes world No. 3 Brooks Koepka, defending champion Kevin Na and Phil Mickelson.

One major change is that organizers are not allowing any spectators at the event which runs through June 14.

The PGA Tour cancelled 11 tournaments during its shutdown, and revised its remaining schedule.

The first five events of the restart, including the Charles Schwab, will be played without spectators.

The first tournament to have fans will be The Memorial, July 16-19 in Dublin, Ohio.

After the Charles Schwab, the PGA Tour now will feature the RBC Heritage (June 18-21) in Hilton Head, South Carolina; the Travelers Championship (June 25-28) in Cromwell, Connecticut; and the Rocket Mortgage Classic (July 2-5) in Detroit, Michigan.

The PGA Championship will be played August 6-9 in San Francisco and the US Open is rescheduled for September 17-20 in New York.