Miami - With deadly Hurricane Matthew churning toward the
Bahamas on track to the Florida coast, officials on Wednesday cancelled the
Web.com Tour Championship golf tournament that was to tee off on Thursday in
Jacksonville, Florida.
"It is unfortunate that we've had to cancel our
season-ending event," Web.com Tour president Bill Calfee said in a
statement.
"However, our first priority is the safety of our
players, fans, volunteers and staff. With Hurricane Matthew on the horizon, it
is critical that we make sure everyone involved with the Web.com Tour
Championship has ample time to evacuate the Northeast Florida area and return
home."
The tournament was to have been the culmination of a four-event
playoff series on the developmental tour through which rising talents can
secure playing privileges on the US PGA Tour for the 2016-17 season.
The 25 US PGA Tour cards which would have been awarded at
the end of the event will now be awarded based on players' earnings through the
first three playoff tournaments.
Hurricane Matthew left at least nine people dead in the
Caribbean, with Haiti postponing a presidential election that was scheduled for
Sunday.
Matthew hit both Haiti and Cuba as a Category Four hurricane
but has since been downgraded to a three on a scale of five.
Nevertheless, Florida governor Rick Scott declared a state-wide
emergency, urging those living on barrier islands and flood-prone areas to
evacuate.
All along the US East Coast university officials were
keeping an eye on the storm that could impact college football games that
attract tens of thousands of spectators.
The NFL's Miami Dolphins posted hurricane information on
their website for fans, and were monitoring the progress of the storm.
"Obviously, right now we're thinking about the people
in Haiti," Dolphins chief executive Tom Garfinkel told the Miami Herald.
But with the Dolphins due to host the Tennessee Titans on
Sunday, he added, "we're watching it very closely".
"We'll be prepared to react however we need to when we have more information," Garfinkel said.