The 2nd Major tournament of this season, The Japan PGA Championship had to reschedule due to the bad weather disaster occurring in the Kyushu area. The First Round of the Major will begin on the 5th, Friday. This was announced by Chairman Masahiro Kuramoto of The Professional Golfers' Association of Japan, the tournament host, at 16 pm yesterday.

The plan is to do the 2nd Round on Saturday, and players who are above tied to 60th will go on to Sunday for 36 holes battle. The goal for the tournament organizers is to aim for full 72 holes tournament.

It must have been a very difficult decision to make, as the dreadful disaster is haunting the Kyushu area, and many residents are facing the need for evacuation.
Chairman Kuramoto said, "We know that there is serious disaster occurring and it is not so fitting to have a golf tournament, but we have discussed every detail and have come down to this conclusion to continue having this tournament. We sincerely hope that our decision will be understood."

Ryo Ishikawa listened to Chairman Kuramoto's speech with his own thoughts.
"No matter that there is no direct disaster in Ibusuki area, there are many in Kagoshima City where residents are told to evacuate. What about the safety of volunteers and fans? Is is matter of life and death, so we shouldn't take any risks."

As same as Ryo, many players shared same worries. But this week's Japan PGA Championship is hosted by The Professional Golfers' Association of Japan. Different from the regular tour's organizing body JGTO, where Ryo himself is the player's Chairman. If it was JGTO organizing tournament, Ryo would have the right to state his thoughts, but this week he is not in position to do so. But still Ryo has gathered players thoughts and told to Chairman Kuramoto with his straight thoughts.

This Ibusuku Golf Club is the first ever Japanese golf course that Tiger Woods has played in 1998 Casio World Open.
Ryo said, "It is very exciting to have the chance to play at the course like this, but we must be very cautious about volunteers and spectators' safety. too"

Many discussions were done for the safety procedures, and at the same time the disaster warning for the area was declined by the government.
Now the tournament is set for the delayed First Round, where Ryo will start at 7:40 from the 10th Tee with defending champion Toru Taniguchi and Chairman Kuramoto.