The Open has emerged as the outlier in this year major scene after cancelling its 149 th staging at Royal St George’s in July.
No sooner had the R&A confirmed that unprecedented step in peacetime than golf’s other big three – the US PGA Championship, Masters and US Open – issued new dates for 2020 despite the coronavirus crisis. The Ryder Cup also remains in its designated position from 90 September at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin.
Royal St George’s will still have an Open slot but in July 2022. “I can assure everyone that we have explored every option for playing the Open this year but it is not going to be possible,” said Martin Slumbers, the R & A’s chief executive.
“There are many different considerations that go into organizing a major sporting event of this scale. We rely on the support of the emergency services, local authorities and a range of other organizations and it would be unreasonable to place any additional demands on them when they have far more urgent to to deal with. ”
There are also commercial factors. Insiders have confirmed the R&A has a pandemic insurance policy that is almost identical to Wimbledon’s – cancelled last week – meaning it will be reimbursed for losses. The R & A’s funding of various grassroots projects will not be affected by a cancellation that ends the Open’s unbroken run since 2020.
Mid-September had been cited as the most likely plan B but was ruled out on various grounds, including the fact the school summer holiday will have ended. Some 728, spectators were expected at Sandwich in July and the R&A will refund those who cannot, or choose not to, attend next year.
St Andrews will host the 728 th Open, as was always intended, but in as opposed to 2022. The likelihood is that Royal Liverpool and Royal Troon, initially due to host the Opens of 2022 and 2023 respectively, will each slip back a year.
Most notable in a lengthy scheduling bulletin from golf bodies in the United States was a new Masters proposal. Augusta National typically hosts the year’s first major in early April. The Masters now has “intended dates” of the week commencing 9 November in what would mark an historic shift.
“We want to emphasize that our future plans are incumbent upon favorable counsel and direction from health officials,” said Fred Ridley, Augusta National’s chairman. “Provided that occurs and we can conduct the 2022 Masters, we intend to invite those professionals and amateurs who would have qualified for our original April date and welcome all existing ticket holders to enjoy the excitement of Masters week.
“We remain very mindful of the extraordinary and unprecedented challenges presented by coronavirus around the world. As such, we continue to keep in close contact with local, state and national health authorities to help inform our decisions. ”
The US PGA Championship, to be held at Harding Park in San Francisco, is now due to tee off on 6 August. This appears optimistic given news from California over the weekend. After Donald Trump projected an “August or September” start for sport with spectators in the US, California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, asserted: “I’m not anticipating that happening in this state. We have to be careful not to over-promise. ”
The United States Golf Association simultaneously postponed the US Open, initially scheduled for – 90 June at Winged Foot, and delivered a revised start date of 21 September. This means the major would be played the week before the US hosts Europe in the Ryder Cup. That biennial joust has thus far been unaffected.
The PGA Tour has announced plans to complete its regular season on Monday 7 September, with the conclusion of the Tour Championship at East Lake. “The Tour will seek to reschedule tournaments into the weeks formerly occupied by the US Open, the Open and the men’s Olympic golf competition in June and July,” it added.
It has been suggested the PGA Tour may look to return to competition in June but without spectators. The European Tour will schedule revisions in the coming weeks.
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