(ATR) The 2020 Open Championship will not be played this year.
The 149th edition of golf’s oldest major tournament has been canceled due to the covid-19 pandemic.
The R&A, the organizer for the tournament, announced its decision on Monday,
"We care deeply about this historic championship and it is with a heavy heart that we have cancelled the Open for the first time since WWII," Martin Slumbers, Chief Executive of The R&A, said in a statement. "This will be disappointing for a great many people but this pandemic is severely affecting the UK and we have to act responsibly to protect the health and wellbeing of everyone involved. It is the right thing to do."
Royal St. George’s, which was set to host from July 16-19, remains the venue. The new dates are from July 15-18, 2021.
The decision to cancel the tournament for the first time since 1945 comes at the beginning of what should have been the start of Masters week.
The Augusta National Golf Club on Monday did announce that it has "identified November 9-15 as the intended dates to host the 2020 Masters". The tournament had been postponed last month.
Augusta National, in a statement, said "we hope the anticipation of staging the Masters Tournament in the fall brings a moment of joy to the Augusta community and all those who love the sport." The statement warned that the plans
"are incumbent upon favorable counsel and direction from health officials".
The field would be made up of those who would have qualified from the original April dates.
The 2020 Augusta National Women's Amateur will not be held. The "many scheduling challenges" with the other events on the women's amateur golf calendar was given as the reason for the decision.
It was also announced on Monday by the PGA Tour that the postponed PGA Championship, originally set for May in San Francisco, is now scheduled for August 6-9.
The United States Golf Association (USGA) had never officially announced any changes to the U.S. Open, scheduled to be held less than 30 miles from New York City from June 18-21. But the PGA Tour on Monday says it will be moving to September 17-20.
The USGA late last week postponed the U.S. Women’s Open from June 4-7 to December 10-13 at Champions Golf Club in Houston.
Japan to Declare State of Emergency
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will be declaring a state of emergency for parts of the country as soon as Tuesday in response to the covid-19 pandemic.
The measures, which Abe announced in a briefing on Monday, will cover Tokyo, Osaka, and five other prefectures including Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba, Hyogo and Fukuoka.
The decision comes two weeks after the Tokyo 2020 Olympics were postponed for a year due to the pandemic.
There has been a marked increase in the number of coronavirus cases in Japan in recent days, especially in urban areas.
Abe says the state of emergency will be in effect for one month. He also said that the government will introduce an economic stimulus package which will offer more than 6 trillion yen ($55 billion) in direct cash payments.
Written by Gerard Farek
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