British Open is canceled because golf disrupts its major schedule

The 149th British Open, the oldest major championship in golf, was canceled on Monday by the R&A, which heads the tournament. Citing the coronavirus pandemic, officials said the event, which was scheduled to begin July 16, will be moved to July 15-18, 2021 and return to the south-east coast of England at Royal St. George & # 39; s , the course planned to host this year's tournament.

The cancellation came less than an hour before the announced changes to two of the three other major men's golf tournaments. The Masters, usually the first major to be contested, was moved to November 9-15. "We hope the anticipation of organizing the tournament will bring a moment of joy to the Augusta community and those who love the game," Fred Ridley, president of Augusta National, said in a statement.

The PGA of America said it would move the PGA Championship through August 3-9, in addition to pushing the Ryder Cup through late September. The United States Men's Open is expected to be rescheduled later this year. Three out of five women's majors have been delayed in recent weeks, with the US Golf Association announcing last week's postponement of the Women's Open through December.

The championship is the only one of the four major men's 2020 tournaments for men. to cancel. The R&A said the event, which was first disputed in 1860, was postponed to 2021 based on guidelines from government officials and health authorities in Britain. It is the first time since World War II in the 1940s that the tournament has not been held.

"Our absolute priority is to protect the health and safety of fans, players, officials, volunteers and committed employees," said Martin Slumbers, the director of the R&A. “We care deeply about this historic championship and have made this decision with a heavy heart. We realize this will be disappointing to many people around the world, but this pandemic is having serious consequences for the UK and we need to act responsibly.

“I can assure everyone that we have explored all options for playing the Open this year, but it will not be possible. There are many different considerations when organizing a major sports event of this size. We rely on the help of the emergency services, local authorities and a range of other organizations to organize the championship, and it would be unreasonable to place additional demands on them if they have much more pressing priorities. The [1509003]

The 150th Open will be played on St Andrews from July 14-17, 2022.