Shane Lowry has retained his British Open title for 2020!
With the coronavirus pandemic continuing to have a major impact on sport throughout the globe, many are still unsure when it will be safe to resume. Football continues to play it by ear, and many other sports are in the same boat.
On the other hand, golf has attempted to put a structure in place to deal with the postponements of their tournaments.
It has already been announced that both The Masters and British Open had been postponed, but no dates were given as to when they may go ahead. It had been speculated that one of the four majors or the Ryder Cup would not go ahead at all and that is indeed the case.
It has been announced that there will be no British Open in 2020, while the postponed Masters will take place in the unusual slot of mid-November. The PGA Championship will now be the first major of the year, taking place in early August, while the US Open will be held in September.
The Ryder Cup has remained in its original slot of September 25th to 27th.
The new Major golfing calendar has been confirmed ⛳️
The Open: cancelled
PGA Championship: Aug 6th-9th
US Open: Sept 17th-20th
Ryder Cup: Sept 25th-27th
The Masters: Nov 12th-15thhttps://t.co/yXHHMGkZv5— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) April 6, 2020
PGA Tour announces new schedule:
British Open: Cancelled
PGA Champ (TPC Park, San Francisco): Aug 3-9
FedEx Cup: Aug 10-Sept 7
US Open (Winged Foot, New York): Sept. 14-20
Masters (Augusta): Nov. 9-15
Golf has always seemed like a sport that can be played during a pandemic.— Dan Wetzel (@DanWetzel) April 6, 2020
In a statement on their website chief executive of the R&A (organisers of the British Open), Martin Slumbers, said they were left with little choice but to cancel the 2020 edition.
I can assure everyone that we have explored every option for playing The Open this year but it is not going to be possible.
There are many different considerations that go into organising a major sporting event of this scale. We rely on the support of the emergency services, local authorities and a range of other organisations to stage the Championship and it would be unreasonable to place any additional demands on them when they have far more urgent priorities to deal with...
At a difficult time like this we have to recognise that sport must stand aside to let people focus on keeping themselves and their families healthy and safe. We are committed to supporting our community in the week
With Shane Lowry the 2019 winner, the Offaly man is set to hand onto the claret jug for another year, although not in the circumstances he would have hoped for.
