The European Tour announced it will resume its 2020 season July 22 at the Betfred British Masters, the first event of a new six-week ‘UK Swing,’ as well as a revised schedule with four Rolex Series events leading to a crowning of a season-long champion at the Race to Dubai in December.
The European Tour season is expected to consist of 24 events following the creation of five new 144-man field tournaments that it is self-funding. Each will have a purse of 1 million euros ($1,103,350) and a 500,000 euro bonus pool ($551,675) taken from the tour’s tournament development fund.
“Some of you may want to ask the question. ‘Is the European Tour bankrupt or running out of money,’ and I would say absolutely not,” Keith Pelley, European Tour Chief Executive, said during a media conference call. “Of course, we’ve been affected like millions of businesses the world over, but we worked hard and been extremely responsible in our financial approach to this global crisis.”
The European Tour suspended its season on March 8 due to the global coronavirus pandemic and will return to action without fans at its first six tournaments in July. All tournaments will be subject to stringent safety and testing protocols set out in the Tour’s comprehensive “Health Strategy,” which will continue to evolve and align with international government guidance and health guidelines.
All tournaments also are predicated on government approval, hotels being operational and quarantines for players being lifted.
The first tournament in the ‘UK Swing’ is the Betfred British Masters hosted by Lee Westwood, which will be played at Close House, near Newcastle in the northeast of England, from Wednesday July 22 to Saturday July 25 – a week earlier than originally scheduled.
It will be followed by the English Open at the Marriott Forest of Arden and the English Championship at Marriott Hanbury Manor, before back-to-back European Tour tournaments – the Celtic Classic and the Wales Open – are played at the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport, site of the 2010 Ryder Cup.
The UK Swing will conclude with the UK Championship at The Belfry, another venue rich in Ryder Cup history, having hosted four contests with Europe triumphing in two (1985 and 2002), the US winning in 1993 and the 1989 match ending in a 14-14 tie. The six UK events are within a 3-hour drive of one another.
We’re delighted to announce plans for the resumption of the 2020 European Tour season.#GolfForGood
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) May 28, 2020
“We’re following a strategy of playing multiple events in one country to minimize travel and ensure we have the best opportunity to complete our tournaments in the safest and healthiest environment as possible,” Pelley said, noting that the phrase etched in his mind is “mitigating risks.” In an effort to do so, the first six events will have a maximum of 500 people on-site at any time and no media in attendance.
Details of subsequent tournaments on the European Tour from September through to November will be announced at a later date — Pelley said he hopes to do so within the month — with a variety of scheduling options currently under consideration as the global situation continues to evolve.
“Without question, we have had to think differently about the remainder of our 2020 season which is reflected in today’s announcement,” Pelley said. “As golf’s global Tour, diversity is ordinarily one of our biggest strengths, but in this instance, it has become one of our biggest challenges.”
Rescheduled dates have been announced for four Rolex Series events; the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club will now take place from October 8-11 and the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Club is moving to the following week, October 15-18.
There are also new dates for the final two tournaments of the year. The Nedbank Golf Challenge hosted by Gary Player is now scheduled for December 3-6 at Gary Player Country Club in Sun City, with the season-ending DP World Tour Championship, Dubai, now December 10-13 at Jumeirah Golf Estates, where the 2020 Race to Dubai Champion will be crowned. Of the Tour’s 30 events, only the Alfred Dunhill Cup remains in its original time slot.
All tournaments played in the reshaped 2020 season will be governed by the Tour’s comprehensive Health Strategy which has been developed by Dr. Andrew Murray, the European Tour’s chief medical officer, in consultation with health care specialists Cignpost, who will deliver the testing procedure, and advisers in many of the 30 countries the Tour plays.
Each player will be tested before he leaves his country, and again before he is allowed to compete in the tournament, as well as persistent checks for symptoms. Pelley said that hiring additional staff and testing will cost the tour more than 2 million euros across its three tours.
The European Tour also launched the ‘Golf for Good’ initiative, which debuts at the new ‘UK Swing.’ After six weeks, it will culminate in 500,000 euros ($551,675) from the European Tour being distributed equally between charities local to the tournament venues and charities chosen by the leading ten players in a mini Order of Merit from the six tournaments.
As part of the changes to the 2020 season caused by the impact of COVID-19, the European Tour’s Tournament Committee recently agreed that all members’ 2020 categories, and their ranking within that category, will be retained in 2021. Related playing rights will be protected to the absolute maximum possible in the 2021 season. It also waived the minimum tournament regulation for the 2020 season.
“We recognize that when we resume playing golf, each player’s circumstances will be different. We, therefore, do not want to put anyone in a position whereby they feel they have no choice other than to play in certain events in order to protect their livelihood,” Pelley said. “Similarly, the feeling was that it was not fair to disadvantage any member who might want to play in an event, but who might not be able to, due to ongoing travel restrictions. Therefore, in consultation with our Tournament Committee, it was agreed preserving their exempt status for 2021 was the fairest solution in these unprecedented times.”
As a consequence, there will be no Qualifying School this year and no formal graduation from the Challenge Tour, although the tournament committee has agreed to reward exceptional performance on both the European Tour and the Challenge Tour in 2020, precise details of which we will announce in due course.”