Tag: The Open Championship

R&A CEO dismisses report that British Open is canceled, says it’s still considering options

“We are continuing to work through our options for The Open this year, including postponement.”

Late Wednesday evening Golf Digest ran a story that cited sources saying that the R&A was set to cancel The Open Championship this summer due to COVID-19, a novel strain of the coronavirus.

On Thursday, the R&A issued a statement disputing that. While the statement didn’t rule out cancelation, R&A CEO Martin Slumbers wrote that “We are continuing to work through our options for The Open this year, including postponement.”

This tracks more with what we’d expect regarding a tournament that isn’t scheduled to be held until July. While I’m certain that cancelation is on the table, it seems strange that the R&A would make such a huge decision without knowing more.

Do I think the tournament will happen in July? Right now, I’d guess not. But August, if they can make it work with the schedule? Why not try? Think how much the world has changed in the last two and a half weeks. It’d be silly to try and predict what will be happening in July or August, even if cancelation looks possible or even likely.

The full statement:

“We are continuing to work through our options for The Open this year, including postponement. Due to a range of external factors, that process is taking some time to resolve. We are well aware of the importance of being able to give clear guidance to fans, players and everyone involved and are working to resolve this as soon as we can. We will give a further update as soon as we are in a position to do so and thank everyone for their support and understanding in this challenging situation.”

We’ll update the story as we learn more.

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R&A cancels two amateur events due to coronavirus, comments on status of British Open

The R&A announced Thursday it canceled two amateur events but is keeping an eye on coronavirus ahead of the Open and Women’s Open.

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The R&A announced Thursday it canceled two more events as the threat of coronavirus continues to evolve.

Based on advice by the UK Government, the R&A has canceled two international amateur events — the R&A Student Tour Series Final at St Andrews and Carnoustie and The R&A Girls’ U16 Amateur Championship at Fulford. Both events were scheduled for April.

The R&A said it is also evaluating current plans for the British Open at Royal St George’s in July and the AIG Women’s British Open at Royal Troon in August. Currently, the R&A plans to proceed with both events, but will also consider a range of options for the championships if necessary.

“Our absolute priority is to ensure the safety of players, fans, officials, staff and all involved in our championships and that will be at the forefront of our thinking as we monitor developments,” Chief Executive of the R&A Martin Slumbers said in a statement. “We have some time before we start building the infrastructure at both venues and so we are keeping the scheduled dates in place for The Open and AIG Women’s British Open at this point.

“We recognize that this is a rapidly changing situation and we will keep everyone informed of any changes to our plans. These are difficult times but we are bearing in mind our responsibility for what’s right for golf and most importantly for society.”

The R&A said in its statement it will stay updated on the progression COVID-19 and how it will impact the remainder of the season’s events.

The R&A is not the only organization holding off on canceling major events scheduled for later this summer. The International Olympic Committee has not yet called off the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo even though COVID-19 was officially declared a pandemic last week and many countries have barred non-essential travel.

That said, the PGA Tour postponed the PGA Championship on Tuesday and Augusta National postponed the Masters Tournament last week.

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