The 2020 Open Championship scheduled for Royal St. George’s in July will be canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic, according to Golf Digest.
The decision comes in the wake of the Wimbledon tennis tournament being canceled earlier Wednesday, a development the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews (R&A) was waiting on before going ahead with its plan to scuttle The Open for the first time since World War II.
Scheduled for July 16-19 in Sandwich, England, the tournament will be canceled rather than postponed due to insurance reasons, according to Golf Digest. The Masters, scheduled for next week, and the PGA Championship, scheduled for next month, have announced postponements but so far no future dates.
The PGA Tour has already canceled or postponed nine events with tournaments in late May.
Golf Digest reported that it is not expected that The Open would be staged at Royal St. George’s next year, which creates an issue for the R&A. The organization has been planning a 150th Open celebration at the home of golf in St. Andrews, Scotland, in 2021 for several years.
The Open is scheduled for the Old Course at St. Andrews next year, followed by Royal Liverpool in 2022 and Royal Troon in 2023.
A decision on the U.S. Open, scheduled for June 18-21 at Winged Foot in Mamoroneck, New York, is expected by the middle of April.