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In just more than a week’s time, the continuing spread around the world of COVID-19 has had an increasing impact on golf tournaments and other sporting events.
COVID-19 is the disease caused by the new strain of the coronavirus first identified in late 2019 in Wuhan, China. As understanding of the virus and the disease steps up – and as the number of verified cases continues to grow – governmental agencies and organizing bodies are taking what they consider to be appropriate action.
On the European Tour, the Magical Kenya Open that was scheduled to begin Thursday in Nairobi will not take place. In a statement, the tour said the government of Kenya is postponing all of its meetings and conferences of an international nature – a decision that officials there will revisit after one month.
European Tour chief executive Keith Pelley said in the statement: “We understand and totally respect the decision made by the government of Kenya in these difficult times.
“We are looking into the possibility of rescheduling the tournament at some point later in the season, but that remains simply a possibility right now – we have no definitive plans at this stage.
“I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank President Uhuru Kenyatta and the Kenyan government for their unwavering support, alongside Kenya Open Golf Limited chairman Peter Kanyago and tournament director Patrick Obath for their strenuous efforts and commitment. We look forward to returning to Kenya in due course.”
The Asian Tour postponed the Royal’s Cup in Thailand, which also was scheduled to begin Thursday. The tournament was to have been played at Kanchanaburi’s Grand Prix Golf Club.
“The Asian Tour and the event promoter, Grand Prix International, have decided to postpone the Royal’s Cup 2020 on the advice of the health authorities of Thailand,” tour commissioner and chief executive Cho Minn Thant said in a statement. “Up until this week, the promoter, sponsors and the tour were committed to delivering the event as scheduled.
“However the current situation is now beyond our control.”
The MENA Tour, which stages tournaments in the Middle East and North Africa, postponed its remaining six events of the 2020 season. Five of those were scheduled in the United Arab Emirates and one in Jordan. Its next scheduled tournament, the Abu Dhabi Triple Crown, was to have begun next Monday at three courses.
A statement from the tour said it “has been closely monitoring all channels of information related to issues involving COVID-19. As an international tour, the health and safety of our players, staff, venue partners and partners is our paramount goal.”
The tour announced it will reschedule the final six tournaments of this season for September through December, with the goal of having the events neatly flow into the 2021 season.
In the United States, both the PGA Tour and Augusta National Golf Club are planning for extra precautions at their respective events.
The PGA Tour, which already has delayed the start of the PGA Tour Series-China due to coronavirus concerns, issued a statement that said, “ … the health and safety of our players, employees, fans, partners, volunteers and everyone associated with the PGA Tour continues to be our No. 1 priority. After reviewing the relevant positions from the Centers of Disease Control and the World Health Organization, there are no planned schedule changes.
“We are establishing additional protocols to promote the health and safety of all participants and fans at our tournaments, and we will regularly review our schedule in light of revised CDC and WHO reports and make any updates as necessary.”
Augusta National will move forward with the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, the Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals and the Masters, all of which are scheduled to take place between April 1 and April 12.
In February, the European Tour announced the postponement of the Maybank Championship in Malaysia and the Volvo China Open, both which were set to take place in April.
The LPGA also canceled tournaments slated for China, Singapore and Thailand in February and March.
Staff and Wire Reports