The 2020 Open Championship Has Officially Been Cancelled

Well, I guess it’s not going to be all good news today…

On the same morning when we received confirmations of rescheduled dates for both The Masters and the U.S. Open, we’ve also received word that the 2020 Open Championship has been cancelled.

It is with a heavy heart that we have to cancel The Open for the first time since WWII. We appreciate that this will be disappointing for a great many people but we have to act responsibly during this pandemic and it is the right thing to do.
Statement: https://t.co/brJfuOZSFP pic.twitter.com/iizOupOk4m

— The Open (@TheOpen) April 6, 2020

I’m sure the decision to cancel did not come easily, as evidenced by this statement from Martin Slumbers, Chief Executive of the R&A:

“I can assure everyone that we have explored every option for playing The Open this year but it is not going to be possible.”

So what’s next? The event will pick up where it left off with the 149th Open being played at Royal St George’s from 11-18 July 2021. 

The cancellation marks the first time that the event had to be shelved since World War II, and while we’re all saddened by the news, it’s impossible not to acknowledge the difficulty of the situation. Martin Slumbers elaborated on this further saying:

“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.

So while we’ll all very much miss having The Open this year, we can all certainly sympathize with the nature of what is happening on a global scale, and send our well-wishes for all of those healthcare professionals who are waging war against COVID-19.

For those wanting more information, you can read the official statement from the R&A here.