Open Championship to be Cancelled

according to ESPN.

Golf Digest reporting it as well. 2020 British Open to be canceled due to coronavirus pandemic, sources say - Golf DigestRevealing paragraph from article.Part of the reason the championship is being canceled rather than postponed like the Masters and PGA Championship has to do with insurance, a source says. Similar to Wimbledon, the R&A has a policy that shields against a global pandemic, and a source indicated the Open would have to cancel by a certain date in order to collect on its insurance premium.

“The R&A is the most [insured] of all the tournaments,” a source said. “They have complete cancellation insurance. I just don’t see any golf [being played] before August.”

Also IBTL.

I think at this point all large sporting events until August are done. Not so much that things won't be open sooner, but the prep starts around May if not earlier.

I never even thought about tournaments having insurance like that. Very interesting.

The UK has had a few foot & mouth outbreaks and while it never seriously effected The Open other sports events were effected so it was probably in their thinking. I'm not surprised the R&A were shrewd enough to get extensive cover.

All the majors will be cancelled this year.

Doubt we'll allow international travel this year to allow a major to be played.

No point holding a US Open, US PGA or Masters without International golfers. The win would have a massive asterisks next to it.

I have made my peace with them all being off this year. I generally think that we will be lucky to have anything of the season played at all.

Feeling pretty much the same way. Bigger fish to fry out there in the world right now. Will make golf even more enjoyable when we get it back!

What's the over/under as to when the mods will lock this thread?

Yeah, not sure why this is the only sport fan forum without a COVID thread. Bizarre.

I can just imagine how that insurance company must be feeling. When they issue that policy they are probably thinking "this is easy money, they play that tournament in every condition but the apocalypse". Then....the apocalypse. I mean its one of those funny, not funny things but they've got to be thinking WTH?

Can you imagine how much those premiums are going to go up next year...

Looks like Golf Digest's sources were spectacularly wrong as the R&A has responded and there is no cancellation at this stage.

Link to source?

The postponement is coming, not quite sure what the R&A gain from trying to crack on with things the way things are looking.

Lol. Wow. At this point anything printed is believed.

Sounds like a member of the R&A will be playing here next year.

Guess the R&A figures they can wait another month before they decide to cancel or postpone. But it seems extremely unlikely we'll have a British Open this year.

While the insurance policy may have wording in it regarding dates, I'm sure it's all negotiable.

To be fair, with every sporting event being cancelled or postponed, it is pretty believable.

That's why it's best to get the news from the source.https://www.theopen.com/latest/2020/04/149thstatement

I didn’t say which way I meant that. Could be the second printing. Point stands.

You just had to call it the British didn’t you?! Haha.

Of all sports, I don't get why golf isn't trying to get things going in some way. Even more than NASCAR, where pit crews are in close proximity, golf is the one sport that could play on without fans.

I agree it seems inevitable and I'm sure it's not just a matter of stalling. Must be things to sort before they can announce publicly.

The big events such as The Open, Ryder Cup etc. would take a massive financial hit if they staged the events but without the revenue from spectators. I imagine it wouldn't be worth it, massive losses.

Regardless, playing without fans isn't the fix-all solution that some are touting it as, much more complicated. Hotels, accommodation, food, transport etc. it's not possible to stage/play an event without breaking the guidelines. How would you go about setting up all the logistics so everyone involved socially distanced in everything they did for the duration of the event.

I expect it probably will be cancelled sometime soon but not yet. Statement from The R&A on The 149th Open | The Open

Not surprised. Even if things start to calm down in the States and parts or Europe by June, other places that have just started like Mexico and the southern areas will be peaking heavily in that time period. We aren't looking at a vaccine until 2021.... Health experts say 20-60% *of the world's population* may get infected. With death rates varying between 1-4% this is not going away soon, and it won't be pretty.

My guess in most major sports are totally done for the entire year. It will not be worth the risks.

I agree. It's possible to stage a one-off event like the Phil/Tiger match that's being discussed because of the limited players and broadcast staff needed to produce it. A full field Tour event or even a limited field exhibition such as the Ryder Cup is something else entirely.

I'm just happy the pga championship got screwed up. They might had been the only major with an unaffected date if they had not decided to be idiots and move it to May.

I'm good with everything being cancelled this year. Crush any hopes I have right now and let me get the grieving process going. If I was a prisoner behind bars I'd rather know I'm being released in exactly a year instead of them dangling freedom on me, telling me maybe this date, mayebe that date, or maybe we'll give you some more maybes next week. I mean, let's just call it off and serve me up a major disappointment all in one fell swoop.

I'm hoping this loss of golf for 2020 will have fans flocking back in droves come 2021 and actually watching with their own eyes rather than spectating through their phone screens. A man can dream!!

Don't you believe everything you read on the Internet?