Lowry resigned to Open cancellation as golf sets out hugely optimistic return calendar
Shane Lowry with the Clara Jug - “Believe me, it’s in safe hands for the next 12 months.”
Shane Lowry insisted that the Claret Jug will be in “safe hands” for another 12 months after The Open became the latest global event to fall victim to the coronavirus pandemic.
While golf’s leading organisations issued a joint statement setting out a tentative schedule for the game’s major events in the latter half of the year — with the Masters set for November for the first time — the R&A was forced to cancel the 149th Open Championship scheduled for Royal St George’s from July 16-19.
“It’s disappointing that the news has just come out,” Lowry told Sky Sports News, shortly after the R&A announced that the 149th Open will be played at the Sandwich venue in 2021, giving fans a true indication of the likelihood of tournament golf being played this year.
“I have obviously got mixed emotions about it. I’d love to be going back to Royal St George’s this year to defend but the R&A have made their decision and that decision is based on the health and safety of the spectators, the players and everyone involved that’s going to be there, so we will have to wait until 2021.
“It’s a weird time, isn’t it. There is no Open Championship in the calendar year. It’s weird and it’s something that I’ve never known and it’s been a long time since that’s happened.
“But believe me, it’s in safe hands for the next 12 months and I look forward to going to Royal St George’s to defend it in 2021.”
On the first cancellation of The Open since World War II, The R&A’s Chief Executive, Martin Slumbers, said: “Our absolute priority is to protect the health and safety of the fans, players, officials, volunteers and staff involved in The Open.
“We care deeply about this historic Championship and have made this decision with a heavy heart. We appreciate that this will be disappointing for a great many people around the world but we have to act responsibly during this pandemic and it is the right thing to do.”
While The Open is cancelled, the game’s leading organisations hope the COVID-19 crisis will abate and allow them to play the US PGA (Aug. 6-9), the FedEx Cup play-offs (Aug 10-Sep 7), the US Open (Sept. 17-20), the Ryder Cup (Sept. 25-27 as planned) and the Masters (Nov. 12-15) in a highly ambitious, 101-day span.
“The impossible jigsaw starts to come together,” Graeme McDowell tweeted when the game’s leading organisations issued a joint statement on the potential “new” schedule.
The biggest change is the proposed new November 12-15 date for the Masters Tournament at Augusta National, which was previously scheduled for April 9-12 before being postponed on March 13 - telling described by the club as “intended dates”.
"We want to emphasise that our future plans are incumbent upon favourable counsel and direction from health officials,” said Fred Ridley, Chairman of Augusta National Golf Club.
“Provided that occurs and we can conduct the 2020 Masters, we intend to invite those professionals and amateurs who would have qualified for our original April date and welcome all existing ticket holders to enjoy the excitement of Masters week.”
The 2020 Augusta National Women’s Amateur has been cancelled, however, and players who had accepted invitations, such as Forrest Little’s Julie McCarthy, will be invited to compete in 2021, providing they remain amateur.
In the new-look calendar, the PGA of America announced that the PGA Championship, originally slated for May 11-17, has been re-scheduled for TPC Harding Park in San Francisco from August 3-9.
The PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup play-offs come next, immediately followed by the US Open at Winged Foot in New York (September 17-20).
To add to the difficulty if the schedule for the players, the Ryder Cup remains as originally scheduled at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin from September 22-27, meaning that top players such as Rory McIlroy could be forced to play six events in a row.
While the European Tour has postponed the Trophee Hassan II in Morocco (June 4-7), and cancelled the Scandinavian Mixed (June 11-14), it has yet to announce its plans for the remainder of 2020.
"Due to the many complexities involved, the European Tour is currently working through various scenarios in relation to the rescheduling of our tournaments for the 2020 season,” the European Tour said.
Paul McGinley, who is a member of the European Tour board, is simply hoping that sport can return to normal in 2021.
“Unfortunately, there are a lot of casualties in the sporting calendar at the moment and now The Open has gone by the wayside,” he said.
"It’s great that [it will happen at Sandwich in 2021] and is not just taken out of the calendar.
“We will look forward to going back in a year’s time. Hopefully we are in a better place than we are at the moment and we are over this dreadful virus.”
McGinley is acutely aware of the difficulties facing the European Tour. Keeping sponsors like Rolex and DP World happy is key and if any golf is possible, the Rolex Series events, such as the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, would have priority.
With the lesser lights unlikely to play many events, extending the season into 2021 and scrapping the Q-School appears the most logical route.
Given the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, playing in front of crowds may be prohibited by many governments for the foreseeable.
McGinley made that clear earlier this week when speaking about the postponement of the Irish Open at the end of May
"It's a shame as we had a really great field lined up," he told RTE Radio 1.
"I think we all need to get our heads around the fact that, when we do get out the other side of this virus, it's very unlikely that the Irish government will allow mass gatherings at any sporting event.
"So if the Irish Open is to go on at Mount Juliet later in the year, I think there is a very strong chance it will be without a mass gathering. That would be a very eerie place."
