V Krishnaswamy
The European Tour suffered another major blow as the Omega European Masters 2020 has been cancelled. It was yet another high-profile event succumbing to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The news of the cancellation first appeared on the official twitter handle of the tournament. It read, “It’s now official. Following the government’s regulations, the Omega European Masters 2020 is cancelled. Take care and see you in 2021.”
The Swiss government announced new guidelines earlier in the week, which extended the restrictions of mass gatherings at any events. That forced the tournament organisers to abandon plans to stage this year’s edition.
The Omega European Masters we scheduled for thee last week of August. Sebastian Soderberg won the title last year following a dramatic five-man play-off, which also featured Rory McIlroy.
The European Tour, which has lost a string of events since, the Kenya Open in March. While some events have been postponed, though new dates have not been announced, many others have been cancelled.
The events that have been postponed are Magical Kenya Open (March 12-15), Hero Indian Open (March 19-22), Maybank Championship (April 16-19), Volvo China Open (April 23-26), Estrella Damm Andalucia Masters (April 30-May 3), Made in Denmark (May 21-24), Dubai Duty Free Irish Open (May 28-31), Trophee Hassan II (June 04-07), Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open (July 09-12).
The events cancelled include WGC-Dell Matchplay, Texas, US (March 25-29), Golf Sixes, Cascais, Belgium (May 09-10), Scandinavian Mixed Masters, Stockholm, Sweden, (June 11-14), BMW International Munich, Germany (June 25-28), Open de France, Paris, France (July 02-05), The OPEN, Kent, UK (July 16-19), D+D Real Czech Masters, Prague, Czech Republic (August 20-23) and the Omega European Masters, Crans Montana, Switzerland (Aug 27-30).
While the Open has been cancelled, the other three Majors in the US have been re-scheduled.
The next tournament on the European Tour schedule as per the current schedule remains the British Masters at Close House, which is due to start on July 30. The event going ahead would also be subject to travel restrictions around Europe and UK.
