A day after the PGA Tour officially announced its intended return, its European counterpart was crossing off more tournaments from its schedule.
On Friday, the European Tour cancelled the BMW International Open and Open de France, while postponing the Scottish Open. The events were slated consecutively on the European calendar, beginning with the BMW on June 25 and ending with the Scottish Open on July 9.
Because the Scottish Open is one of eight Rolex Series events, there is hope the event, scheduled to visit the Renaissance Club in North Berwick, can be rescheduled at some point later in the year.
“The decision to cancel the BMW International Open, which has been a cornerstone of the European Tour calendar for three decades, and the Open de France, one of our most historic national Opens, was made in consultation with our long-term partner BMW and the French Golf Federation respectively with public health and well-being the absolute priority for all of us,” European Tour CEO Keith Pelley said in a statement. “Both Germany and France have been significantly impacted by Coronavirus, and our thoughts go out to everyone affected in both countries, as well as elsewhere around the world.”
In a separate statement, Pelley said the Old World Circuit is without a timetable for return, but remained optimistic a season could ultimately be played.
“We cannot emphatically commit to a start date because, as I have said many times, we will not resume until it is safe, and we are permitted to do so,” Pelley said. “We now have 14 weeks with no tournaments, but those three and a half months are also the time where the global situation may well begin to show signs of improvement. There are already discussions centring around the easing of restrictions in several countries and everyone is optimistic that these can continue.
“This window also gives us the opportunity to continue working behind the scenes on a variety of scheduling options, which would allow us to provide you with a busy calendar of golf to enjoy when we do resume.”
Earlier this week a memo from Pelley to the European Tour players leaked in which Pelley outlined “drastic changes” to the league, which included pay cuts, elimination of certain luxuries, and the possibility of multiple events played at one site.
