PGA Tour plans June tournament in first hint of sports return

The 2020 British Open has officially been canceled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the R&A announced Monday. The 149th Open Championship, which was scheduled to be played the week of July 12 at Royal St. Georges in Kent, in the south of England, is the first of the four golf major championships to …

The 2020 British Open has officially been canceled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the R&A announced Monday.

The 149th Open Championship, which was scheduled to be played the week of July 12 at Royal St. Georges in Kent, in the south of England, is the first of the four golf major championships to be canceled.

The R&A, which is the governing body for golf’s oldest major championship, announced that the 2021 Open will be played at Royal St. George’s, not St. Andrews, which had been the historic chosen site for the 150th edition of the championship.

Golf Digest last week first reported that the British Open would be canceled, on the heels of Wimbledon canceling this year’s tournament.

In other golf news, according to Golf Digest, the PGA Tour is believed to be planning to restart its season in mid-June, but with no spectators on the golf courses.

Of the majors, the Masters, which was scheduled to be played this week at Augusta National, was the first of the four majors to alter its plan, possibly to be played in November.

The PGA Championship, which was to be played in May at Harding Park in San Francisco, has been postponed until Aug. 6.

And though the US Open, scheduled for June at Winged Foot, has not been officially postponed, sources told The Post two weeks ago that the club has already been informed by the USGA that it will not be played in June with hopes that it will be rescheduled for later in the summer or early fall, likely Sept. 17.

As of now, the Ryder Cup, which is scheduled for Sept. 25 at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin, has not been altered.

The R&A stated that it was “necessary’’ to cancel the Open based on guidance from the UK government, health authorities, public services and the R&A’s advisers. This is the first time since the Second World War that golf’s original Championship, first played in 1860, has been canceled.

The 150th Open will be played at St Andrews from July 10 to 17, 2022.

The R&A said it will transfer tickets and hospitality packages purchased for the Championship in 2020 to The Open in 2021, and that purchasers who no longer wish to (or are no longer able to) attend in 2021 will receive a full refund.

Further information on this process will be sent directly to ticket and hospitality purchasers in due course.

Martin Slumbers, chief executive of The R&A, 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 this pandemic is severely affecting the UK and we have to act responsibly. It is the right thing to do.

“I can assure everyone that we have explored every option for playing The Open this year but it is not going to be possible. There are many different considerations that go into organizing a major sporting event of this scale. We rely on the support of the emergency services, local authorities and a range of other organizations 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.

“In recent weeks we have been working closely with those organizations as well as Royal St George’s, St Andrews Links Trust and the other golf bodies to resolve the remaining external factors and have done so as soon as we possibly could. We are grateful to all of them for their assistance and cooperation throughout this process.’’