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Open Championship: In a huge blow, the Open is canceled

By Christopher O'Day

PORTRUSH, NORTHERN IRELAND - JULY 21: Shane Lowry of Ireland gestures from the ninth tee during the final round of the 148th Open Championship held on the Dunluce Links at Royal Portrush Golf Club on July 21, 2019 in Portrush, United Kingdom. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
PORTRUSH, NORTHERN IRELAND - JULY 21: Shane Lowry of Ireland gestures from the ninth tee during the final round of the 148th Open Championship held on the Dunluce Links at Royal Portrush Golf Club on July 21, 2019 in Portrush, United Kingdom. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /
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In more dour news for golf fans everywhere, the Open Championship has been canceled this season.

Over the last month or so, we have continued to receive disappointing news when it comes to golf. Another blow landed today, as the Open Championship has been canceled for 2020.

It’s tough to hear, as everyone was looking forward to being able to at least, hopefully, watch the majors this year.

The fact that so many people were going to have to travel, with a large number of them having to fly overseas, made it logistically difficult for the Open Championship to happen.

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There are a couple of things that the cancellation affects. First, Shane Lowry won’t be able to try and defend his title, at least in the normal sense. He is going to have to wait til the summer of 2021 to try and do so.

Next year was supposed to be the 150th celebration of the Open Championship at St. Andrews. This has been pushed back a year, and the next iteration of the Open Championship at St. Andrews will now be held in 2022, and will still be the 150th go-round.

It sounds like this year’s event, at Royal St. George’s, will be pushed back to next year. It does seem that each tournament for the Open Championship is being pushed back so that everyone who was on the schedule still gets the honor of hosting the historic event.

As more and more people are told to stay home, the majors were one of the events that we thought we would still see throughout the 2020 season. So far, this has been the only major that has been cancelled, which is good and bad at the same time.

All three of the other majors have been rescheduled, so at least we have that to look forward to come the fall. Time will tell if they still end up being played, but with a current reschedule date for all of them, it’s something to look forward to.

I think cancelling the Open Championship is the right call. Yes, it’s really tough to not be able to see one of the majors. With all the concerns surrounding the transmission of Covid, it seems to be the right call.

The majority of the field would be flying into the Open Championship. Even those that are already in Europe would have to make a decent flight, from country to country no less, in order to get there. Keeping everyone safe is the right decision.

Even if the event was able to be held, It’s doubtful that the event would A) be able to have a full field and B) see the top golfers in the world. It would likely be a field full of lower-ranked golfers, and ones that were easily able to travel to St. George’s.

Next. Welcome to the Virtual Masters. dark

Yes, it’s a tough pill to swallow. When it comes down to it, the cancellation of the 2020 Open Championship is the right call.

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