Indian Open stays on European Tour, fresh dates to be declared soon

NEWDELHI:The Hero Indian Open, country’s premier golf tournament, has been placed tentatively on the European Tour’s schedule for the 2020 season, and final dates will be confirmed soon, an official said on Thursday.

The tournament, co-sanctioned by the European and Asian Tours, was scheduled from March 19-22, but was postponed due to COVID-19.

“I am in constant dialogue with Pawan Munjal, and he is committed to the Hero Indian Open, and we have a date tentatively in our schedule and when we can confirm that emphatically, we will release that as soon as possible,” Keith Pelley, European Tour’s Chief Executive, said during a tele-conference.

Pelley also announced the dates for the resumption of the European Tour and it will first feature six events, all in the United Kingdom and as he said, at “…within a three-hour drive of one another…” The European Tour was suspended on March 8 due to the global Coronavirus pandemic. It will now return to action initially behind closed doors in July and run through until December. The full schedule will tentatively have 24 events.Pelley added that all tournaments will be subject to stringent safety and testing protocols set out in the Tour’s comprehensive health strategy which will continue to evolve, aligned with international Government guidance and health guidelines.

The first tournament in the ‘UK Swing’ is the Betfred British Masters hosted by Lee Westwood, which will be played at Close House, near Newcastle in the north east of England, from Wednesday July 22 to Saturday July 25, followed by the English Open (July 30-Aug 2) at the Marriott Forest of Arden, and the English Championship (Aug 6-9) at Marriott Hanbury Manor.

There are also new dates for the final two tournaments of the year. The Nedbank Golf Challenge hosted by Gary Player (December 3-6) at Gary Player Country Club in Sun City and the season-ending DP World Tour Championship, Dubai (December 10-13.

THE TOURNAMENT, COSANCTIONED BY THE EUROPEAN AND ASIAN TOURS, WAS SCHEDULED FROM MARCH 19-22, BUT WAS POSTPONED DUE TO COVID-19