STATUS QUA CONCERNS PAUL
PAUL MCGINLEY fears top names will have to stay away from the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open if quarantining remains in place in Ireland in September.
Mcginley expects that the Irish Open – which was due to go ahead at Mount Juliet in May but was postponed – will take the free slot that will open up if the Ryder Cup is postponed.
The US PGA is predicted to put the Ryder Cup back to 2021 at some stage this week and it’s a scenario that former European captain Mcginley (inset) is preparing for.
He told RTE: “I know it’s very much in the plans of Keith Pelley, the chief executive of the European Tour, that the Irish Open is favourite to go into that date if the Ryder Cup is postponed.
“If these quarantine rules stay in place until the middle of September it’s going to be very difficult.
“You’re only touching on the edges of the surface here in terms of how difficult and how complicated it is to get a schedule and tournaments off the ground.
“There’s a lot of venues and future venues, right up to
2036 or maybe
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Bryson Dechambeau 323 yards 322.6 315.1 314.7 313.9 313.8 313.4 312.4 312.4 312.3
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Cameronchamp Erikvanrooyen . Ryanbrehm . . . . . Rorymcilroy . . . . Graysonmurray . Bubbawatson . . . Jasonkokrak . . . Matthew Wolff . . . Brandon Hagy . . .
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even 2040, that have been announced already and if we’re going to move back a year all those contracts have to be renegotiated.
“There’s a lot of moving parts going on here and it’s not a straight-forward case of ‘let’s move it and carry on’.”
Superstars like Brooks Koepka and Rory Mcilroy have been vocal in their opposition to the tournament going ahead this year because it is expected that crowds could not be present in Whistling Straits due to restrictions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.