Masters and London Marathon postponed

Augusta National yesterday postponed the Masters, while the London Marathon was put back to October as the coronavirus outbreak continued to decimate the global sporting calendar.

The first men’s golf major of the year, the Masters had been scheduled for 9-12 April and Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley said he hoped the postponement puts the venue in the best position to host the tournament and its two other amateur events “at some later date.”

The decision was made 12 hours after the PGA Tour called off its flagship tournament, the Players Championship at Sawgrass, as the first round drew to a close on Thursday.

The 40th edition of the London Marathon which was due to take place on 26 April, will now be held on 4 October.

The decision comes after the cancellations of the Paris and Boston Marathons, while the Manchester Marathon, which was scheduled for 5 April, has also been delayed.

Meanwhile, England’s cricket team have cut short their tour of Sri Lanka. The decision was confirmed while Joe Root’s side were in the field at Colombo’s P Sara Oval, contesting a warm-up game for a two-test series.

Upcoming Formula One races in Bahrain and Vietnam have been cancelled, following Thursday’s announcement that this weekend’s seasonopening race in Australia had been called off. Cycling’s Giro d’italia, scheduled to start in Hungary in May, has also been postponed.

The final day of the Cheltenham Festival, which included the Gold Cup, went ahead as scheduled, but the National Hunt meeting at Kelso on Monday will now be behind closed doors.

All shinty and hockey games in Scotland have been postponed until further notice.

Scottish Golf has also announced the cancellation of the Scottish Boys’ and Girls’ Opens at North Berwick and Powfoot (8-10 April) and the Helen Holm Scottish Women’s Open at Royal Troon (1719 April).