Open date switch moving closer

GOLF’S Open Championship has been pencilled in for mid-september by the Royal and Ancient.

The sport’s governing body were looking at delaying the tournament – won by Ireland’s Shane Lowry (right) last year – until later this summer because of the coronavirus outbreak. And that plan has moved a step closer with Royal St George’s in Sandwich, Kent, now primed to host the 149th Open between September 17-20 – if the Government gives the green light for mass gatherings to resume.

The nearby Bell Hotel, which is always used by

R&A officials whenever the Open is held in the

South of England, is now completely booked up for ten days from September 10.

And in the last 24 hours there have been a number of random bookings of local properties for the same period. They are believed to have been made by players, who have been tipped off about an imminent R&A decision.