The European Tour, resumed on July 22 in Newcastle…

Interrupted on March 8 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the European Tour officially returns (behind closed doors for now) from July 22. The 2019-20 financial year (which could eventually be spread over 24 events) should end on December 13 in Dubai, for the usual final of the Race.

All tournaments will be subject to rigorous safety and testing protocols defined in the Tour's health strategy, which will continue to evolve in accordance with international health guidelines. The field of players will never exceed the number of 144 and the staff on site will be reduced. Coronavirus testing will be done before and during each tournament. A fortnight of 15 days is currently planned for non-British players, although these measures could be lifted in July following the evolution of the pandemic in the United Kingdom.

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The resumption of the European Tour will take place for the moment exclusively in Great Britain. We will start near Newcastle (England) at the Beltred British Masters (July 22-25), whose host of the tournament is none other than Lee Westwood. We will continue with the English Open (July 30-August 2) in Birmingham (Marriott Forest of Arden) then the English Championship (August 6-9) at the Marriott Hanbury Manor (Hertfordshire). This meeting will be located in front of the PGA Championship, scheduled at the same time in Harding Park, in the suburbs of San Francisco (USA). The Welsh Celtic Manor site, host of the 2010 Ryder Cup where Europe won on a Monday after a rainy weekend, will host two events in quick succession: the Celtic Classic (13-16 August) and the Open Wales (August 20-23). The English tour will end from August 27 to 30 with the UK Championship, in Belfry (England), another historic place of the Ryder Cup (four editions have been contested there with two successes from Europe, in 1985 and 2002) . All these tournaments on British soil will be endowed with up to a million euros.

We're delighted to announce plans for the resumption of the 2020 European Tour season.

"Since the suspension of our 2020 season in early March, we have taken a measured approach to re-evaluate our calendar, informed at each stage by our medical advisers and government counsel," explained Keith Pelley, the Canadian boss of the European Tour (.. ) We had to think differently the rest of our 2020 season, which is reflected in today's announcement. As a world golf tour, diversity is usually one of our greatest assets, but in this case it has become one of our greatest challenges. At the outset, therefore, based on the expert advice we have received, playing in one territory is the best option in terms of tests, travel and accommodation. ”

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The European Tour, which has not yet released the rest of the season's calendar, has also announced the dates of four Rolex Series (which were endowed in 2019 with between 7 and 8 million dollars in endowment). The Scottish Open will be played from October 8 to 11 at the Renaissance Club (North Berwick), followed by the BMW PGA Championship in Wentworth (England) from October 15 to 18. The Nedbank Golf Challenge was moved from December 3 to 6, still in Sun City (South Africa), while the Race final, the DP World Tour Championship, is scheduled for December 10 to 13, in Dubai, on the Jumeirah Golf Estates. Keith Pelley finally clarified that the statutes of the players for 2020 will be kept for 2021, that the Accession Cards on the Tour, just like promotions via the Challenge Tour will not take place this year (with some exceptions on this last point which is still in the finalization phase).