Report: Open Championship expected to be canceled due to pandemic

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The R&A is expected to cancel the 2020 Open Championship at Royal St. George's Golf Club in England due to the coronavirus pandemic, sources told Golf Digest's Joel Beall and Brian Wacker.

The official decision, which could come as early as Thursday, occurs after the All England Club canceled Wimbledon on Wednesday. The R&A was awaiting Wimbledon's decision before making one of their own, sources told Wacker and Beall.

The Open would be golf's first major tournament to be canceled. The Masters and the PGA Championship have both been officially postponed, while reports indicate the U.S. Open will be pushed back to later this summer.

Part of the reason The Open is taking a different approach than the three other majors is because of insurance, a source told Wacker and Beall. The R&A has a policy that protects against a global pandemic, and the tournament had to be canceled by a certain date in order to collect on its insurance premium.

"The R&A is the most (insured) of all the tournaments," the source said. "They have complete cancelation insurance. I just don’t see any golf (being played) before August."

The last year the Claret Jug wasn't hoisted was in 1945 because of World War II.

Royal St. George's is not expected to host The Open in 2021. Instead, the tournament will stick to its 10-course rota schedule: The Old Course at St. Andrews will host in 2021, Royal Liverpool in 2022, and Royal Troon in 2023. Royal St. George's last hosted in 2011.