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European Tour hoping for return to play for Irish Open

The European Tour is hopeful that they can resume play by the time the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open...



European Tour hoping for retur...
Golf

European Tour hoping for return to play for Irish Open

The European Tour is hopeful that they can resume play by the time the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open at Mount Juliet rolls around in late May. 

The Tour is currently suspended until May 25, with confirmation coming on Thursday that the GolfSixes event in Portugal (May 9-10) and the Made In Denmark (May 21-24) are the latest events to be cancelled because of the spread of coronavirus.

Graeme McDowell is set to host this year's Dubai Duty Free Irish Open, and the likes of Rory McIlroy had already declared their participation before the pandemic.

Meanwhile, the R&A say they're "closely monitoring" the COVID-19 story.

This year's Open Championship is set to be held at Royal St. George's from July 16.

The R&A say they're "undertaking a comprehensive evaluation" of their plans to stage the 149th Open Championship, and the Women's British Open scheduled for August at Troon.

Alternatives for both tournaments are already being considered, "This includes examining a range of scenarios for staging the championships, with our focus on proceeding as planned, as well as considering other contingency options available to us."

R&A Chief Executive Martin Slumbers says, "We have some time before we start building the infrastructure at both venues and so we are keeping the scheduled dates in place for The Open and AIG Women’s British Open at this point.

"We recognise that this is a rapidly changing situation and we will keep everyone informed of any changes to our plans. These are difficult times but we are bearing in mind our responsibility for what’s right for golf and most importantly for society."

Made In Denmark organisers are hopeful of a new date for their tournament with promoter Flemming Astrup saying, "We are very concerned about the current development of Coronavirus and we believe the best decision is to postpone the event.

"We will now work closely with the European Tour to find a new date for Made in Denmark Presented by FREJA. It is still too early to say when, but both we and Himmerland Golf & Spa Resort are looking forward to present a fantastic course and tournament for players and fans when we are on the better side of this unfortunate situation."

European Tour chief executive Keith Pelley though hopes all will be returning to normal in time for Mount Juliet, "Discussions regarding the possible rescheduling of all postponed tournaments are ongoing and we remain hopeful of European Tour action resuming in Ireland at the end of May."

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Read more about

Coronavirus Covid-19 Dubai Duty Free Irish Open European Tour Graeme McDowell Irish Open Keith Pelley Open Championship R&A Rory McIlroy Royal St. George's The Open