Scottish Open in East Lothian postponed as European Tour cancels two other events

The Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open, due to be held at The Renaissance Club in July, has been postponed due to the ongoing threat posed by the coronavirus.

Austrian Bernd Wiesberger won last year's Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club in East Lothian after a play-off. Picture: Getty Images

The scheduled second staging of the $7 million Rolex Series event at the East Lothian venue has been put on hold by the European Tour as three more tournaments were added to a growing list of postponements and cancellations.

Decisions have also been made to cancel the BMW International Open in Germany and the French Open in the last week of June and first week of July respectively.

The BMW International Open has been played every year since 1989, while the French Open is continental Europe’s oldest national Open.

The French event, due to be held at Le Golf National, near Paris, has been cancelled following the French government’s decision to cancel all mass public gatherings and events until mid-July.

It is hoped that the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open, won by Austrian Bernd Wiesberger in a play-off on the East Lothian coast last July, can be rescheduled for later in the year along with events that had already been postponed, including the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open at Mount Juliet.

The Scotsman understands that the first week in September has been set aside for the Scottish Open on a revised scheduled being worked on by the European Tour.

Chief executive Keith Pelley said: “The decision to cancel the BMW International Open, which has been a cornerstone of the European Tour calendar for three decades, and the Open de France, one of our most historic national Opens was made in consultation with our long-term partner BMW and the French Golf Federation respectively with public health and well-being the absolute priority for all of us.

“Both Germany and France have been significantly impacted by Coronavirus, and our thoughts go out to everyone affected in both countries, as well as elsewhere around the world.

“In consultation with Aberdeen Standard Investments, VisitScotland and Rolex, we have also decided to postpone the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open, which is part of our prestigious Rolex Series.

"Discussions about the possibility of rescheduling this event will continue as we look at a variety of different scenarios for our schedule for when it is safe and permitted to resume playing.

"We will only announce details of these plans when we have clarity on the global situation.”

Today's announcements mean that the European Tour schedule has been wiped out until the end of July, with the next event on the calendar due to be the British Masters at Close House, near Newcastle.

A gap had already been left in the summer schedule by the R&A's decision to cancel the 149th Open Championship, set to be held at Royal St George's in July.

The PGA Tour announced plans yesterday to restart its season in mid-June, though the final decision on that will come down to public health authorities.

The plan is to play the first four events - in Texas, South Carolina, Connecticut and Michigan - without any fans in attendance.

Three of the men's majors have been rescheduled for later in the year, starting with the US PGA Championship at Harding Park in San Francisco in early August.

The US Open is then due to be played at Winged Foot, outside New York, in September, followed by The Masters in a novel November slot.