It was a worrying time for the European Tour as Italian golfers Edoardo Molinari and Lorenzo Gagli were quarantined in Muscat and originally forced to pull out of the Oman Open over fears they may have contracted the coronavirus. However, the pair will now play, partnering each other after Gagli’s test proved negative.
Poor old Francesco Laporta, he flew into Doha to play in the Qatar Masters only to be shown the red card and had to turn about and fly straight back to Italy. The Qatari authorities have decided that any passenger arriving on a direct flight from Italy, or having been in the country in the last two weeks have a choice of going into quarantine for 14 days or flying back to Italy.
Italy has just gone into lockdown and around the world sports events are starting to be impacted by the Coronavirus crisis. All golf events cancelled to date have been mainly in Asia but now Europe and the USA are beginning to take action to stem the spread of the virus. The Masters is only a month away, and the signs are not promising.
As expected, the LPGA has confirmed that they have cancelled two more events in Asia. The Honda LPGA Thailand in Pattaya, Thailand that was scheduled to be played between 20th and 23rd February and the HSBC Women's World Championship in Singapore the following week are both casualties of the Coronavirus scare.
Not surprisingly, the LPGA has announced that the Blue Bay golf event, due to take place in China on 5 March, has been cancelled because of the coronavirus outbreak. Organisers of the event, due to be staged on Hainan Island, said the health and safety of players, fans and staff was their "highest priority".
Whether we think it is an overreaction or not, it is looking like a chaotic outlook for the golf calendar as a result of the Coronavirus. Two further European Tour have been postponed and add in the President Trump travel ban and the future for European golfers in particular is looking dim.
When the UK government announced the change to the COVID-19 rules, we wondered how this would impact on golf societies planning events. England Golf has now made an announcement providing advice to the golf world. It's still not one hundred per cent clear but it does not bode well for larger groups of golfers hoping to get together. In a release put out on Twitter, England Golf said
The European Tour has announced the postponement of the Magical Kenya Open Presented by Absa which was due to take place between 12th and 15th of March. This followed the decision by the Government of Kenya to postpone all meetings and conferences in the country of an international nature.
Well, the R&A finally made a decision and somewhat surprisingly for some the decision was to cancel the 149th Open Championship because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Tournament will now take place at the same venue, Royal St George's Golf Club in Sandwich, in 2021.
As we feared the 'Covidiots' have spoiled it for the responsible vast majority in the UK and we are not only in lockdown but golf is also out of bounds! England Golf, Scotland Golf, Wales Golf and the Golfing Union of Ireland all confirmed that courses must now shut until further notice.
I’m just about to pay my annual subscription, a tad late but hopefully given the current circumstances my tardiness is overlooked. I will be signing a cheque, or more likely be doing an online transfer, for a chunky sum of money, at a time when I have absolutely no idea when my next round will come. I am happy to pay up but many up and down the country will be thinking twice.
As the various tours are losing millions each week in TV and sponsorship income and the Coronavirus trundles on the R&A continues to put out woolly statements about continuing to look at the options. Given the likely time frames for the lifting of social distancing and the issues over international travel, the R&A must postpone.
