The Open Championship to be canceled due to coronavirus pandemic

The 2020 Open Championship scheduled for Royal St. George's in July will be canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic, according to Golf Digest.

The decision comes in the wake of the Wimbledon tennis tournament being canceled earlier Wednesday, a development the Royal and Ancient, the group that organizes The Open, was waiting on before going ahead with its plan to scuttle The Open for the first time since World War II.

Scheduled for July 16-19 in Sandwich, England, the tournament will be canceled rather than postponed because the R&A can collect an insurance premium if it cancels by a certain date, according to Golf Digest. The Masters, scheduled for next week, and the PGA Championship, scheduled for next month, have announced postponements, but no future dates.

The PGA Tour has canceled or postponed nine events with tournaments in late May.

Golf Digest reported that it is not expected that The Open would be staged at Royal St. George's next year, which would have created an issue for the R&A. The organization for several years has been planning a 150th Open celebration at the home of golf in St. Andrews, Scotland, in 2021.

The Open is scheduled for the Old Course at St. Andrews next year, followed by Royal Liverpool in 2022 and Royal Troon in 2023.

A decision on the U.S. Open, scheduled for June 18-21 at Winged Foot in Mamaroneck, New York, is expected by the middle of April.