On Monday The Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews in Scotland decided to call off the 149th edition for the major which was scheduled to be played in Kent from 12-19 July.

It’s the first time since the Second World War that the iconic golf tournament has been cancelled.

Last week the US Open, which was scheduled to be played at the Winged Foot West course in Mamaroneck, New York, was postponed due to the Coronavirus. Earlier in March the annual Masters at the Augusta National in Georgia was the first major to be called off.

The R&A has opted to reschedule the 149th British Open for 2021, and it will be played from 11-18 July at Royal St George’s in Sandwich, Kent.

CEO of the R&A, Martin Slumbers, said that they had explored all of the possible options before calling off this year's event.

“I can assure everyone that we have explored every option for playing The Open this year but it is not going to be possible.

“There are many different considerations that go into organising a major sporting event of this scale. We rely on the support of the emergency services, local authorities and a range of other organisations to stage the Championship and it would be unreasonable to place any additional demands on them when they have far more urgent priorities to deal with.

“In recent weeks we have been working closely with those organisations as well as Royal St George’s, St Andrews Links Trust and the other golf bodies to resolve the remaining external factors and have done so as soon as we possibly could. We are grateful to all of them for their assistance and co-operation throughout this process.

“Most of all, I would like to thank our fans around the world and all of our partners for their support and understanding. At a difficult time like this we have to recognise that sport must stand aside to let people focus on keeping themselves and their families healthy and safe. We are committed to supporting our community in the weeks and months ahead and will do everything in our power to help golf come through this crisis.”

St George's has hosted the Open on 14 previous occasions.

The 150th edition of the Open will now be contested from 10-17 July 2022 and the home of golf, St Andrews.

@MorganPiek OFM Sport