CANCELLED! – Fresh blow for European Tour as another event goes

The European Tour has been forced to cancel another tournament as the global battle with COVID-19 rages on.

The European Masters, scheduled to take place at Crans-sur-Sierre in Switzerland from August 27-30, has been pulled from the calendar.

This follows a decision by the Swiss government to impose a ban on gatherings of more than 1,000 people through August.

The tournament, won in 2019 by Sweden’s Sebastian Soderberg, is the 18th event on this year’s European Tour schedule to have been either postponed or cancelled as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

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The most recent action on the tour happened on March 8, when Spain’s Jorge Campillo defeated David Drysdale of Scotland in a play-off to win the Qatar Masters. 

The earliest play can resume is July 30, when the first round of the British Masters is scheduled to take place at Close House in Northumberland. 

That, though, is expected to be pushed back into August. 

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After the British Masters, the next regular event on the schedule as things stand is the Porsche European Open in Germany from September 3-6, followed by the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth the following week. 

The PGA Tour has announced its intention to resume play – albeit behind closed doors – in mid-June, with the LPGA yesterday having outlined its planned return to action in mid-July.