Jaxson De Ville
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- Mar 19, 2019
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Another major sporting event has been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic sweeping the globe.
According to Joel Beall and Brian Wacker of Golf Digest, the 149th Open Championship set to be played at Royal St. George’s Golf Club in Sandwich, England in July has been canceled with official announcement expected as early as Thursday. It’s the first time the event will not be played in a given year since World War II.
The cancellation comes on the heels of Wimbledon tennis tournament announcing it’s 2020 championship would be canceled earlier on Wednesday. Major League Baseball has also canceled a series between the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals that had been scheduled to be held in London in June.
The Open Championship was scheduled to be played from July 16-19. The Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers will be eligible to begin their training camps the following week as they are scheduled to play in the Hall of Fame game in Canton, Ohio on August 6.
The prospect of having 156 players from across the globe travel internationally to southeast England amid all the disruption to daily lives is understandably questionable. Additionally, several events that would be held to actually set the field of players are doomed to be canceled as well along with stay-at-home orders likely preventing the building of any possible grandstands for attendance and other temporary buildings at the course. Logistically, the loss of the tournament shouldn’t be a surprise.
The NFL is scheduled to play four games in London this season with the Jacksonville Jaguars, Miami Dolphins and Atlanta Falcons set to make the trip over. The Arizona Cardinals are supposed to host a game in Mexico City.
The NFL is continuing to push forward under the assumption they’ll be able to play their full season slate this fall. The myriad of events falling off the sporting calendar around them suggest that may be an overly optimistic projection.