The European Tour is alerting its players that everything from prize money to player services will be different when golf resumes due to the coronavirus pandemic that will have a “profound” financial impact, according to a British newspaper.
The Daily Telegraph reported Tuesday it has obtained a memo from chief executive Keith Pelley to members that outlines the sobering effect of the coronavirus that has shut down golf in Europe since early March.
Eight tournaments have been postponed. Five others, including The Open, have been canceled. The next event still on the calendar is the BMW International Open in Germany (June 25-28).
Pelley stated the pandemic has stopped the tour’s momentum in tournaments and prize money and will require it to reassess how it goes forward.
“You should therefore be prepared that when we do resume playing, the schedule and the infrastructure of tournaments could look radically different from what you have been used to,” the memo said. “Many of the things you have become accustomed to, such as top-class players’ lounges or courtesy car services will most likely assume a different appearance, if indeed they are present at all.”
The European Tour initiated the year with a schedule of 46 events held in 31 countries, which includes the four majors and four World Golf Championships.
Pelley was not part of the group that tried to reconfigure a golf schedule to salvage what it could of the season. The Masters has been postponed until Nov. 12-15, the same date as the Nedbank Challenge in South Africa, one of Europe’s premier Rolex Series events.
The U.S. Open has moved to Sept. 17-20, the same week as the KLM Open in the Netherlands.
Rolex Series events have a $7 million purse, an amount that goes up as its Race to Dubai concludes with three events in November.
To salvage the season, Pelley suggested in the memo that when golf resumes, there could be multiple tournaments in the same location, two tournaments in the same week or as many as four tournaments in straight weeks in the U.K., preceded by a 14-day period that would let players from other countries to self-isolate in advance if that health requirement is still in play.
Pelley said the Rolex Series and U.K. events are a priority for the tour and broadcaster Sky Sports, and that it will “play behind closed doors if necessary.”