COVID-19 forces postponement of Indian Open golf

The prestigious Indian Open golf tournament was on Wednesday postponed due to the global novel coronavirus outbreak with the organisers promising to reschedule the event at "some point" later this year.

The event was scheduled to take place from March 19-22 at the DLF Golf and Country Club here.

"The decision was made following consultation between the Indian Golf Union , the tournament's co-sanctioning partners the Asian Tour and the European Tour and the tournament title sponsor Hero MotoCorp Ltd, after the latest public health travel advisories announced by the Indian government," the Asian Tour said in a statement.

The coronavirus outbreak has so far claimed over 4,000 lives globally and left over 100,000 infected. India has more than 50 confirmed cases so far.

"All parties are looking into the possibility of rescheduling the tournament at some point later in the year, but there are no definitive plans at this stage," read the statement from Asian Tour.

Keith Pelley, Chief Executive of the European Tour said the decision was taken in view of the travel restrictions imposed on affected countries by the Indian government.

"As these new measures now prevent many members of both Tours being able to play in the tournament, everyone involved in the staging of the Hero Indian Open felt it was the correct decision to postpone the tournament," Pelley said.

Cho Minn Thant, Asian Tour Commissioner and CEO, added, "With these new travel regulations now in place, there has been a significant impact on the ability of our members, officials and service teams of both Tours to make their entry into India for the tournament.

"We will continue to take advice from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and local health authorities while monitoring the situation in relation to the possibility of rescheduling the event later in the year."