• European Tour decides event cannot go ahead amid protests• ‘Safety of players, staff and everyone involved is top priority’The European Tour has taken the highly unusual move of cancelling next week’s Hong Kong Open, the opening event in its 2019-20 season, amid safety concerns as relating to civil unrest. Hong Kong has been in the grip of
protests and riots since early June, with
golf officials not comfortable they can guarantee the wellbeing of players.
Tommy Fleetwood, Sergio García and Patrick Reed were due to headline the Hong Kong field. There has been no suggestion at all of annoyance from players at the Tour’s decision, with all stakeholders involved in discussions which have been ongoing for a number of weeks.