SHANGHAI, China (AP) - The International Federation of PGA Tours confirmed the inevitable on Wednesday when it canceled the HSBC Champions World Golf Championships event in China.
The tournament was scheduled for Oct. 29-Nov. 1 at Sheshan International Golf Club in Shanghai. The Chinese government announced in July that because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the country would not host international sports events for the rest of 2020.
“We have worked extensively with all tours, international officials, the China Golf Association and other local parties to find a solution to host the WGC-HSBC Champions,” Ty Votaw, PGA TOUR Executive Vice President, International, said in a statement. “In line with Chinese government guidelines and being mindful of the logistical implications, we collectively made the difficult decision to cancel the 2020 event.”
Two other golf tournaments have been moved out of Asia and to the United States in the past two weeks. The Zozo Championship set for Japan is now scheduled to be played Oct. 22-25 at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, California, with Tiger Woods as the defending champion.
It will be called the Zozo Championship at Sherwood, a similar title to the South Korean event moving to Las Vegas the week before. That one will be called the CJ Cup at Shadow Creek. Both tournaments are expected to return to Asia in 2021.
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