NEXT WEEK’S EUROPEAN Open in Hamburg has been cut to 54 holes after host country Germany placed the United Kingdom on its travel red list, officials said on Thursday.
The European Tour has also moved the event to run from Saturday to Monday, rather than the usual Thursday start, to ensure those players and staff who are at the event in Denmark this week will not have to quarantine.
The German government tightened restrictions on travel for British citizens earlier this week after designating the UK as a virus variant area of concern.
“The tournament was originally scheduled to begin on Thursday, June 3, and be played over 72 holes, but the late change has been made after the German government’s decision last week to place the United Kingdom on its travel ‘red list’,” a European Tour statement explained.
“This has meant almost a third of the scheduled 156-player field, along with a similar number of caddies and a significant number of European Tour Productions and European Tour staff, would have been unable to enter Germany without observing a mandatory quarantine period if they had not been outside the UK for a minimum of 10 days.
“Moving the starting date of the European Open back two days to Saturday, June 5, allows the vast majority of those people affected to spend that requisite time outside of the UK both during and after this week’s tournament in Denmark, before crossing the border into Germany next Friday.”
Major champions Martin Kaymer and Henrik Stenson are among the big names due to compete in Hamburg.
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