TORONTO -- The RBC Canadian Open has been pulled from the schedule for the second straight year, marking one of the first cancellations of a major annual Canadian sports event in the spring or summer of 2021.
Golf Canada made the announcement on Tuesday due to issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The decision was made in consultation with the PGA Tour and main sponsor RBC.
"Even with an extensive health and safety plan in place, we faced a number of significant logistical challenges that led us to this decision," said PGA Tour president Tyler Dennis in a statement.
The Canadian national men's golf championship was also cancelled in 2020 because of travel restrictions.
The Canadian Open was scheduled for June 7-13 at St. George's Golf & Country Club in Toronto.
St. George's was set to host the 2020 edition of the tournament before it was cancelled and then agreed to host this year's PGA Tour event as well.
The LPGA Tour's CP Women's Open, Canada's women's championship, is still scheduled for Aug. 26-29 at Shaughnessy Golf & Country Club in Vancouver.
The Canadian Open, first contested in 1904, is the third-oldest continually running tournament on the PGA Tour behind the British Open and the U.S. Open.
The novel coronavirus pandemic is the first time the tournament has been cancelled since 1944, when it missed a second straight year because of the Second World War. It was also scrapped from 1915-18 because of the First World War.
The Canadian Grand Prix Formula 1 race in Montreal is slated for the same week as the Canadian Open and remains on the schedule for now.
A spokesperson said the June 11-13 event is "monitoring the situation closely and awaiting instructions from public health officials from both federal and provincial levels."
The Honda Indy Toronto (July 10-12) and National Bank Open (formerly Rogers Cup) tennis tournaments (Aug. 6-15) in Toronto and Montreal all remain on the schedule.
The Queen's Plate, Canada's biggest horse race, has been pushed back to Aug. 22 from its usual late June date in Toronto.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 9, 2021
