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Golf

July Irish Open confirmed as European Tour reveals 2021 schedule

The Dubai Duty Free Irish Open has been scheduled for the first week in July at Mount Juliet.  I...



July Irish Open confirmed as E...
Golf

July Irish Open confirmed as European Tour reveals 2021 schedule

The Dubai Duty Free Irish Open has been scheduled for the first week in July at Mount Juliet. 

It's part of a full European Tour programme of 42 events confirmed for 2021.

The 2020 Irish Open was initially supposed to be held at Mount Juliet in late May, but was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

A rearranged version of the event was staged at County Antrim's Galgorm Castle in September, to avail of the 'UK bubble' in which the European Tour was operating at the time.

But the 2021 edition will return to Mount Juliet from July 1-4, and will be the penultimate stop before the 149th Open Championship at Sandwich.

The European Tour have also confirmed the prize fund for the 2021 Dubai Duty Free Irish Open will rise to €3million.

In total, eighteen tournaments that fell by the wayside in 2020 because of the pandemic will return in 2021.

European Tour chief executive Keith Pelley said, "With the pursuit of Ryder Cup points beginning again in January for our European members; qualification spots now available for our Rolex Series events; a sustained pursuit of innovation and a continued celebration of our wonderful heritage, it is understandable that our overarching narrative for this season is that: ‘Every Week Counts.’

“There is no question that the challenge of reshaping our 2020 season in many ways informed our approach to 2021. One of the key learnings was to group events together in terms of their geographical location to create a more travel friendly season for our members. That is reflected in numerous concentrations of event locations.

“Another was to continue to enhance our Rolex Series events at strategic points in the global golfing calendar when the European Tour will be the focal point of golf on the world stage.

"This is one of the many aspects we will continue to develop in our Strategic Alliance discussions with the PGA Tour, following our historic partnership announcement last month.

"Our events in the initial part of the 2021 season will continue to operate under the guidelines of our world-class Health Strategy, which will evolve aligned to the latest medical advice.

"However, with the incredible progress that has been made in recent months in terms of a vaccine, we look forward to hopefully welcoming the gradual return of the fans we’ve so dearly missed, whilst at the same time continuing to entertain viewers at home through our unrivalled World Feed TV output and across our award-winning digital platforms.”

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