New tournament next August to be announced later this year and European Tour will stage a minimum of 46 tournaments incorporating 29 host countries
Wednesday 2 October 2019 14:20, UK
The European Tour has published its full tournament schedule for the 2020 season, which includes a new event to be held in the UK in August.
In what promises to be one of the busiest years in golf history, with the Ryder Cup and the Olympic Games in Tokyo both big priorities for most of the world's elite players, the European Tour will stage a minimum of 46 tournaments incorporating 29 host countries.
The focal point will again be the eight-tournament Rolex Series, offering increased prize money and beginning with the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship in mid-January.
Each Rolex Series event from 2019 retains its marquee status for next season, which concludes at the lucrative DP World Tour Championship in Dubai on November 22.
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Qualifying for Europe's Ryder Cup team will finish at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, which takes place from September 10-13 with captain Padraig Harrington naming his three wildcard picks shorty afterwards for the showdown with Steve Stricker's Team USA at Whistling Straits a fortnight later.
Notable date changes include the Open de France, which moves from October back to its traditional mid-summer slot in the first week of July, although one of the world's oldest tournaments now clashes with the WGC-FedEx St Jude Invitational in Memphis.
The Dubai Duty Free Irish Open has been brought forward to the end of May, with Rory McIlroy expected to feature having missed this season's edition at Lahinch.
The Estrella Damm Andalucia Masters switches to an April 30 start, while the Betfred British Masters, hosted by Lee Westwood at Close House, takes place in the same week as the men's Olympic tournament at the end of July.
The British Masters will be followed by a new event in Britain which will be announced by the European Tour later this year.
