Stephen Gallacher insists “the bigger picture is more important” despite the coronavirus situation bringing uncertain times for golfers.
Five European Tour events scheduled for 2020 have been postponed because of the outbreak, including the Indian Open in March, which Gallacher won last year.
“A pandemic is a serious thing and people are dying from it. There’s always going to be an Indian Open next year, so it’s just a case of getting everybody back to full health,” he told BBC Radio Scotland.
“Then you can kick on with the sporting calendar again.”
Regular European Tour events have been called off in China, Kenya, Malyasia, Czech Republic and India, where Gallacher won his fourth title on that circuit in 2019.
“It wasn’t a surprise really,” said Gallacher. “It’s just the way of the world just now. It’s very uncertain times and we just hope it gets sorted soon.
“Obviously you want to go back as defending champion but the bigger picture is more important than sport. We don’t really know what’s happening, to be honest.
“Our next event is in Spain at the end of April down at Valderrama, but I don’t know if that’s going to go ahead either.”
Gallacher predicts the PGA Tour in America will soon start to be affected by precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the outbreak, especially now that there are plans to stop people travelling from some areas of Europe into the USA.
“I don’t see how the WGC-Match Play or the Masters can go ahead either,” he said.
“The Masters is a global event and they come to it from all over the world. It’s only a 90-100 man field, though.
“It wouldn’t look right playing it with no fans there either, because the fan participation is part of the sport and if the fans can’t come in I think it should be cancelled until a different time.”
The 45-year-old from Linlithgow admits he and his fellow professionals have concerns about being vulnerable to the coronavirus because of the amount of travelling they do to play at events.
“We’re going through major airports where you’re getting people from everywhere,” said Gallacher.
“We’re on airplanes with recycled air and you come into contact with a lot of people, whether it be fans signing autographs or stuff like that, so I think there is a genuine concern with sporting events and big large gatherings.
“The biggest one for us is in hotels, airports and planes. That’s what we can’t avoid and where there’s most chance of picking it up.”
Article courtesy of BBC Sport
Source link
