Aussie golf duo retain British Open spots

Dual Australian Open winner Matt Jones and Aaron Pike will retain their places in the field for the British Open despite the golf major being delayed a year.

World No.92 Jones and Pike qualified to play at Royal St George's via last year's national Open, held at The Australian Golf Club in December.

Queenslander Pike, ranked world No.422, posted a final-round 69 to finish in a tie for third to book his maiden appearance at golf's oldest major.

However, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the British Open, which was due to be played from July 16-19, was cancelled for 2020.

The Australian duo can breathe a sigh of relief with the US PGA Tour confirming to its members, including Jones, that all players who had secured a British Open berth as of April 6 would remain eligible for the tournament in 2021.

The field for the rescheduled Masters (November 12-15) has been set using those players already invited while qualifying for the US Open (September 18-21) is still being determined.

Qualifying for the PGA Championship (August 6-9) will be based on the PGA points list as of July 26.

The PGA Tour remains hopeful of resuming play, with or without fans, at the Charles Schwab Challenge on May 21 at the Colonial Club in Fort Worth, Texas.

But the memo to players said the Tour would be guided by advice from health and government officials.

Once a decision on a restart date is made, the Tour said it would give its players as much notice as possible.

"At a minimum, it is our hope to give the membership at least three to four weeks' notice before restarting the season," the memo said.

"We understand many of you may be impacted by travel restrictions and/or the inability to practise in your area, thus we want to be able to give you as much time as possible to allow you to come back fully prepared."