The European Tour prize money cut by another £11million following the loss of two tournaments

Another £11million can be added to the colossal sums wiped off the European Tour schedule following the grievous loss of the Turkish Airlines Open and the Nedbank Challenge in South Africa at the end of the season.

Those two events boosted the bank balance of their respective winners Tyrrell Hatton and Tommy Fleetwood by £1.5m and £1.9m respectively last year. Now they will be replaced by tournaments that will not offer those amounts in total prize money.

It completes the decimation of the big money tournaments, following the loss of two other Rolex Series events that each offered £5.25m, and the cancellation of the £3.75m Dunhill Links at St Andrews.

The European Tour has lost £11million in prize money after the cancellation of the Turkish Airlines Open and the Nedbank Challenge

Next week, the £8m WGC-Champions event in China in late October will also be formally cancelled.

The tour did announce two events in Cyprus, one in Italy and another in Scotland, but they will offer 10 per cent of the £33m in prize money that has been lost.

More events will be announced, bringing much-needed playing opportunities, but again the prize money sums will be relatively small. In short, 20 years of stunning progress has come to a shuddering halt. 

The sadness of it is underlined by the current UK swing where some enthralling golf has been on view, and intriguing stories have emerged each week. That continued at the ISPS Handa UK Championship at the Belfry on Friday, where Englishman Paul Waring is only two shots off the halfway lead held by South African Justin Walters, despite this being his first event in over five months.

Tyrrell Hatton won a total of £1.5million after winning the Turkish Airlines Open last year

‘I don’t know if I will be shooting 58s or 88s,’ Waring had said to his mates when asked for a prediction. Happily, his first 36 holes proved far closer to the former mark, as an opening 70 was followed by a 67 for a total of seven under par.

‘I think playing here with a nice free mind and no expectations has definitely helped,’ the 35-year-old said. ‘I genuinely had no idea where my game was, but I’ve driven it well and my short game has been tidy.’

Waring, from the Wirral, lives just a couple of miles from Matthew Jordan, the talented young Royal Liverpool product who is only three shots off the pace himself following two rounds of 69.

The £8m WGC-Champions event in China will be cancelled next week as the pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the golf schedule

In Chicago, Rory McIlroy finished his second round as joint clubhouse leader at the BMW Championship after shooting a 69.

The Northern Irishman has not managed a top-10 finish since the PGA Tour resumed, but a round of five birdies and four bogeys last night put him on one under par alongside American Patrick Cantlay.

The FedEx Cup play-off event precedes next week’s Tour Championship, which McIlroy won last year.

‘I’ve driven the ball much better over the last couple of days,’ McIlroy said. ‘That’s a huge key to my game. If I can drive the ball well, everything seems a bit easier from there.’