Golf: European Tour rules out staging events in U.S. this year

(Reuters) - The European Tour has ruled out staging some events in the United States this year, Chief Executive Keith Pelley said.

As part of a strategic alliance with the U.S.-based PGA Tour, the European Tour was exploring the possibility of holding a number of tournaments in Florida due to COVID-19 travel restrictions in Europe.

"As a global Tour we face challenges due to current international travel restrictions and we therefore must explore all options available to ensure our members play a full schedule," Pelley said in a statement.

"The offer to stage events in the United States was a generous one by the PGA Tour and shows the strength of the strategic alliance between our two Tours that we announced late last year.

"However ... our intention is to stay with our current schedule and that remains our plan. At the same time, however, we are constantly monitoring the fluid situation across Europe."

In December the Tour announced its global schedule for the 2021 season featuring 42 tournaments in 24 countries, with each of the four Rolex Series events offering an increase in prize money.

The schedule saw the return of 18 tournaments which were either cancelled or postponed in 2020 due to the pandemic.

Events are scheduled to take place in Spain and Portugal next month, followed by tournaments in France, England and Denmark in May.

(Reporting by Arvind Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)