British golfers quit Joburg Open ahead of variant flight ban

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AP) — A batch of British and Irish golfers withdrew from the Joburg Open before Friday’s second round after the U.K. government announced it was banning flights from South Africa to counter the spread of a new COVID-19 variant.

The inaugural season of the DP World Tour started Thursday but more than a dozen players pulled out of the tournament because of the new restrictions, tour spokesman Steve Todd confirmed on Friday.

The U.K. announced it was suspending flights from South Africa and five other southern African countries and making travellers from these countries self-isolate for 10 days effective from 1200 GMT Friday. From Sunday morning, travellers would have to go into hotel quarantine.

U.K. Health Secretary Sajid Javid said there were concerns the new variant “may be more transmissible” than the delta strain, and “the vaccines that we currently have may be less effective” against it.

Also, the European Union said Friday it plans to stop air travel from southern Africa because of the variant as the 27-nation bloc is battling a massive spike in cases.

Angel Hidalgo of Spain shot 6-under 65 on Thursday to lead the first round before play was suspended because of bad weather. It marked the start of a new era following the rebranding of the European Tour to a title which better reflected its global nature.

Not every British player left. Ashley Chesters shot 2-under 69 on Friday to complete his second round on 7 under overall.

The Joburg Open is the start of a South Africa swing, followed by the SA Open and Alfred Dunhill Championship.

Two rugby teams from Wales also plan to return home early from their South Africa trip. Cardiff and the Scarlets were set to play in the United Rugby Championship this weekend.

“Following the news of a new Covid variant in South Africa, Scarlets would like to assure families and friends that we are making every effort to get our touring party back home to the UK as soon as possible,” Scarlets said in a statement.

In a tweet early Friday, Cardiff said “we are now looking to repatriate our staff ASAP.”

Irish province Munster and Italian club Zebre Parma are also in South Africa.

Munster on Friday tweeted: “We all are safe & well in Pretoria. We are working with URC on the ongoing situation relating to Covid-19 & will provide an update once we know more.”

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