Fred Ridley, the Chairman of Augusta National Golf Club, made the announcement on Monday.

"We remain very mindful of the extraordinary and unprecedented challenges presented by the Coronavirus around the world," said Ridley. "As such, we continue to keep in close contact with local, state and national health authorities to help inform our decisions."

"While more details will be shared in the weeks and months to come, we, like all of you, will continue to focus on all mandated precautions and guidelines to fight against the Coronavirus. Along the way, we hope the anticipation of staging the Masters Tournament in the fall brings a moment of joy to the Augusta community and all those who love the sport."

The move comes as each of the other three men's professional majors has also made big decisions about their status. The PGA Championship has moved to August, the U.S. Open has moved to September, and the British Open has been cancelled for the first time since World War II.

The postponement means that the amateurs who earned exemptions into the tournament will still be able to play in November, but several are graduating seniors with plans to turn pro, so some difficult decisions will have to be made.

Ridley also announced that the Augusta National Women's Amateur will be cancelled for 2020 and will next be played the week prior to the Masters in 2021.

Said Ridley: "Ultimately, the many scheduling challenges with NCAA tournaments, the World Amateur Team Championships, the LPGA Q-Series and other events when women’s amateur golf resumes led to this decision."

The silver lining for those who were invited for the 2020 championship is that they will be invited to play in 2021, again provided they remain amateurs.