In order to combat slow play, from the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship onwards, regulations were introduced whereby a player would receive a one-stroke penalty for two bad times during a tournament.

After a three-month hiatus following the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters in early March, the tour resumed with a much changed schedule in July.

On 13 August, it was announced that Alexander Lévy had become the first European Tour player to return a positive test for COVID-19.

[49][50] With the return of the European Tour after the COVID-19 hiatus and as part of the new Golf for Good initiative – which underpinned all events for the remainder of the 2020 season – a mini Order of Merit ran for all six events in the "UK Swing", with the top ten players sharing an additional £250,000 to donate to charities of their choice.

[52] The top ten, not otherwise exempt, from the standings of the UK Swing Order of Merit after the first five events received entry into the 2020 U.S.