The 149th Open, which was scheduled to take place between July 16-19 this year, has been cancelled as a result of the coronavirus crisis.
It is the first men's major of the year to be scrapped, and will now take place at Royal St George's in July next year, the R&A has announced.
R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers said the Old Course at St Andrews will host the 150th version of the event in 2022.
This is the first time The Open has been cancelled since World War II, and the news comes just days after Wimbledon was also called off.
Slumbers said in a statement: "Our absolute priority is to protect the health and safety of the fans, players, officials, volunteers and staff involved in The Open.
"We care deeply about this historic Championship and have made this decision with a heavy heart. We appreciate that this will be disappointing for a great many people around the world but we have to act responsibly during this pandemic and it is the right thing to do.
"I can assure everyone that we have explored every option for playing The Open this year but it is not going to be possible.
"There are many different considerations that go into organising a major sporting event of this scale. We rely on the support of the emergency services, local authorities and a range of other organisations to stage the Championship and it would be unreasonable to place any additional demands on them when they have far more urgent priorities to deal with."
Last year Shane Lowry was the winner of the tournament, while the likes of Rory McIlroy, Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson were among the favourites to finish victorious this time around.
The Masters and PGA Championship are both being rescheduled while there has as yet been no news about the US Open, with organisers hopeful it could go ahead as planned in June.
