April 29, 2020 — Stalled again, the LPGA announces that the beginning of its 2020 season will be held up for another month. This means the Tour will not begin until possibly, mid-July.
As many Tours make their concerns known about the ongoing effects of the coronavirus pandemic, The LPGA mirrors this impact on the sport and says its 2020 contentions will reopen with the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational on July 15-18 in Midland, Mich.
Commissioner Mike Whan says, “While July seems like a long way away, we are certainly aware that restarting our season in Michigan, Ohio and New Jersey will require continued improvement in the situation in each of those states.”
The Walmart NW Arkansas Championship, originally scheduled to restart the LPGA’s season on June 19-21 in Rogers, Ark., has been reset for Aug. 28-30.
Another causality, The KPMG Women’s PGA, one of the LPGA’s major championships, moves from its original playdate of June 25-28 to Oct. 8-11 in Newton Square, Pa.
The Marathon Classic originally planned to take place in Sylvania Ohio on July 9-12 in Sylvania, Ohio, has been moved to now content on July 23-26.
Commissioner Whan also said, “One thing that has become clear is that there will be no ‘opening bell’ regarding a return to safe play in this new normal of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“To be honest, being ‘first’ has never been the goal when it comes to returning to play in this new normal. We have built a schedule that we think is as safe as possible given what we know about travel bans, testing availability, and delivering events that our sponsors and our athletes will be excited to attend.”
Needless to say, the late start of the LPGA Tour will have an effect on the revised schedule, as it will topple, notably: Meijer LPGA Classic in Grand Rapids, Mich., which had been moved to Oct. 1-4, from the original date of June. Another factor is the Pelican Women’s Championship in Belleair, Fla., which had been rescheduled to November, will shift one week later, to Nov. 19-22. Also considered in the reshuffled debacle is the Volunteers of America Classic in The Colony, Texas, will move to Dec. 3-6; CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, Fla., originally scheduled for Nov. 19-22, will move to Dec. 17-20 and will be the final event of the 2020 LPGA season.
ABOUT LPGA
The Ladies Professional Golf Association is an American organization for female professional golfers. The organization is headquartered at the LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Florida, and is best known for running the LPGA Tour, a series of weekly golf tournaments for elite female golfers from around the world.
