The LPGA has a firm return date in sight. The 2020 season will resume with back-to-back events in Ohio in early August. One of those events is new to the schedule, and one has been adjusted from its original July dates.
The LPGA will restart with the LPGA Drive On Championship, a three-day, official tournament to be played July 31-Aug. 2 at Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio, which will host the Solheim Cup in 2021. The event is new to the schedule in 2020 and will feature a field of 144 players competing for a $1 million purse.
The event will take place without sponsors, pro-ams or spectators, but will be televised on Golf Channel.
The Marathon LPGA Classic will be played the following week at Highland Meadows Golf Club in Sylvania, Ohio, with fans present. That event, one of the longest running on tour, has been moved off its original July 23-26 date and back to the Aug. 6-9 date vacated by the Evian Championship, which was canceled last week.
The Marathon received approval from Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine to allow fans on-site much like the Memorial, a PGA Tour event to be played at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, on July 16-19.
“Thanks in part to the generosity of our partners who could not reschedule their events in 2020, we are adding a valuable additional playing opportunity for our LPGA Tour members,” said LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan. “We are so appreciative of our longtime partners, Marathon and Dana, as well as the memberships at Highland Meadows and Inverness, for adjusting their schedules and helping us create a valuable two-week stretch in the Toledo area as we work to safely return to competition. This new event will allow us to test our COVID-19 protocols before we get to welcome back our fans at the Marathon LPGA Classic presented by Dana.”
Following the two scheduled events for Ohio, the LPGA is scheduled to continue with back-to-back stops in Scotland at the Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open on Aug. 13-16 and the AIG Women’s British Open on Aug. 20-23.
The next domestic LPGA event still on the schedule is the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship, to be played Aug. 28-30 in Rogers, Arkansas.
[lawrence-related id=778047970,778047792,778047592]