Tag: LPGA schedule

LPGA’s Taiwan Swinging Skirts event canceled for 2023

The tournament hasn’t been held since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The LPGA and Swinging Skirts Golf Foundation announced late Thursday they mutually agreed to cancel the 2023 Taiwan Swinging Skirts LPGA, scheduled for Oct. 26-29, due to operational factors.

The tournament hasn’t been held since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Sunrise LPGA Taiwan Championship debuted in 2011 at the height of Yani Tseng’s LPGA career. Tseng won the first edition while ranked No. 1 in the world. Nelly Korda won the last two editions in 2018 and ’19.

An LPGA statement included the following: “The LPGA Tour is thankful for Chairman Wang, the GAROC and the Swinging Skirts Foundation team for providing opportunities for LPGA Tour athletes since 2014 and their continued dedication for growing women’s golf in Chinese Taipei, as well as the countless fans and volunteers who have supported the event in its history.”

Early next week, the LPGA will announce plans for a new tournament scheduled for the week of Oct. 22. The Swinging Skirts event fell in the midst of a four-tournament fall Asian swing that included stops in China, South Korea and Japan.

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LPGA releases 2023 schedule, which features 33 events and record prize fund of $101 million

A jam-packed summer includes four majors in the span of eight weeks.

NAPLES, Fla. — The LPGA released its 2023 schedule on Friday at the CME Group Tour Championship, where 60 women are competing for a $2 million winner’s check, the largest in tour history. Next year’s schedule will include 33 tournaments and a record prize fund of $101.4 million. This year’s purses totaled $93.5 million.

“We feel very bullish on where we’re going,” said LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan, “but we are not done yet. I think all this growth is really positive, but we still have work to do.”

The year will begin in Orlando, Florida, Jan. 19-22 at Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions at Lake Nona, though there won’t be a Florida swing this year. After a full month off, the tour then moves to Asia for three events in Thailand, Singapore and China. The LPGA hasn’t competed in China in three years due to ongoing travel restrictions.

“I think we’re seeing good progress,” said Ally Ewing. “The majors are stepping up in a big way, and I think the push is to continue on and get our regular-season events at a better number. But overall, when you look at the progress through the years, and you reach this milestone it’s exciting.”

The first full-field event of the season, the LPGA Drive On Championship, will be held March 23-26 at Superstition Mountain G.C., in Gold Canyon, Arizona. The LPGA introduced tour-backed Drive On events during the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2022 Drive On, won by Leona Maguire, was contested at Crown Colony Golf and Country Club in Fort Myers, Florida.

Superstition Mountain hosted the 2004-08 Safeway International and is home to a number of LPGA players.

With four limited-field events to start the season, the majority of players on the LPGA will have more than four months off between starts. While some wanted a longer offseason, many are concerned about the long break between events, particularly those who are further down the money list.

“I just had a month off and have this one (Pelican), and then I’m going to have four months off,” said Caroline Inglis, who finished the year 100th on the Race to CME Globe, at last week’s Pelican LPGA Championship.

Marcoux Samaan said the tour has taken a hard look at the money list at all positions, and while the money has improved from the top down in recent years, there’s still work to be done, particularly to ensure that the bottom half can earn a living.

“We need to make sure that that 100th best player can make a living out here on the tour,” she said. “Right now, the 100th best player made $167,000. It probably cost her $125,000 to $150,000 to be out here, and that’s really a tangible goal for us to say we really want the 100th best player to be able to make a good living commensurate with her talent out here on the LPGA.”

To that end, Marcoux Samaan called for more investment in women’s sports in general, noting that the infrastructure of the organization must grow.

“You hear people talk about in women’s sports all the time this idea that we need to be able to thrive rather than just survive, and I think that takes investment, and that takes infrastructure,” she said.

“So for us, that includes technology infrastructure. That includes personnel infrastructure, media infrastructure, and access. So that’s kind of like where we’re focused. I think we’re always going to be focused on the tournaments. We’re always going to be focused on the schedule, first and foremost. That’s the lifeblood of who the LPGA is.”

Six years ago, the PGA Tour and LPGA entered into a strategic alliance. Marcoux Samaan described the partnership as positive and strong.

“Obviously we work with them on our media rights,” she said. “People know that that we’ve had a relationship with them around our media rights, but right now, the biggest engagement is really around technology.”

The LPGA has never had a formal marketing department and Marcoux Samaan has placed an emphasis in building a team that will help drive more fans to events and the tour’s social media channels. The three most important words, she said, are “content, content, content.”

“All the ways that we can, in a modern world, have two-way communication with our fans,” she said, “know who our fans are, aggressively deliver content that they’re interested in, encourage them to come and be a part of our ecosystem.”

The majors and CME have largely been responsible for increasing prize money in significant ways. The dates of next year’s Chevron Championship have moved to April 20-23, after the Masters. The event will be contested for the first time at The Club at Carlton Woods in The Woodlands, Texas.

A jam-packed summer includes four majors in the span of eight weeks, including the U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach, the KPMG Women’s PGA at Baltusrol and the AIG Women’s British Open at Walton Heath (Old Course) in Surrey, England. The U.S. Women’s Open and KPMG will be held back-to-back on opposite ends of the country with a week off in between.

Marcoux Samaan said that in an ideal world, the majors would be more spread out.

“We’re not sure where we’ll go in the future,” she said, “but I think part of it is because we are playing at some phenomenal golf courses, and a bit of those decisions were based on availability of the golf courses and availability to get in and play in these really important and iconic venues.”

New, previously announced events on the schedule include the Mizuho Americas Open at Liberty National and the return of the Hanwha LIFEPLUS International Crown, an unofficial team event, at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco.

Three tournaments dropped off the schedule, including the LPGA Mediheal Championship, JTBC Classic and the Gainbridge stop in Fort Myers, which was combined with the Pelican to form one event: The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican.

In September, the Solheim Cup will be staged in Spain for the first time, one week ahead of the Ryder Cup in Rome.

The fall Asian swing includes four stops, including Shanghai and Taiwan, which have both been canceled the past three years due to ongoing COVID-19 restrictions.

When asked specifically about getting back into China to play next season, the commissioner said they’re still waiting to hear.

“We told the players that we’ll keep them posted,” she said, “but we have a contract, and it’s on the schedule. We’ll let them know as that evolves, but we’re hopeful that we can get in and play on all the events that are on our schedule.”

2023 LPGA schedule

Date Tournament Host Location
Jan. 19-22 Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions Lake Nona G. and C.C. Orlando
Feb. 23-26 Honda LPGA Thailand Siam C.C. (Old Course) Pattaya, Chonburi, Thailand
March 2-5 HSBC Women’s World Championship Sentosa G.C. Singapore
March 9-12 Blue Bay LPGA Jian Lake Blue Bay G.C. Hainan Island, China
March 23-26 LPGA Drive On Championship Superstition Mountain G.C. Gold Canyon, Arizona
March 30-April 2 DIO Implant LA Open Palos Verdes G.C Palos Verdes Estates, California
April 12-15 LOTTE Championship Hoakalei C.C. Ewa Beach, Oahu, Hawaii
April 20-23 The Chevron Championship The Club at Carlton Woods The Woodlands, Texas
April 27-30 JM Eagle LA Championship presented by Plastpro Wilshire G.C. Los Angeles
May 4-7 Hanwha LIFEPLUS International Crown TPC Harding Park San Francisco
May 11-14 Cognizant Founders Cup Upper Montclair C.C. Clifton, New Jersey
May 24-28 Bank of Hope LPGA Match-Play Shadow Creek Las Vegas
June 1-4 Mizuho Americas Open Liberty National G.C. Jersey City, New Jersey
June 9-11 ShopRite LPGA Classic presented by Acer Seaview A Dolce Hotel (Bay Course) Galloway, New Jersey
June 15-18 Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give Blythefield C.C. Grand Rapids, Michigan
June 22-25 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship Baltusrol G.C. (Lower Course) Springfield, New Jersey
July 6-9 U.S. Women’s Open presented by ProMedica Pebble Beach G.L. Pebble Beach, California
July 13-16 Greater Toledo LPGA Classic Highland Meadows G.C. Sylvania, Ohio
July 19-22 Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational Midland C.C Midland, Michigan
July 27-30 Amundi Evian Championship Evian Resort G.C. Evian-les-Bains, France
Aug. 3-6 Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open Dundonald Links Ayrshire, Scotland
Aug. 10-13 AIG Women’s Open Walton Heath (Old Course) Surrey, England
Aug. 17-20 ISPS Handa World Invitational Galgorme Castle G.C. and Massereene G.C. Antrim, Northern Ireland
Aug. 24-27 CP Women’s Open Shaughnessy G. and C.C British Columbia, Canada
Aug. 31-Sept. 3 Portland Classic Columbia Edgewater C.C. Portland, Oregon
Sept. 7-10 Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G Kenwood C.C. Cincinnati, Ohio
Sept. 22-24 Solheim Cup Finca Cortesin Andalucia, Spain
Sept. 29-Oct. 1 Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G Pinnacle C.C. Rogers, Arkansas
Oct. 5-8 The Ascendant LPGA benefiting Volunteers of America Old American G.C. The Colony, Texas
Oct. 12-15 Buick LPGA Shanghai Qizhong Garden G.C. Shanghai, People’s Republic of China
Oct. 19-22 BMW Ladies Championship Korean location to be announced
Oct. 26-29 Taiwan Swinging Skirts LPGA Miramar G.C New Taipei City, Taiwan
Nov. 2-5 Toto Japan Classic Taiheiyo Club Minori Course Omitama, Ibaraki, Japan
Nov. 9-12 The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican Pelican G.C. Belleair, Florida
Nov. 16-19 CME Group Tour Championship Tiburon G.C. Naples, Florida

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LPGA releases 2023 schedule, which features 33 events and record prize fund of $101 million

A jam-packed summer includes four majors in the span of eight weeks.

NAPLES, Fla. — The LPGA released its 2023 schedule on Friday at the CME Group Tour Championship, where 60 women are competing for a $2 million winner’s check, the largest in tour history. Next year’s schedule will include 33 tournaments and a record prize fund of $101.4 million. This year’s purses totaled $93.5 million.

“We feel very bullish on where we’re going,” said LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan, “but we are not done yet. I think all this growth is really positive, but we still have work to do.”

The year will begin in Orlando, Florida, Jan. 19-22 at Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions at Lake Nona, though there won’t be a Florida swing this year. After a full month off, the tour then moves to Asia for three events in Thailand, Singapore and China. The LPGA hasn’t competed in China in three years due to ongoing travel restrictions.

“I think we’re seeing good progress,” said Ally Ewing. “The majors are stepping up in a big way, and I think the push is to continue on and get our regular-season events at a better number. But overall, when you look at the progress through the years, and you reach this milestone it’s exciting.”

The first full-field event of the season, the LPGA Drive On Championship, will be held March 23-26 at Superstition Mountain G.C., in Gold Canyon, Arizona. The LPGA introduced tour-backed Drive On events during the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2022 Drive On, won by Leona Maguire, was contested at Crown Colony Golf and Country Club in Fort Myers, Florida.

Superstition Mountain hosted the 2004-08 Safeway International and is home to a number of LPGA players.

With four limited-field events to start the season, the majority of players on the LPGA will have more than four months off between starts. While some wanted a longer offseason, many are concerned about the long break between events, particularly those who are further down the money list.

“I just had a month off and have this one (Pelican), and then I’m going to have four months off,” said Caroline Inglis, who finished the year 100th on the Race to CME Globe, at last week’s Pelican LPGA Championship.

Marcoux Samaan said the tour has taken a hard look at the money list at all positions, and while the money has improved from the top down in recent years, there’s still work to be done, particularly to ensure that the bottom half can earn a living.

“We need to make sure that that 100th best player can make a living out here on the tour,” she said. “Right now, the 100th best player made $167,000. It probably cost her $125,000 to $150,000 to be out here, and that’s really a tangible goal for us to say we really want the 100th best player to be able to make a good living commensurate with her talent out here on the LPGA.”

To that end, Marcoux Samaan called for more investment in women’s sports in general, noting that the infrastructure of the organization must grow.

“You hear people talk about in women’s sports all the time this idea that we need to be able to thrive rather than just survive, and I think that takes investment, and that takes infrastructure,” she said.

“So for us, that includes technology infrastructure. That includes personnel infrastructure, media infrastructure, and access. So that’s kind of like where we’re focused. I think we’re always going to be focused on the tournaments. We’re always going to be focused on the schedule, first and foremost. That’s the lifeblood of who the LPGA is.”

Six years ago, the PGA Tour and LPGA entered into a strategic alliance. Marcoux Samaan described the partnership as positive and strong.

“Obviously we work with them on our media rights,” she said. “People know that that we’ve had a relationship with them around our media rights, but right now, the biggest engagement is really around technology.”

The LPGA has never had a formal marketing department and Marcoux Samaan has placed an emphasis on building a team that will help drive more fans to events and the tour’s social media channels. The three most important words, she said, are “content, content, content.”

“All the ways that we can, in a modern world, have two-way communication with our fans,” she said, “know who our fans are, aggressively deliver content that they’re interested in, encourage them to come and be a part of our ecosystem.”

The majors and CME have largely been responsible for increasing prize money in significant ways. The dates of next year’s Chevron Championship have moved to April 20-23, after the Masters. The event will be contested for the first time at The Club at Carlton Woods in The Woodlands, Texas.

A jam-packed summer includes four majors in the span of eight weeks, including the U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach, the KPMG Women’s PGA at Baltusrol and the AIG Women’s British Open at Walton Heath (Old Course) in Surrey, England. The U.S. Women’s Open and KPMG will be held back-to-back on opposite ends of the country with a week off in between.

Marcoux Samaan said that in an ideal world, the majors would be more spread out.

“We’re not sure where we’ll go in the future,” she said, “but I think part of it is because we are playing at some phenomenal golf courses, and a bit of those decisions were based on availability of the golf courses and availability to get in and play in these really important and iconic venues.”

New, previously announced events on the schedule include the Mizuho Americas Open at Liberty National and the return of the Hanwha LIFEPLUS International Crown, an unofficial team event, at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco.

Three tournaments dropped off the schedule, including the LPGA Mediheal Championship, JTBC Classic and the Gainbridge stop in Fort Myers, which was combined with the Pelican to form one event: The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican.

In September, the Solheim Cup will be staged in Spain for the first time, one week ahead of the Ryder Cup in Rome.

The fall Asian swing includes four stops, including Shanghai and Taiwan, which have both been canceled the past three years due to ongoing COVID-19 restrictions.

When asked specifically about getting back into China to play next season, the commissioner said they’re still waiting to hear.

“We told the players that we’ll keep them posted,” she said, “but we have a contract, and it’s on the schedule. We’ll let them know as that evolves, but we’re hopeful that we can get in and play on all the events that are on our schedule.”

2023 LPGA schedule

Date Tournament Host Location
Jan. 19-22 Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions Lake Nona G. and C.C. Orlando
Feb. 23-26 Honda LPGA Thailand Siam C.C. (Old Course) Pattaya, Chonburi, Thailand
March 2-5 HSBC Women’s World Championship Sentosa G.C. Singapore
March 9-12 Blue Bay LPGA Jian Lake Blue Bay G.C. Hainan Island, China
March 23-26 LPGA Drive On Championship Superstition Mountain G.C. Gold Canyon, Arizona
March 30-April 2 DIO Implant LA Open Palos Verdes G.C Palos Verdes Estates, California
April 12-15 LOTTE Championship Hoakalei C.C. Ewa Beach, Oahu, Hawaii
April 20-23 The Chevron Championship The Club at Carlton Woods The Woodlands, Texas
April 27-30 JM Eagle LA Championship presented by Plastpro Wilshire G.C. Los Angeles
May 4-7 Hanwha LIFEPLUS International Crown TPC Harding Park San Francisco
May 11-14 Cognizant Founders Cup Upper Montclair C.C. Clifton, New Jersey
May 24-28 Bank of Hope LPGA Match-Play Shadow Creek Las Vegas
June 1-4 Mizuho Americas Open Liberty National G.C. Jersey City, New Jersey
June 9-11 ShopRite LPGA Classic presented by Acer Seaview A Dolce Hotel (Bay Course) Galloway, New Jersey
June 15-18 Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give Blythefield C.C. Grand Rapids, Michigan
June 22-25 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship Baltusrol G.C. (Lower Course) Springfield, New Jersey
July 6-9 U.S. Women’s Open presented by ProMedica Pebble Beach G.L. Pebble Beach, California
July 13-16 Greater Toledo LPGA Classic Highland Meadows G.C. Sylvania, Ohio
July 19-22 Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational Midland C.C Midland, Michigan
July 27-30 Amundi Evian Championship Evian Resort G.C. Evian-les-Bains, France
Aug. 3-6 Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open Dundonald Links Ayrshire, Scotland
Aug. 10-13 AIG Women’s Open Walton Heath (Old Course) Surrey, England
Aug. 17-20 ISPS Handa World Invitational Galgorme Castle G.C. and Massereene G.C. Antrim, Northern Ireland
Aug. 24-27 CP Women’s Open Shaughnessy G. and C.C British Columbia, Canada
Aug. 31-Sept. 3 Portland Classic Columbia Edgewater C.C. Portland, Oregon
Sept. 7-10 Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G Kenwood C.C. Cincinnati, Ohio
Sept. 22-24 Solheim Cup Finca Cortesin Andalucia, Spain
Sept. 29-Oct. 1 Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G Pinnacle C.C. Rogers, Arkansas
Oct. 5-8 The Ascendant LPGA benefiting Volunteers of America Old American G.C. The Colony, Texas
Oct. 12-15 Buick LPGA Shanghai Qizhong Garden G.C. Shanghai, People’s Republic of China
Oct. 19-22 BMW Ladies Championship Korean location to be announced
Oct. 26-29 Taiwan Swinging Skirts LPGA Miramar G.C New Taipei City, Taiwan
Nov. 2-5 Toto Japan Classic Taiheiyo Club Minori Course Omitama, Ibaraki, Japan
Nov. 9-12 The ANNIKA driven by Gainbridge at Pelican Pelican G.C. Belleair, Florida
Nov. 16-19 CME Group Tour Championship Tiburon G.C. Naples, Florida

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LPGA announces 2022 schedule with record-setting purses of nearly $87 million across 34 events

It’s not just about the money. Once again, the LPGA will be breaking ground at historic venues in 2022.

The 2022 LPGA season will feature a record-setting $85.7 million in official purses across 34 events. That number is expected to increase as more announcements follow. At the time last year, the tour announced a record-setting purse total of $76.4 million across 34 events.

But it’s not just about the money. Once again, the LPGA will be breaking ground at historic venues that have never before hosted a women’s major, with the AIG Women’s Open heading to Muirfield and the KPMG Women’s PGA being staged at Congressional Country Club.

“The stage is set for 2022 to be one of the most exciting years in the history of the LPGA Tour, with the addition of new events, the largest total purse ever, over 500 hours of broadcast television and a collective commitment to being the leading women’s professional sports property in the world,” LPGA Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan said in a statement. “We have never had such a robust team of partners from around the globe who see both the commercial value in investing in the LPGA and the opportunity to utilize the partnerships to have a positive impact on their communities and on the world.”

Among the most notable purse increases: The Chevron Championship ($5 million, up $1.9 million from 2021) and the AIG Women’s Open ($6.8 million, up $1.3 million from 2021) and the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship purse will grow to $7 million, up $2 million from 2021. The $2 million first-place prize will be the largest in professional women’s golf history. The player who finishes 60th in the field of 60 will receive $40,000.

Other tournaments to announce elevated purses are the Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open ($2 million, up $500,000 from 2021), the LPGA Mediheal Championship ($1.8 million, up $300,000 from 2021), the Pelican Women’s Championship ($2 million, up $250,000 from 2021), the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational ($2.5 million, up $200,000 from 2021), the Meijer LPGA Classic ($2.5 million, up $200,000 from 2021) and the HSBC Women’s World Championship ($1.7 million, up $100,000 from 2021).

The 2022 season will open with three tournaments in Florida, beginning at Lake Nona with the renamed Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions. The Gainbridge LPGA will once again return to Boca Rio followed by a yet-to-be-announced title sponsor and Florida venue. In 2021, there was a Drive On event at Golden Ocala.

With events in Australia once again canceled due to travel concerns with the global pandemic, the tour will return to its typical spring Asian swing before heading to California for what’s now known as the JTBC Classic at Aviara in Carlsbad.

The newly-named Chevron Championship, previously the ANA Inspiration, will then host the final major at Mission Hills Country Club, in what will be a celebration of more than 50 years at the Dinah Shore Tournament Course.

After an annual stop in Hawaii at a yet-to-be-announced venue, the tour heads to California for the JTBC LA Open at Wilshire and new JTBC Championship at Palos Verdes.

Then it’s back East for the Cognizant Founders Cup in New Jersey where the course is TBA. Players raved about the 2021 Founders venue, Mountain Ridge Country Club.

The 2022 U.S. Women’s Open will return to Pine Needles in Southern Pines, North Carolina, where Annika Sorenstam, Karrie Webb and Cristie Kerr previously hoisted the trophy.

The ShopRite LPGA will move back to a traditional summer date and the CP Women’s Open will return for the first time after a two-year hiatus.

The tour then moves to Ohio in September for back-to-back events including the Dana Open Presented by Marathon (previously the Marathon Classic) and the new Kroger Queen City Championship in Cincinnati.

Also of note, the LPGA Mediheal Championship will move to a fall date at a new venue, The Saticoy Club in Somis, California. From there the tour heads to Asia for four stops in China, South Korea, Taiwan and Japan before concluding once again with back-to-back events in Florida.

2022 LPGA schedule

Jan. 20-23

Hilton Grand Vacations TOC, Lake Nona G. and C.C., Orlando ($1.2M)

Jan. 27-30

Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio, Boca Rio G.C., Boca Raton, Florida ($2M)

Feb. 4-6 or Feb 11-13

TBA in Florida ($1.5M)

March 3-6

HSBC Women’s World Championship, Sentosa G.C., Singapore ($1.7M)

March 10-13

Honda LPGA Thailand, Siam C.C., Pattaya, Chonburi, Thailand ($1.6M)

March 24-27

JTBC Classic, Aviara G.C., Carlsbad, California ($1.5M)

March 31-April 3

The Chevron Championship, Mission Hills C.C., Rancho Mirage, California ($5M)

April 13-16

Lotte Championship Hawaii, location to be announced ($2M)

April 21-24

JTBC LA Open, Wilshire C.C., Los Angeles, California ($1.5M)

April 28-May 1

JTBC Championship at Palos Verdes, Palos Verdes Estates, California ($1.5M)

May 12-15

Cognizant Founders Cup, New Jersey TBA ($3M)

May 25-29

Bank of Hope LPGA Match Play, Hosted by Shadow Creek, Las Vegas ($1.5M)

June 2-5

U.S. Women’s Open, Pine Needles Lodge and G.C., Southern Pines, North Carolina ($5.5M)

June 10-12

ShopRite LPGA Classic, Seaview, A Dolce Hotel (Bay Course), Galloway, New Jersey ($1.75M)

June 16-19

Meijer LPGA Classic, Blythefield C.C., Grand Rapids, Michigan ($2.5M)

June 23-26

KPMG Women’s PGA, Congressional C.C., Bethesda, Maryland ($4.5M)

July 13-16

Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational, Midland C.C., Midland, Michigan ($2.5M)

July 21-24

Amundi Evian, Evian Resort G.C., Evian-les-Bains, France ($4.5M)

July 28-31

Trust Golf Women’s Ladies Scottish Open, Dundonald Links, Ayrshire, Scotland ($2M)

Aug. 4-7

AIG Women’s Open Muirfield, East Lothian, Scotland ($6.8M)

Aug. 11-14

ISPS Handa World Invitational, Galgorme Castle G.C., and Massereene G.C., Antrim, Northern Ireland ($1.5M)

Aug. 28-25

CP Women’s Open, Ottawa Hunt and G.C., Ottawa, Ontario, Canada ($2.35M)

Sept. 1-4

Dana Open presented by Marathon, Highland Meadows G.C., Sylvania, Ohio ($1.75M)

Sept. 8-11

Kroger Queen City Championship, Kenwood Country Club, Cincinnati ($1.75M)

Sept. 15-18

Portland Classic, Oregon location TBA ($1.4M)

Sept. 23-25

Walmart NW Arkansas Championship, Pinnacle Country Club, Rogers, Arkansas ($2.3M)

Sept. 29-Oct. 2

Volunteers of America Classic, Old American G.C., The Colony, Texas ($1.5M)

Oct. 6-9

LPGA Mediheal Championship, The Saticoy Club, Somis, California ($1.8M)

Oct. 13-16

Buick LPGA, Shanghai Qizhong Garden G.C., Shanghai ($2.1M)

Oct. 20-23

BMW Ladies Championship, South Korea location TBA ($2M)

Oct. 27-30

Taiwan Swinging Skirts LPGA, Miramar G.C., New Taipei City, Chinese Taipei ($2.2M)

Nov. 3-6

Toto Japan Classic, Seta Golf Course, Shiga, Japan ($2M)

Nov. 10-13

Pelican Women’s Championship, Pelican G.C., Belleair, Florida

Nov. 17-20

CME Group Tour Championship, Tiburon G.C., Naples, Florida ($7M)

Bold denotes major championships

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Gainbridge LPGA will return to Boca Rio in South Florida in 2022

The 2022 Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio will feature a field of 120 players competing for a $2 million purse.

As the 2021 LPGA season winds down, next year’s schedule is becoming a little clearer. The tour will make an early stop in South Florida in January, returning to Boca Rio Golf Club in Boca Raton, Florida, for the Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio.

The tournament is in its third year on the LPGA schedule, and after debuting at Boca Rio in 2020, moved to Lake Nona Golf and Country Club in Orlando, Florida, in 2021 for the second playing. LPGA Hall of Famer Annika Sorenstam competed that week – Lake Nona is her home golf course – and remarkably made the cut in her first official start since retiring from the LPGA in 2008. Nelly Korda won the event.

The 2022 Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio will feature a field of 120 players competing for a $2 million purse and will be played Jan. 27-30.

“We are thrilled to continue our work with the LPGA Tour and return to Boca Rio Golf Club for the 2022 Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio,” said Dan Towriss, President and CEO of Group 1001, the parent organization of Gainbridge. “In the tournament’s first two years, we have established the Gainbridge LPGA as a world-class championship. It is an honor for us to support women’s golf and provide a platform for the game’s best players to showcase their talents to fans all over the world.”

Boca Rio is a member-owned golf club built in 1967. It is located four miles from the Atlantic Ocean on 200 acres of native Florida wilderness.

This season, the Gainbridge LPGA was one of five stops in Florida, where several LPGA players call home.

“I love an event where you can stay at home. It makes the week a little easier,” Palm Beach Gardens resident Austin Ernst, a member of the U.S. Solheim Cup team who is 24th on this year’s money list, told the Palm Beach Post.

“Boca Rio is a great course. It’s a good test. There’s a good mix of holes. The course played long last year because of the rain, but I think it’s a great venue.”

With eight events still to go on the LPGA in 2021 – including six domestic events – the full picture of the 2022 LPGA schedule is still unknown.

Craig Dolch contributed reporting.

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Yes, the LPGA is playing, but the schedule shows COVID is still having a huge impact

Remember, the LPGA shouldn’t be playing in Florida this week. Or next week.

The LPGA is back in business this weekend at the Gainbridge LPGA at Lake Nona in Orlando, Florida, a course that is home to players such as Lydia Ko and Annika Sorenstam, who came out of retirement to play in the event this week.

The tournament is something akin to normalcy for the women’s tour, which is playing for the second time in 2021. The women’s tour will play again next week at the LPGA Drive On Championship presented by Volvik at Ocala, Florida. But as the coronavirus pandemic world continues to swirl around us, the LPGA remains the tour that is perhaps hit the hardest of any sports organization in the country.

Remember that the LPGA shouldn’t be playing in Florida this week or next week. The tour should be on a five-event swing through Australia and Asia, the LPGA’s traditional spring Asian tour. The last three events of that swing were canceled last year because of the pandemic, though the tour did play the two events in Australia. That was the beginning of a five-month shutdown for the LPGA, a shutdown that came earlier than other sports in the country since the LPGA’s events were overseas.

Because of the ongoing COVID-19 issues, the five events in Australia and Asia were early casualties on the LPGA schedule for 2021 as well. That left a large gap in a schedule for players who had too few chances to play in 2020.

To its credit, the LPGA managed to put two events together quickly, this week’s Orlando event and next week’s event in Ocala. The purses aren’t massive, but they are purses nonetheless, giving players a chance to make a check and pay some bills.

It’s a similar strategy that the tour used last year, adding some events in scheduled open weeks late in the year just to give players a chance to play. It’s one of the best examples of a sports organization scrambling to help its players during the pandemic.

Lydia Ko Gainbridge LPGA
Lydia Ko walks on the 18th hole during the first round of the Gainnbridge LPGA at Lake Nona Golf and Country Club on February 25, 2021 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo: Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)

A slow LPGA start for 2021

The start of a year has always been tough for the LPGA, and this year is no different. Consider the tour has one event in January, one in February and two in March, the event in Ocala and the Kia Classic in Carlsbad on March 25-28. That means by the time the tour comes to the ANA Inspiration in Rancho Mirage, California. the first week of April for the first major of the year, the LPGA will have played just four times in 2021.

Once the LPGA does get to Carlsbad at the end of March, the Kia Classic will be the first of 17 consecutive weeks of tournaments, including trips in May to Singapore, Thailand and China. Those are the three rescheduled events the LPGA should be getting ready to play now.

But in reality, no one knows for sure where the pandemic will be then or whether those tournaments might be in danger of being postponed again. At the end of that 17-week stretch is the Amundi Evian Championship in France, so travel to Europe might still be interesting.

It may appear that the golf world is starting to return to normal, with both the Masters and the PGA Championship announcing they will allow limited fans on their courses in April and May, respectively. But there are still many hurdles to be cleared before anything resembling normalcy returns to events. Ask the folks at the ANA Inspiration, which will be played for the second year in a row without fans in Rancho Mirage.

The LPGA schedule for now is the best it can be under the circumstances. Hopefully, there won’t be a need for more postponements and the existing events will be able to bring more fans back to the course to cheer on the players. But for now, just as everything else in the world, the pandemic has everyone hoping for stability and waiting for inevitable change.

Larry Bohannan is the golf writer for the Palm Springs Desert Sun, part of the USA Today Network. He can be reached at larry.bohannan@desertsun.com. Follow him on Facebook or on Twitter at @Larry_Bohannan.

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LPGA releases robust 2021 schedule with record $76.45M in purses

Remarkably, every event that was postponed in 2020 has returned for 2021.

The LPGA has released a packed and robust 2021 schedule of 34 official events and a record $76.45 million in official purses. While the first full-field official event won’t take place until late February, the rest of next season looks promisingly packed.

Remarkably, every event that was postponed in 2020 has returned for 2021.

“We can all agree that 2020, while certainly not the 70th anniversary year that we expected, was a year that we will never forget,” said LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan. “As we look back at the year, I am amazed at how our partnerships have actually grown during this trying time, and how the LPGA staff was able to return all three Tours to play in summer 2020. We actually added sponsorship sales in 2020 in the form of new title partners and new marketing partners, and we proved that professional golf can be played safely for all involved. And our fans responded. Social engagement is up more than 40% and TV viewership is up more than 30% over last year.

While the ANA Inspiration and Cambia Portland Classic celebrate 50th anniversaries next year, two new events will be added next year, including a new-stroke play event that’s jointly sanctioned by the LPGA, LET and European Tour. Details of the July event have yet to be announced, but it’s part of a month-long swing in Europe.

The spring Founders Cup has moved away from Phoenix, Arizona, to Mountain Ridge Country Club in West Caldwell, N.J., and moved to the fall.

Click here for a complete schedule.

The 2021 season begins with the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions. With the Australian events canceled, there’s a month-long gap until the tour returns to a two-tournament Florida swing in late-February. The Gainbridge Championship will move to a new site and will be followed by a return of the Drive on Championship at Golf and Equestrian Club in Ocala, a site that drew large galleries for LPGA events in past years.

The spring Asian events of Thailand, Singapore and Blue Bay LPGA on Hainan Island have moved to late April/early May.

Match play will return to the LPGA with a new event in late May.

It’s a season of big events, with the U.S. Women’s Open taking place at the Olympic Club and the Solheim Cup at historic Inverness. The Olympics return Aug. 4-7 in outside Tokyo at Kasumigaseki Country Club.

After a four-week swing in Asia, the tour returns to Florida to two events, with the season wrapping up at the CME Group Tour Championship, where the purse will once again be $5 million with the winner receiving a season-high $1.5 million first-place prize.

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Will COVID-19 have significant impact on the LPGA’s early 2021 schedule?

The LPGA already knows COVID-19 will likely hammer its 2021 schedule as well.

It is fitting and proper that the last two official professional golf events of the 2020 pandemic year belong to the women golfers at the U.S. Women’s Open this week and the CME Group Tour Championship next week. That’s because no sport has had more trouble with COVID-19 cancellations and postponements this year than the women of the LPGA.

Remember, it was last February when tournaments on the LPGA’s Asian swing started dropping off the schedule because of the coronavirus, at least a month before major tennis tournaments and other sports leagues like the NBA suspended play.

Before the women’s tour returned to the golf course, five months had been canceled or postponed. The LPGA did wonderful work in rescheduling events and adding some events to fill holes in the schedule and give its membership as many chances to make a check as possible.

But as the season draws to a close, with the rescheduled U.S. Women’s Open being played in Houston, you know the lights are still burning late into the night at LPGA headquarters. That’s because the LPGA already knows COVID-19 will possibly hammer its 2021 schedule as well.

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The last two tournaments played as part of the regular schedule in February, both in Australia, have already been canceled for 2021. The natural fear is that a three-event swing through Asia, in Thailand, Singapore and China, also will be canceled by the pandemic and travel restrictions.

That is certainly the reason the LPGA, even at this late date, hasn’t officially announced a 2021 schedule. We know the Diamond Resort will be played in Florida from Jan. 21-24. Other than that, the first quarter of the LPGA season is a guessing game.

Normal by spring . . . maybe?

We know the ANA Inspiration in Rancho Mirage is scheduled for April 1-4, but there has been no official announcement from the tour about that or any other event. On its website, the tour points out, “The LPGA normally releases their upcoming season’s schedule after the Tour Championship which this year is in mid-December. So, look out for the 2021 LPGA Tour Schedule on LPGA.com in late December.”

That ignores the fact that the LPGA had previously discussed releasing a schedule in November, and that the COVID-19 surge in the last month might spill over to the early part of the LPGA schedule.

Lexi Thompson tees off in front of a sparse gallery of volunteers and media during the ANA Inspiration in Rancho Mirage, September 12, 2020. (Jay Calderon/The Desert Sun)

The LPGA has done fabulous work in shoring up its 2020 schedule for players and for television, even adding a series of Drive On tournaments to keep golfers on the course and playing. If there is a five- or six-week gap from the traditional Asian Swing early in the year, you have to assume the LPGA already has at least a few contingency plans. It could be a matter of getting the tour from the Florida swing to the events in Arizona and California, adding one or two or three events to provide paychecks for players.

Maybe by the time the ANA Inspiration is played in April enough people will have taken the vaccine and the surge in COVID-19 will be under control to get fans on the course. Maybe by then sports will start to look like sports from one year ago.

Until then – at least – nothing is certain in sports, and the LPGA’s early 2021 schedule is no different.

Larry Bohannan is The Desert Sun golf writer. He can be reached at (760) 778-4633 or larry.bohannan@desertsun.com. Follow him on Facebook or on Twitter at @Larry_Bohannan.

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Women’s British Open and Ladies Scottish Open set to proceed next month

The LPGA Scottish swing has been given the green light for next month.

The LPGA Scottish swing has been given the green light for next month. The R&A announced on Tuesday that the AIG Women’s British Open would be contested Aug. 20-23 at Royal Troon without spectators due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open will precede it at The Renaissance Club in North Berwick and will also be closed to fans.

The Women’s British will be the first women’s major contested in 2020 and will be broadcast globally to more than 11 million fans. Together the two tournaments will have $6 million in prize money on offer.

The news comes two days after UK Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden announced that exemptions from border restrictions would be put in place for a number of athletes and events staff.

“We believe that playing the AIG Women’s British Open is a significant step for players whose playing opportunities have been severely impacted this year,” said Martin Slumbers, chief executive of the R&A. “As they compete to be the 2020 champion in historic circumstances, these athletes will continue to inspire golfers and sports fans around the world, who will be closely following events from Royal Troon on TV and social media.”

Pre-qualifying and final qualifying events for the WBO have been canceled due to health and safety concerns. The top 5 players not already exempt from the Marathon Classic will be in the field as well as the top 3 players, not already qualified, from the Ladies Scottish Open.

The R&A said that a bio secure zone will be created in which only essential personnel will be admitted, namely players, caddies, officials and staging staff.

“We are all happy to hear that women’s golf will be getting back underway in Scotland and especially grateful to Aberdeen Standard Investments and VisitScotland for working so hard to make this happen and putting all the necessary COVID-19 related practices in place and for being so supportive of the women’s tours,” said Catriona Matthew, European Solheim Cup captain and 2009 WBO winner. “With men’s professional golf back playing, it is important that we are able to follow suit, so this is really excellent news for the women’s game and I am delighted to be preparing for my national open in just over a month’s time.”

On July 8, LPGA players will have a Zoom call with officials to learn more about the details of upcoming events. Players have voiced concerns about being stuck overseas after testing positive for coronavirus.

The LPGA is set to restart on July 31 at the new Drive On Championship at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio. While that event will be closed to spectators, the next week’s Marathon Classic is still set to have fans, but that could change after the PGA Tour’s Memorial Tournament pulled the plug on fans on Monday.

International players might be less likely to fly overseas to quarantine for two weeks if only one event takes place in Toledo.

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No fans at Memorial Tournament could spell trouble for LPGA event in Toledo

The PGA Tour announcement that the Memorial Tournament will not have fans or a pro-am leaves questions about the LPGA’s event in Toledo.

It’s media day at the LPGA Marathon Classic, which means that the local press have gathered at the tournament site for interviews and information about procedures for next month’s event (and usually a round of golf).

But with the PGA Tour announcing on Monday that the Memorial Tournament will not have fans or a pro-am due to the “rapidly changing dynamics of the COVID-19 pandemic,” one has to question whether the LPGA will have an event at Highland Meadows at all this year.

Longtime tournament director Judd Silverman has made it clear that having fans at the event as well as pro-ams is vital for the event’s success. There are typically two pro-ams on Monday at Highland Meadows followed by two off-site pro-ams on Tuesday and then the normal Wednesday pro-am back at the tournament course

This year Silverman hopes to bring in $600,000 for 25 northwest Ohio children’s charities.

As of now, there’s no official word on how the PGA Tour’s decision will impact the LPGA. The LPGA is slated to restart its season July 31 at the Inverness Club in Toledo – without fans – with the new LPGA Drive On Championship and then continue the next week down the road at Highland Meadows, Aug. 6-9, with spectators. The Marathon typically averages between 2,500 and 5,000 fans a day. The Memorial, slated for July 16-19, had planned to cap the gallery at 8,000.

“The Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide and the PGA TOUR have made the right decision in not allowing spectators to attend this year,” said Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine in a PGA Tour release. “I know it was a difficult decision to make, but the organizers of the Memorial Tournament have put the health and safety of players and fans first.”

The LPGA plans to update players on the schedule and upcoming protocols in a July 8 phone call. Of particular interest is whether or not the Aberdeen Investment Standards Ladies Scottish Open and AIG Women’s British Open in Troon, Scotland, will be played next month.

If both events are canceled due to travel restrictions, it seems possible that the Marathon could be pushed back to an even later date (Aug. 20-23) ahead of the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship. But even then it might be too early to open the doors to spectators.

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