LPGA Tour to Return in July
The LPGA Tour announced that it is planning to resume the 2020 season in mid-July.
Like all the other major sports leagues, the LPGA Tour was shut down in March due to the spread of the coronavirus.
“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,” said LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan.
The LPGA’s return comes a month after the PGA Tour is set to return to action in June.
“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,” said Whan.
The LPGA Tour also announced the increase to the purses of numerous 2020 tournaments, bringing the total available purse remaining for the year to over $56 million, which is approximately $2.7 million per event.
Summary of LPGA Tour events affected in the latest schedule update:
- Marathon Classic presented by Dana will move to July 23-26
- Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G will move to Aug. 28-30
- UL International Crown, originally slated for the week of Aug. 24, will not be played in 2020 so a full-field, official event can be held that week
- Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give will move to Oct. 1-4
- KPMG Women’s PGA Championship will move to Oct. 8-11
- Pelican Women’s Championship presented by DEX Imaging will move to Nov. 19-22
- Volunteers of America Classic will move to Dec. 3-6
- CME Group Tour Championship will move to Dec. 17-20 and will be the final event of the 2020 LPGA Tour season