Australia’s Hannah Green will now get to defend her KPMG Women’s PGA Championship in October after PGA of America’s announcement earlier this week.

AFTER the KPMG Women’s PGA was moved to the autumn, the LPGA has confirmed it is pushing back its planned date to restart tournaments in the USA

They will now resume in the middle of July, instead of mid-June as originally planned, because of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.

The LPGA stressed its plans to prepare to reschedule a number of events that were postponed in the spring – as the coronavirus pandemic gripped across America – were aiming for a “safe and responsible return to competition.”

Two events are being played in the UK – the Scottish Ladies Open, and the Women’s British Open at Royal Troon – are set for their original dates in August.

LPGA commissioner Mike Whan asid: “One thing that has become clear is 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.

“While July seems like a long way away, we are certainly aware that restarting our season in Michigan, Ohio and New Jersey will require a continued improvement in the situation in each of those states.”

New LPGA events dates confirmed

The Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G in Rogers, Arkansas – originally scheduled for June 19-21 – will now take place from August 28-30.

The Marathon Classic in Sylvania, Ohio, originally scheduled to be played from July 9-12, will now be held between July 23 and 26.

The PGA of America announced on Wednesday the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club, in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania., set for June 25-28, will now move to October 8-11 at the same venue

Additional changes have also been made to deliver a full LPGA Tour season for 2020, Whan added.

June’s Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give in Grand Rapids, Michigan, has been rescheduled for October 1-4.

The Pelican Women’s Championship in Florida’s Belleair – which had been rescheduled to November – will now move back one week later to November 19-22, while the Volunteers of America Classic at The Colony, Texas, will move to December 3-6.

Finally, the CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, Florida (originally November 19-22), will move to December 17-20, making it the final event of the 2020 LPGA Tour season.

Due to the limited dates available for official full-field events on the LPGA calendar, the UL International Crown will not take place in 2020.

Additionally, the Volvik Founders Cup, the Lotte Championship, the Hugel-Air Premia LA Open and the LPGA Mediheal Championship, which had all previously been postponed, will return in the 2021 season.

Yorkshire’s Bronte Law, who won the Pure Silk Championship in May 2019.
Picture by GABE ROUX / LPGA

It was confirmed earlier this month that the Pure Silk Championship at Kingsmill Resort, in Virginia – originally scheduled for May 21-24 – will return on the 2021 LPGA Tour schedule.

Yorkshire’s Bronte Law was due to defend her maiden LPGA title at the Williamsburg course.

Prize funds raised to a total of $56m for 2020

THE LPGA also announced increases to the purses of numerous 2020 tournaments.

It brings the total available purse remaining for the year to more than $56million, with players competing for an average of nearly $2.7million per event.

Commissioner Whan said: “Many of our remaining events will feature higher purses in 2020 thanks in part to some of our sponsors, who could not reschedule their events, offering some of their prize funds to increase other purses.

“In what has been a very challenging year for everyone, we are so thankful to our partners for their creativity, collaboration and dedication to helping our athletes get the most out of the playing opportunities they will have in this unprecedented season.”

However, if necessary, further schedule adjustments will be shared when appropriate, an LPGA spokeswoman said.

•As well as a new date for the Women’s PGA, the USGA has moved the US Women’s Open will now be played in December, just before the CME Group Tour Championship.

LPGA Tour’s new 2020 schedule

Key:Major championships in bold

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The first Major of the LPGA season – the ANA Inspiration – will now be played at Mission Hills Country Club in Palm Springs, California, from September 17-20

THE LPGA has cancelled three more of its regular tour events because of the coronavirus pandemic – and warned there may still be more disruption to come.

But the first Major of the season – the ANA Inspiration due to be held at California’s Mission Hills Country Club – has been rearranged and moved to September, having been postponed a week ago.

The event – at which the winner dives into Poppies Pond by the 18^th green at the Rancho Mirage course – will now be held from September 10-13.

The Cambia Portland Classic, which had previously been scheduled for those dates, will now take place in in Portland, Oregon, from September 17-20.

But LPGA commissioner Mike Whan could not give any firm indications yet as to when the 2020 schedule was likely to recommence – with the number of COVID-19 cases growing daily in the USA, as they are in Europe.

He also admitted he was finding it hard to remain patient dealing with problems caused by the cancellations and felt his players “deserved better.”

The three new events which are not now taking place as planned are:–

•Lotte Championship, Ko Olina, Oahu, Hawaii – April 15-18

•Hugel-Air Premia LA Open, Los Angeles – April 23-26 and

•LPGA Mediheal Championship, Daly City, California – April 30-May 3.

An LPGA spokeswoman said: “Following broadened directives from the various health organisations, the LPGA Tour informed its players that three additional events on our schedule are now postponed.

“The LPGA continues to work with its partners on plans to reschedule previously postponed events and will provide further updates once those plans are finalised.”

The first LPGA events were cancelled

South Korea’s Jin Young Ko claimed her maiden Major at Mission Hills Country Club in 2019, beating Mi Hyung Lee by three shots and moving to the World No. 1 in. the process.

•The full LPGA schedule for 2020 can be seen here.

Whan says players ‘deserve better’

IN the LPGA Commissioner’s letter to players, Mr Whan explained the decision to call off three more events.

He said: “We held out on these events as long as we could, hoping conditions would improve.

“Unfortunately, the current combination of the World Health Organisation categorising COVID-19 as a pandemic, local markets implementing very aggressive event/gathering limitations, and unprecedented, broad-scale travel restrictions that impact so many of our players and caddies, made hosting an LPGA official event under these conditions simply not possible or prudent.

“I promised myself that I wouldn’t send any more cancellation/ postponement emails without some positive, rescheduling news and I’m happy to report that we have been successful in rescheduling the ANA Inspiration for the week of September 7 at Mission Hills.

“With this move, the Cambia Portland Classic will shift to the week of September 14 at Columbia Edgewater, in Portland.

“As you can imagine, we are busy working on dates (and other changes) for postponed events.

“Assuming we get some relief from the COVID-19 issues soon, it’s pretty clear that the rest of the 2020 season will be quite busy and crowded.

“We are focused on giving you as many playing opportunities as we can. I will share more details about the back half of 2020 as soon as I can.

“The truth is, every time I think we’ve made a plan to address changes, it never seems to be ‘long enough.’

“I wish I could tell you when the LPGA Tour will resume our schedule, but the truth is, no one has those answers.

“Virtually all our events are concerned given the conditions they currently face in their respective markets.

“At this point, the only option is to reschedule what we can and hope the COVID-19 situation starts to improve.

“Trust me, patience is NOT my best quality, so this situation is hard on me, too.

“I know you deserve better and I wish I had better news to report. Again, stay tuned for updates on Fall 2020.

“Stay safe and stay connected with your family and friends.”

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Scott and Kylie Henry will become the first husband and wife to compete in the same professional tournament at this week’s Jordan Mixed Open. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

MORE than a trophy is on the line for Scott Henry and his wife Kylie this week with the married couple also playing for bragging rights in the inaugural staging of the Jordan Mixed Open.

The Scottish couple will become the first husband and wife to compete against one another in a professional golf tournament this week, with the pair set to do battle in the innovative event which features players from the European Challenge Tour, Staysure Tour and Ladies European Tour.

Although the couple met playing the game of golf, they admit there will be no love lost out on the course tomorrow when the tournament gets under way at Ayla Golf Club, on the Red Sea coast.

Scott said: “In terms of our finances, if we found ourselves coming down the stretch battling it out for the win that would be ideal – although it might not do much for the relationship.

The winner of the 2012 Kazakhstan Open on the Challenge Tour added: “We are both very competitive when we play each other and I probably do win most of the time.

“But Kylie has been coming into a good patch and beat me the other day. There will definitely be a bet between us and it will probably involve household chores. But the bragging rights will be the thing.”

The Henrys will each face a slightly different test this week, with the course set up at 7,100 yards for the Challenge Tour professionals, 6,601 for the over-50 players and 6,139 for the female competitors.

While Kylie, who is a two-time winner on the Ladies European Tour, admits there will be some rivalry, she does confess she’ll be transparent in her approach.

And she stressed they will both return to married life quickly once each day’s play is over.

Kylie said: “We won’t hide anything from each other in terms of strategy on how to play the course.

“We’re both really supportive of each other’s golf and we help each other as much as we can. We’ll discuss how our round goes, but then the golf chat is quickly finished, and we get back to just regular life together.

“We met through the game when we were teenagers in the Scottish set-up and we never imagined back then that we would be playing against each other in a professional event.”

Both players also admit how significant this week is for all three tours and golf more broadly, with 40 players from the Ladies European Tour, 40 from the Challenge Tour and 40 from the Staysure Tour all competing for the same first prize.

“This is a huge week for women’s golf,” Kylie said. “I think all the exposure that women’s golf can get is going to help, and if more girls and more women take the game up it’s a win-win situation.

“Maybe the fact that the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, the ANA Inspiration and the Jordan Mixed Open are all in the same week, there’s a lot of focus around women’s golf this week.”

“It’s great to have such big prize money for the girls and for the Challenge Tour guys as well,” said Scott.

“It definitely adds to the excitement. There’s not much better than winning a nice chunky cheque and a trophy at the end of the week.”

Also in the field this week are another couple – Norway’s Marianne Sakrnpnord and her fiancée Richard Green – who will also compete for a share of the $393,000 prize fund.

The 54-hole tournament will start on Thursday, at 7.30am local time – follow @Challenge_Tour, @StaysureTour and @LETGolf on Twitter for live updates from Jordan.

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