The LPGA Tour announced a revision to its 2020 schedule on April 29, shifting its planned resumption of the season to July after previously announcing a schedule that would kick back off in June.
The new 2020 LPGA Tour schedule will pick back up with the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational, the tour's second-year team event in Michigan, from July 15-18.
“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 in a release. “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.”
Three tournaments were on the initial revision before the Dow dates, and those have been moved to later in the season.
The Walmart NW Arkansas Championship, which was to be first in June, will move to Aug. 28-30. It takes the dates for the UL International Crown, which will not be played this year as originally scheduled in England.
The KPMG Women's PGA Championship, which was to be the next week, will now be played Oct. 8-11, still at Aronimink, a half-hour outside of Philly.
The Marathon Classic in Ohio moves to later in July, played July 23-26.
The Meijer LPGA Classic, originally postponed from a June date, takes Oct. 1-4 (but has since been cancelled and replaced by the ShopRite LPGA Classic), as the Volunteers of America Classic moves from that date to the week before the rescheduled US Women's Open to have back-to-back events in Texas.
Several previously postponed events have been canceled for the year and will return in 2021, including the Volvik Founders Cup, the Lotte Championship, the Hugel-Air Premia LA Open and the LPGA Mediheal Championship.
The good news is that many of the remaining events on the schedule will see purse increases, bringing the total season purse to $56 million. While it's a drop of $19 million from the originally scheduled $75 million in total money, the $1.65 million in purse increases for remaining events was effectively like saving a tournament.
2020 LPGA Tour schedule
Revised as of May 20, 2020
- Jan. 16-19: Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions, Four Seasons Orlando, Lake Buena Vista, Fla., $1,200,000
- Jan. 23-26: Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio, Boca Rio Golf Club, Boca Raton, Fla., $2,000,000
- Feb. 6-9: ISPS Handa Vic Open, 13th Beach Golf Links, Victoria, Australia, $1,100,000
- Feb. 13-16: ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open, Royal Adelaide Golf Club, Adelaide, Australia, $1,300,000
- July 15-18: Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational, Midland Country Club, Midland, Michigan, $2,300,000 (cancelled)
- July 23-26: Marathon LPGA Classic, Highland Meadows G.C., Sylvania, Ohio, $2,000,000 (+$150,000)
- Aug. 6-9: The Evian Championship, Evian Resort G.C., Evian-les-Bains, France, $4,100,000 (cancelled)
- Aug. 13-16: Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open, The Renaissance Club, North Berwick, Scotland, $1,500,000
- Aug. 20-23: AIG Women's British Open, Royal Troon Golf Club, Troon, Scotland, $4,500,000
- Aug. 28-30: Walmart NW Arkansas Championship, Pinnacle C.C., Rogers, Arkansas, $2,000,000
- Sept. 3-6: CP Women's Open, Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, $2,350,000
- Sept. 10-13: ANA Inspiration, Mission Hills C.C., Rancho Mirage, California, $3,100,000 (rescheduled from April 2-5)
- Sept. 17-20: Cambia Portland Classic, Columbia Edgewater C.C., Portland, Oregon, $1,750,000 (+$450,000) (rescheduled from Sept. 10-13)
- Sept. 24-27: Kia Classic, Aviara G.C., Carlsbad, California, $2,000,000 (+$200,000) (rescheduled from March 26-29)
- Oct. 1-4: Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give, Blythefield C.C., Grand Rapids, Michigan, $2,300,000 (cancelled; rescheduled from June 11-14)
- Oct. 2-4: ShopRite LPGA Classic, Seaview Hotel and G.C., Galloway, New Jersey, $2,000,000 (+$250,000) (rescheduled from May 29-31, then July 31 - Aug. 2)
- Oct. 8-11: KPMG Women's PGA Championship, Aronimink Golf Club, Newtown Square, Pa., $4,300,000 (rescheduled from June 25-28)
- Oct. 15-18: Buick LPGA Shanghai, Shanghai Qizhong Garden Golf Club, Shanghai, China, $2,100,000
- Oct. 22-25: BMW Ladies Championship, LPGA International Busan, Busan, South Korea, $2,000,000
- Oct. 29-Nov. 1: Taiwan Swinging Skirts LPGA, Miramar Golf and Country Club, New Taipei City, Taiwan, $2,200,000
- Nov. 6-8: TOTO Japan Classic, Taiheyo Club (Minori Course), Ibaraki, Japan, $1,500,000
- Nov. 19-22: Pelican Women's Championship presented by DEX Imaging, Pelican Golf Club, Belleair, Fla., $2,000,000 (+$250,000) (rescheduled from May 14-17, then Nov. 12-15)
- Dec. 3-6: Volunteers of America Classic, Old American Golf Club, The Colony, Texas, $1,750,000 (+$350,000) (rescheduled from Oct. 1-4)
- Dec. 10-13: U.S. Women's Open, Champions Golf Club, Houston, Texas, $5,500,000 (rescheduled from June 4-7)
- Dec. 17-20: CME Group Tour Championship, Tiburon G.C., Naples, Florida, $5,000,000 (rescheduled from Nov. 19-22)
