The LPGA is going to combine its 2020 and 2021 seasons into one, at least for the purpose of priority ranking and event eligibility. That means players will maintain their same status from this year into next year, and it will also mean that there will be fewer graduates from the Symetra Tour to the LPGA Tour for 2021.
The Symetra Tour will promote as many as five players to the LPGA, depending on how many Symetra Tour events are contested. Symetra Tour players will similarly maintain their 2020 status in 2021.
If a player is subject to a reshuffle based on in-season performance, that can still happen on either tour. Players can improve their status with wins in 2020, and winners will earn an invitation to the 2021 Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions.
In addition, there will not be an LPGA Q-School or Q-Series. Upon resumption, there will not be Monday or open qualifying.
While the two seasons will be merged together for the purposes of freezing eligibility, the Race to the CME Globe will happen in both 2020 and 2021. However, there remain questions on how season-long rewards, like the Rolex Player of the Year and Vare Trophy, will be handled.
The goal here was to give players an opportunity to fully use the status they earned in 2019.
“As we look to the remainder of the 2020 season and ahead to 2021, we wanted to make sure that the athletes who earned the opportunity to play on the LPGA tour for 2020 have that full season opportunity in 2021,” LPGA commissioner Mike Whan said. “We are building an incredible schedule for 2021, thanks to our partners who continue to stand with us, and we look forward to seeing our players compete again soon.”
The Marathon Classic is set to be the first tournament back on the revised 2020 LPGA Tour schedule, scheduled now for July 23-26 outside Toledo, Ohio. The tournament, as well the PGA Tour's the Memorial Tournament, are appealing to Governor Mike DeWine to allow some fans to attend. The LPGA business model is dependent upon fan attendance in a way the PGA Tour's is not.