The LPGA Tour will resume its 2020 season with back-to-back events in northwest Ohio, including with a new event created to help get the season re-started.
The revised 2020 LPGA Tour schedule will kick off on July 31 with the LPGA Drive On Championship, played at 2021 Solheim Cup host site Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio. The tournament will have a $1 million purse for a field of 144 players. There will be no sponsors, pro-ams or spectators, and the event will be aired on Golf Channel.
The tournament was made possible by LPGA sponsors who diverted prize money from the cancelled tournaments they couldn't reschedule for this year to this new event.
“Thanks in part to the generosity of our partners who could not reschedule their events in 2020, we are adding a valuable additional playing opportunity for our LPGA Tour members,” said LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan.
The Drive On Championship will also be a chance to run through safety and testing protocols.
With the cancellation of The Evian Championship, the Aug. 6-9 date was opened. The Marathon LPGA Classic will now take place that week at Highland Meadows Golf Club in Sylvania, Ohio. As previously approved by Ohio governor Mike DeWine, the Marathon LPGA Classic will be allowed to have spectators on site.
“We are so appreciative of our longtime partners, Marathon and Dana, as well as the memberships at Highland Meadows and Inverness, for adjusting their schedules and helping us create a valuable two-week stretch in the Toledo area as we work to safely return to competition," Whan said. "This new event will allow us to test our COVID-19 protocols before we get to welcome back our fans at the Marathon LPGA Classic presented by Dana.”
