LPGA targets mid-July start for
2020 season
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[April 30, 2020]
(Reuters) - The Ladies
Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is hoping to get the 2020
season under way with the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational from July
15-18, the start of what will be a busy second half of the year.
The tournament at the Midland Country Club in Michigan is one of 21
to be staged between July and December, if a return to play is
possible due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The revised schedule means the Women's PGA Championship has been
postponed from late June to Oct. 8-11, but international travel
restrictions remain a major threat for events in North America,
Europa and Asia.
"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," LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan said in a statement
on Wednesday.
"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."
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2020/Apr/30/images/ads/current/charrons_bch041713.png)
The first major of the season, The Evian Championship, has been
scheduled for Aug. 6-9 in France, but Prime Minister Edouard
Philippe said on Tuesday that sports events in the country would be
banned until September at least.
The new schedule would see the LPGA resuming play about a month
after the PGA Tour, which is aiming to restart its season on June 11
at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas.
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![](../images/043020PIX/sports65.jpg)
Yealimi Noh plays a shot from a bunker on the fifth hole at the
Cambia Portland Classic at Columbia Edgewater Country Club.
Mandatory Credit: Troy Wayrynen-USA TODAY Sports
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2016/Mar/14/images/ads/current/tires250x300.gif)
"I realize that maybe there was a more aggressive path that we could
have taken ... but in our world I feel like this was the right
path," Whan told reporters on a conference call, adding that it was
too soon to say whether fans would be allowed to attend events.
"If it turns out that we're a little late to the party but being
late to the party enables us and our athletes to benefit from some
of the learnings from others."
Whan said the financial impact of the work stoppage on the LPGA has
been "staggering" but said he is focused on its long- term health.
"We're going to make some decisions that are financially negative in
'20 ... but they're all made to make sure that we're super strong
again come '21, '22, '23," he said.
"The only way COVID really damages the LPGA long-term is if we allow
it to by only focusing on 2020."
(Reporting by Nick Said and Rory Carroll,; Editing by Toby Davis and
Ed Osmond)
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