The LPGA has postponed the start of its 2020 season by one month and plans a recovery in mid-July. According to the revised schedule, The Evian Championship, which kicks off August 6 in Évian-les-Bains, will be the first female major of the 2020 season.

LPGA postpones start of season to mid-July

© Evian Championship

The Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational, a two-player tag team tournament that began in 2019, will be held at the Midland Country Club in Midland, Michigan, July 15-18 and will kick off a modified 2020 schedule that circuit officials published on Wednesday.

Changes to the original schedule include the postponement of other events to a later date in 2020, including the KPMG Women's PGA Championship, which moves from its slot in June to October at the Aronimink Golf Club in Newton Square, Pa. According to the schedule. The revised Evian Championship, which kicks off August 6, will be the first major women's tournament of the 2020 season.

Without any further postponement or cancellation, the return of the LPGA is scheduled for about a month after the PGA Tour made its return on June 11 to the Charles Schwab Challenge.

"One thing has become clear is that there will be no clear signal regarding a return to normalcy and safe play in this COVID-19 pandemic", said LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan. “To be honest, being first has never been the goal when it comes to getting back into the game in this new situation. We have established a schedule that we believe is the safest possible given what we know about travel bans, the availability of tests and the organization of events in which our sponsors and athletes will be happy to participate ”.

While not all events on the original 2020 LPGA calendar may be rescheduled - most notably the UL International Crown which will not take place in 2020 - the new calendar features 21 tournaments from July through December, with two weeks off. One of Mike Whan's positive notes is that many endowments for events on the new calendar are higher, thanks to sponsors of canceled events putting some of their prizes into other endowments.

The new LPGA Tour 2020 calendar looks like this, with the major tournaments in bold:

Dates Competition Club endowment
July 15-18 Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational Midland (Mich.) CC $ 2.3 million
July 23-26 LPGA Classic Marathon Highland Meadows GC, Sylvania, Ohio $ 2 million
July 31 - August 2 ShopRite LPGA Classic Seaview, A Dolce Hotel, Galloway, NJ $ 2 million
August 6-9 The Evian Championship Evian Resort GC, Evian-les-Bains, France $ 4.1 million
August 13-16 Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open The Renaissance Club, North Berwick, Scotland $ 1.5 million
August 20-23 AIG Women's British Open Royal Troon GC, Scotland $ 4.5 million
August 28-30 Walmart NW Arkansas Championship Pinnacle CC, Rogers, Ark. $ 2 million
September 3-6 CP Women's Open Shaughnessy G. & CC, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada $ 2.35 million
September 10-13 ANA Inspiration Mission Hills CC, Rancho Mirage, Calif. $ 3.1 million
September 17-20 Cambia Portland Classic Columbia Edgewater CC, Portland, Ore $ 1.75 million
September 24-27 Kia Classic Aviara GC, Carlsbad, Calif. $ 2 million
October 1-4 Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give Blythefield CC, Grand Rapids, Mich. $ 2.3 million
October 8-11 KPMG Women's PGA Championship Aronimink GC, Newtown Square, Pa. $ 4.3 million
October 15-18 Buick LPGA Shanghai Qizhong Garden GC, Shanghai, China $ 2.1 million
October 22-25 BMW Ladies Championship LPGA International Busan, Busan, South Korea $ 2 million
October 29 - November 1 Taiwan Swinging Skirts LPGA Miramar G. and CC, New Taipei City, Chinese Taipei $ 2.2 million
November 6-8 TOTO Japan Classic Taiheyo Club (Minor Course), Ibaraki, Japan $ 1.5 million
November 12-15 Rest week
November 19-22 Pelican Women's Championship Pelican GC, Belleair, Fla. $ 2 million
November 26-29 Rest week
December 3-6 Volunteers of America Classic Old American GC, The Colony, Texas $ 1.75 million
December 10-13 US Women's Open Champions GC, Houston $ 5.5 million
December 17-20 CME Group Tour Championship Tiburon GC, Naples, Fla. $ 5 million

To know more : https://www.lpga.com/