LPGA unveils 2010 schedule
SUGAR LAND, Texas -- The 2010 LPGA season will begin in Thailand on Feb. 18 and end at the LPGA Tour Championship Nov. 21.
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The LPGA Tour announced a 2010 schedule Wednesday. It has 24 tournaments -- 13 of them in the United States -- to give the tour its smallest schedule in nearly 40 years.
The Wegman's tournament in Rochester, N.Y., will be the season's second major, the LPGA Championship, replacing longtime sponsor McDonald's. The first tournament played in the United States is not until the last week of March when the J Golf Classic, which was in Phoenix this year, is played at La Costa, Calif. Missing from the schedule are the Sybase Classic and the longtime stop in Phoenix.
Prize money from three tournaments has not been announced.
The Tour had 34 events in 2008 and 27 this year, a season that began with 31 events on the schedule. In all, there will be 17 off-weeks between the first and last event in 2010.
The 2010 schedule was put together under extremely trying circumstances: A mix of a bad economy and bad blood among tournament owners left over the Carolyn Bivens commissionership. Many of the tournaments acting commissioner Marty Evans was able to lure back returned at lower purses.
Here is the schedule that was revealed to players Tuesday night at a meeting at the season-ending LPGA Tour Championship, which begins here Thursday at the Houstonian Golf Club:
Feb. 18-21 -- Honda LPGA Championship (Thailand)
Feb. 25-28 -- HSBC Women's Champions (Singapore)
March 25-28 -- J Golf Classic (La Costa, Calif.)
April 1-4 -- Kraft Nabisco Championship
April 29-May 3 -- Corona Championship (Mexico)
May 10-16 -- Bell Micro LPGA Classic (Alabama)
June 10-13 -- State Farrm Classic (Illinois)
June 17-20 -- ShopRite Classic (Atlantic City)
June 24-27 -- Wegman's LPGA Championship
July 1-4 -- Jamie Farr Owens Corning (Toledo)
July 8-11 -- U.S. Women's Open (Oakmont)
July 22-25 -- Evian Masters (France)
July 29-Aug. 1 -- Ricoh Women's British Open (Royal Birkdale)
Aug. 20-22 -- Safeway Classic (Pumpkin Ridge, Ore)
Aug. 26-29 -- CN Canadian Women's Open
Sept. 10-12 -- P&G Beauty NW Arkansas Championship
Sept. 30-Oct. 3 -- Acapulco LPGA Classic (Mexico)
Oct. 7-10 -- Navistar LPGA Classic (Alabama)
Oct. 14-17 -- CVS/pharmacy LPGA Challenge (California)
Oct. 28-31 -- China
Nov. 4-7 -- Japan
Nov. 11-14 -- Lorena Ochoa Invitational (Mexico)
Nov. 18-21 -- LPGA Tour Championship
Information from The Associated Press is included in this report
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