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Golf News 658
LPGA announces additional schedule changes; set to resume play in June
The LPGA announced Friday morning that four more of its events are being postponed and one more is being cancelled.
The season is now temporarily set to resume June 19-21 at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship in Rogers, Arkansas.
That’s now 14 LPGA events that have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic, with 10 postponements or rescheduled events and four cancellations.
Friday’s news includes the U.S. Women’s Open being moved from its June 4-7 date to Dec. 10-13 at Champions Golf Club in Houston, Texas.
The other changes announced Friday:
- The Pelican Women’s Championship in Belleair, Florida, originally scheduled for May 14-17, will now take place Nov. 12-15.
- The ShopRite LPGA Classic in Atlantic City, New Jersey, originally scheduled for May 29-31, will move to July 31 to Aug. 2.
- The Meijer LPGA Classic in Grand Rapids, Michigan, originally scheduled for June 11-14, is working on a date to reschedule.
- The Pure Silk Championship in Williamsburg, Virginia, originally scheduled for May 21-24, will not take place in 2020 but will return in its date on the 2021 LPGA Tour schedule.
- The Kia Classic, previously postponed in March, will now be held Sept. 24-27 in Carlsbad, Calif.
“We are so thankful to all our partners for their flexibility and willingness to work with us during this very difficult time,” LPGA commissioner Mike Whan said. “This has been a truly collective effort to reschedule tournament dates and work together to provide LPGA players with as many playing opportunities as possible once it is safe for us to resume competing again. As we watch the world come together in this battle against this virus, we are so thankful for all of the support from our valued partners and we continue to wish for the health and safety of all the extended members of our global LPGA family.”
Report: New major dates, revised schedule close to being unveiled
Could a revised professional golf schedule be on the way?
According to a Golfweek report, which cited three anonymous sources with knowledge of discussions, golf’s governing bodies are close to making a joint announcement in unveiling updated schedules for the majors and the PGA Tour, one that would include three or four major championships and a Ryder Cup in a four-month span.
Here are some of the details outlined in the report:
• Initial discussions had The Players Championship, which was canceled after 18 holes last month because of COVID-19 concerns, being rescheduled, but those plans have since been nixed.
• The last holdup on an official announcement is The Open Championship, which the R&A confirmed Friday had yet to be moved from its original July 16-19 date. The new schedule would see The Open being played at Royal St. George’s on Sept. 17-20, a week before the Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits, which would keep its original dates.
• If The Open stays in its current slot or is canceled, the U.S. Open would likely fill that mid-September window, allowing it to remain at Winged Foot. However, if the U.S. Open, which still has yet to be rescheduled from June, is forced to a later date in the fall, it likely would need to be played elsewhere.
Simpson: Could be June or July before Tour play resumes
• USGA chief brand officer Craig Annis told Golfweek that it is becoming “increasingly likely” that the U.S. Open will be postponed. The USGA has reportedly been in talks with two potential replacements, 2021 host Torrey Pines and last year’s host Pebble Beach. “If we get beyond September we would need to find a U.S. Open-ready course in a place with the right climate and agronomics, with consideration to available daylight hours,” Annis added.
• The PGA Championship would become the year’s first major, taking place Aug. 6-9 at TPC Harding Park.
• And arguably the biggest news: the Masters would move to November, specifically Nov. 12-15.
Currently, the PGA Tour schedule is slated to resume May 21-24 at the Charles Schwab Challenge, but per this report, the Tour is instead targeting a mid-June restart.
Further details of what other Tour events would be affected by this new schedule and when next season’s wraparound campaign would begin were unknown.
Canadian Corey Conners puts Olympic dream on hold
When the world rankings were frozen last month in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, Corey Conners was safely among the 60 players qualified for this year’s Olympic Games.
The Games were going to be among the highlights of Conners’ career, but last week’s decision to postpone the Tokyo Olympics until the summer of 2021 put that dream on hold.
“It was disappointing. I’d worked really hard and that was a big goal of mine,” Conners said on Wednesday during a conference call with reporters. “Things happen that are out of my control. I just want to work harder next year and represent Canada in Japan.”
It was Conners’ victory at last year’s Valero Texas Open that lifted the Canadian into Olympic consideration. Not having the opportunity to defend that title this week in San Antonio is another example of how much things have changed since the coronavirus halted play on the PGA Tour last month. But Conners remains optimistic.
He’s embraced this time away from golf and allowed his mind to “reset.” He also said that depending on when the Tour begins its schedule again there is still a chance to complete a meaningful season.
“If we’re able to get started at [the Charles Schwab Challenge, May 21-24] and play through the summer I think there will be enough sample size for guys,” Conners said. “I feel like a lot of players ramp up their schedules in the summertime and if we get started in May at Colonial I think that would be reasonable to call it a full season.”
Annika Award Watch List: Furman’s Natalie Srinivasan leads contenders into voting
The spring season may have been cut short because of COVID-19, but the Annika Award presented by Stifel still plans to honor the player of the year in Division I women’s golf.
Voting for the Annika Award will run April 7-21 and is open to all Division I players and coaches, as well as members of the media. The award will be given out in late May.
“We feel it is important during this difficult time to still honor the nation’s top players as voted on by their peers, coaches and the media,” said Annika Sorenstam, for whom the Annika Award is named. “The chosen players always will be an Annika or Haskins Award (given to men’s player of the year) winner, and we can’t let the unexpectedly rapid conclusion to the college golf season stop us from acknowledging achievements that will last a lifetime.”
Past winners of the Annika Award include Leona Maguire, Alison Lee and Maria Fassi, who won the award for a second time last year.
Here is a look at the 10 players on the final watch list for this year’s Annika Award, as ranked by GolfChannel.com:
1. Natalie Srinivasan, Sr., Furman
Golfstat rank: 1
Wins: 3 (Lady Paladin Invitational, Glass City Invitational, Moon Golf Invitational)
Other results: second, Darius Rucker Intercollegiate; T-16, Cougar Classic; T-26, Landfall Tradition
2. Vivian Hou, Fr., Arizona
Golfstat rank: 3
Wins: None
Other results: second, Annika Intercollegiate; second, Stanford Intercollegiate; second, Arizona Wildcat Invitational; T-3, Hurricane Invitational; T-4, Pac-12 Preview; T-4, East Lake Cup; T-35, Windy City Collegiate
3. Emilia Migliaccio, Jr., Wake Forest
Golfstat rank: 5
Wins: 1 (Darius Rucker Intercollegiate)
Other results: third, Cougar Classic; T-6, Tar Heel Invitational; T-7, Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge; T-12, East Lake Cup; T-19, Annika Intercollegiate; T-23, Lady Paladin Invitational
4. Rachel Kuehn, Fr., Wake Forest
Golfstat rank: 2
Wins: 1 (Annika Intercollegiate)
Other results: T-3, Darius Rucker Intercollegiate; T-10, Lady Paladin Invitational; T-13, Tar Heel Invitational; T-17, East Lake Cup
5. Ingrid Lindblad, Fr., LSU
Golfstat rank: 8
Wins: 2 (Magnolia Invitational, Florida State Matchup)
Other results: second, IJGA Collegiate; fourth, Princess Anne Invitational; T-5, Battle at the Beach; T-11, Mercedes-Benz Intercollegiate; T-23, Darius Rucker Intercollegiate
6. Pauline Roussin-Bouchard, Fr., South Carolina
Golfstat rank: 4
Wins: 1 (Windy City Collegiate)
Other results: third, IJGA Collegiate; T-3, Landfall Tradition; T-10, Darius Rucker Intercollegiate; T-15, Annika Intercollegiate; T-32, Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational
7. Emma Spitz, Fr., UCLA
Golfstat rank: 6
Wins: 1 (Bruin/Wave Invitational)
Other results: third, Golfweek Conference Challenge; T-7, Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge; T-7, Pac-12 Preview; T-10, Darius Rucker Intercollegiate; T-11, Stanford Intercollegiate; T-32, Annika Intercollegiate
8. Kaitlyn Papp, Jr., Texas
Golfstat rank: 9
Wins: None
Other results: third, Annika Intercollegiate; T-3, Schooner Fall Classic; T-4, White Sands Invitational; eighth, Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invite; 11th, Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge, T-29, Darius Rucker Intercollegiate
9. Pimnipa Panthong, Sr., Kent State
Golfstat rank: 27
Wins: 1 (Mercedes-Benz Intercollegiate)
Other results: T-2, Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invite; fourth, Icon Invitational; T-5, Illinois Invitational; sixth, Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire Invitational; seventh, UCF Challenge; T-49, Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge
10. Ana Belac, Sr., Duke
Golfstat rank: 10
Wins: 1 (East Lake Cup)
Other results: T-5, Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge; ninth, Darius Rucker Intercollegiate; T-15, Windy City Collegiate; T-26, Annika Intercollegiate
Golf Central Podcast: From Tiger-Phil ‘rematch’ to ‘Tiger King’ reviews
GolfChannel.com senior writers Rex Hoggard and Ryan Lavner discuss the PGA Tour’s plans to financially assist players and caddies, the new Olympics dates and a possible Ryder Cup solution.
The guys also get excited when hints of a Tiger-Phil rematch surface, and – SPOILER ALERT! – share reviews of the popular Netflix series, “Tiger King”. All that and more on this edition of the Golf Central Podcast.
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