DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Sept. 15, 2020) -- The LPGA Tour today announced changes to its fall 2020 schedule, including the addition of a new event in Greensboro, Ga. — The LPGA Drive On Championship – Reynolds Lake Oconee.
Given the travel restrictions and quarantine requirements put in place due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, the BMW Ladies Championship, scheduled for Oct. 22-25 in Busan, Republic of Korea, and the TOTO Japan Classic, scheduled for Nov. 6-8 in Ibaraki, Japan, will not take place in 2020. Both events will return to the LPGA Tour schedule in 2021.
Today’s announcement means that all four events that comprised the LPGA Tour’s 2020 fall Asian swing have now been officially cancelled due to the quarantine requirements in place with crossing country borders.
With the Tour unable to travel to Asia this fall, the LPGA has added a second LPGA Drive On Championship to the 2020 schedule. The LPGA Drive On Championship - Reynolds Lake Oconee will take place Oct 22-25. The four-day, full-field event will be held on the Great Waters Course at Reynolds Lake Oconee in Greensboro, Ga. It will feature a $1.3 million purse and will be televised on Golf Channel and the LPGA’s international broadcast partners.
“We greatly appreciate the efforts by our partners at BMW and TOTO to try to host their events this season and we look forward to returning to Korea and Japan in 2021,” said LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan. “Since we unfortunately cannot travel to Asia, we felt it was very important to add another competitive opportunity for our players. A big thank you to Reynolds Lake Oconee for hosting this official LPGA event, and giving an incredible venue to showcase the world’s best female golfers.”
The LPGA Tour restarted its 2020 season with the LPGA Drive On Championship – Inverness, which took place July 31 to Aug. 2 at Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio. Danielle Kang won the LPGA Drive On Championship - Inverness, the first of her two consecutive victories in Toledo.