Two more LPGA tournaments canceled.

[tonyj5]

Tournaments in Singapore and Thailand have now been canceled, bringing the total to three tournaments canceled because of the Caronavirus. This means after this weekend's tournament in Australia, the LPGA will be off for a month before resuming in the USA.

[xxio]

That's a long time for a major tour to not have tournaments.

[Stooch]

I mentioned in the odds and ends thread, they could repo the 1st Symetra event in Florida March 6-8 and make it an LPGA event, the Symetra girls wouldn't like it but the big tour does support the feeder tour and they could maybe find another event to replace it later in the season possibly.

[xxio]

Sounds sensible or give more spots to the Symetra in that field.

[Singapore Joe]

Let's see whether a number of players pull out of the Aus Women's Open as they can't play in Thailand and Singapore on the way back. A long way to fly to Australia and back just for one tournament. That would be good for those in the qualifying tournament as in addition to a few guaranteed spots there will also be five provisional spots in case there are cancellations. They might give more spots in case there are more players cancelling.

There are two LET events coming up in New South Wales after the Aus Women's Open. I don't know if LPGA players can gain entry other than through the qualifying tournament (if such things exist for LET). The total purse is only EUR 200,000 per event which isn't much at all. May be useful for rookies and those in the less pointy end of the rankings to gain some tournament experience and maybe make a few dollars if they are already in Australia for other events.

[Raving Shanker]

This is unfortunate, but wise, I think. It makes a mess of the season, but not as much as corona virus infections. To the people who say it is "...just a flu really", because flu kills many more people, this virus has 40x the mortality rate, and is more contagious. Yikes.

Quite a few weeks back I was speculating whether this would enhance the strength of the field at the Aussie Open, or weaken it. With the lateness of those tournament cancellations, probably neither.

It is interesting for a player like our No. 1, JYK. She was jaded at the end of last season, and took a few tournaments off this year to refresh. She might be regretting that now! On the other hand, it might be just what she needs!

It is a shame the Aus Open only has a 1.3M purse. I am sure it was 1.6 last year. Will check.

[AWinfortheAges]

I'd imagine if a player is in the field for the Aus Women's Open, she is already in Australia or in route.

[AWinfortheAges]

Time for an impromptu friendly East vs. West(Florida and Texas residents vs. California, Arizona and Nevada residents) match play event during the time off. Broadcast it on YouTube.

[MagicClassic407]

These tournaments represent $5.2 million NOT being paid out to LPGA players this season. That's a huge hit. Probably no way to recoup that for these hardworking gals. Mike Whan?

[yurivf143]

Another possibly significant impact...unless I am mistaken, the events cancelled were limited field, no cut events which means that those who were playing in those events got guaranteed money for the official money list as well as guaranteed CME points. So this could impact the priority list re-shuffle later this year as well as eligibility for the CME Tour Championship. Could be a great opportunity for those farther down the priority list who were not eligible for these three events.

[Newinup]

good point! I'm quite sure (99.99%) honda LPGA and hsbc world womens was a 60-70 player no cut event... so there's at least 2 events there that may "aid" those uninvited/ineligible due to being far down the priority list

[MagicClassic407]

Give me a break. How can taking money off the table for the LPGA possibly be an "aid" in the big picture, in the long run.

 

[Titleist_PT23]

He's not saying losing 2 tournaments and $5 MM+ in prize money is a positive for THE TOUR.

He's looking at it from the perspective of the lower ranked players that couldn't play these events and how it relates to year long rankings like money list, race to CME, Rolex POY, etc. The top players that planed to play in these events (many of the Asian players start their seasons here) were guaranteed points, $, etc. Now, since there is no event they are still tied with people sitting on ZERO.

I don't think cancelling these two events will impact the Top 10 players / who wins certain awards much. All of these players would have played and we have no idea who would have won. However, it could have an impact on Top 80, who gets in fall Asian swing etc. Some of the players in the 40-70 range will be missing $$$ and points they otherwise would have had.

As for your $5.2 MM being a "huge hit," give me a break. I'm all for these players earning as much as they can but the number is about a 7 percent haircut. Businesses of all kinds see swings in reveunue like this, and I'm sure many everyday folks have an income shortfall or expense spike (roof goes out, car breakdown, etc) of this magnitude all the time. $5.2 MM to this group is far from one of life's tragic events. Think about it. You could be a tour operator or own a hotel in Wuhan. That would be huge.

[Newinup]

+1... specifics and details in the post were noted... the lower rung players... those "farther down in the priority list" to use the exact quote/words...

[yurivf143]

Couldn't have said it better. I never said or implied that cancelling events was good for the LPGA tour, however, it could be a benefit players lower on the LPGA Priority List who were ineligible for the cancelled events as they enter the full field portion of the schedule on a more equal footing in money list (which is used to determine priority status) and CME points than they would have otherwise. Also, good point on eligibility for the fall Asian swing events, didn't think about that.

Also, keep in mind that the cancelled Asian swing was 3 events, not 2. In addition to Thailand and Singapore, the Blue Bay tournament to be held in China 5-8 March was cancelled weeks ago.

[8602081]

Wow, no more tournaments until Mid March?

amazing..