LPGA delays three more events

LOS ANGELES: Three more LPGA Tour events were postponed Friday due to the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak while the ANA Inspiration women’s major tournament was rescheduled for September, the tour announced.

The LPGA announced the postponement of the Lotte Championship, which had been set for April 15-18 in Hawaii; the Los Angeles Open which had been scheduled on April 23-26 and the LPGA Mediheal Championship in suburban San Francisco, which was to have been played April 30-May 3.

What had been the first scheduled major tournament of the season, the ANA Inspiration at Rancho Mirage, California, will now be played at Mission Hills Country Club from September 10-13.

The previous event set for that weekend, the LPGA Portland Classic, will move to September 17-20.

South Korea’s Ko Jin-young is the defending ANA Inspiration champion. The latest moves were made "following broadened directives from the various health organizations," the tour said.

The next LPGA tournament remaining on the active schedule is the inaugural Pelican Women’s Championship on May 14-17 at Belleair, Florida.

The next major tournament on the schedule is the US Women’s Open on June 4-7 in Houston.

Two other LPGA events are listed as postponed, the Founders Cup that was to have been played this week in Arizona and the Kia Classic that was to have been next week in California.

Only four LPGA events have been contested this year, two in Florida in January and two in Australia in February. Events were canceled in Thailand, Singapore and China.