IShowever, if the high obstacles associated with sporting events are now considered a norm, women’s professional golf is about to enter a race where nervousness is inevitable. The welcome return of the best players in the game is partially offset by the awareness that the coming weeks will launch tests far from shots and bunker shots.
On Friday, the LPGA tour will resume with its Drive On Championship in Toledo. Next week he will attend the Marathon Classic, also in Ohio. In theory – save for the pro-am aspect in the second of those tournaments – this is not a completely different scenario from that seen by the PGA Tour since its restart in June. No spectator will be present in any of the tournaments and Covid-19 tests will be on the agenda.
The deeper complications come later; the Scottish Open, co-sanctioned between LPGA and Ladies European Tour, begin on August 13th. The newly renamed women’s open will kick off at Royal Troon a week later. Those wishing to stay on course will return to the United States for the Walmart Championship. Charter flights and biosecure bubbles, which must exist in Scotland, can only have a certain element of control when considering this mass movement.
Quarantine exemptions for athletes make this situation easier for golfers than it could have been otherwise. Georgia Hall and Charley Hull decided to stay in England, where they competed in a Justin Rose-backed series rather than embark on transatlantic voyages when they start their year again.
Others have clear concerns: Ko Jin-young and Park Sung-hyun – respectively no. 1 and n. 3 in the world – will not play in the first four LPGA competitions. “Due to concerns about the Covid-19 situation in the UK, Ko has no plans to play the Women’s Open,” said Hyomin Han, manager of Ko, on the Golf Channel. “She is confident of returning to the United States to play in the LPGA but has no specific plans or dates in mind yet. We are waiting to see if the Covid-19 situation in the United States improves. She has currently stayed in Korea to avoid exposure to the virus. “
In fact, a look at the women’s Open field – which has 114 points out of 144 occupied – is for now notable for the minimal Korean presence. Kim Sei-young, the world number 6, Kim Hyo-joo, the number 10 and Ryu So-yeon, twice a big winner, will not be seen in Ayrshire.
Koreans have won 19 of the last 39 majors. Restrictions on international travel and fears such as those expressed by Han place umpteen high profile golfers in a horrible position. Unlike the men’s game elite, it is not necessary and they do not settle in Florida at the first opportunity.
Any concern that the major leagues are worthy of the name when no major competitors enter is compensated in this situation by a superior good. This should have been a year of preparation for women’s professional golf as LPGA stepped in to help its troubled equivalent in Europe, with the players instead delivered to months of frustration.
This was especially the case for Ladies European Tour golfers, who have not had a traditional event since Alice Hewson memorably raised € 30,000 for winning her first professional start 18 weeks ago in South Africa. Rose has the immense merit of stepping in to finance seven events, but the £ 5,000 first prizes provide a context of their own.
Under the leadership of Mike Whan, the LPGA was without a doubt a commercial success story. His sentiment underlines it. “We took a big hit,” said Whan of the impact of the coronavirus. “Covid-19 is sure to dazzle us in 2020, but we’re not looking for funding and we could live up to a Covid of 2021 if it becomes a Covid of ’21 like the ’20. I wouldn’t want to. I’m just making sure that the resources when things have returned to normal, we can spend in this business as we would have spent in the past. We are not threatened. We are not dangerously low. It is difficult to see a figure in red at the bottom of a spreadsheet. “
There are, however, illuminating human stories beyond raw numbers. Georgia Oboh, Nigeria’s first golfer on the Ladies European Tour, received an invitation to the Scottish Open. “It will give me a valuable experience as I work to fulfill my dream of being the first Nigerian to win on the professional golf circuit,” said the nineteen year old.
Those behind the Scottish Open have a special debt of gratitude to the main sponsor, Aberdeen Standard Investments, who has renounced the normal essentials of a sponsorship deal – corporate hospitality and a pro-am – to ensure that the tournament continues.
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The fact that AIG has extended its agreement with the women’s British Open so far further demonstrates a commendable level of business support in difficult times. In the United States, providing prominent opportunities to sponsors that the PGA Tour may not have been a critical part of LPGA’s growth. “If we can’t figure out how to play pro-am, the LPGA will have some challenges in 2020 and beyond,” admitted Whan.
Whan and the others won’t run out of them as his business returns to something that comes close to recognizable form. While the breath is being held back from Toledo to Troon, a sport that was making significant strides needs things to play less serious problems.
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