Never underestimate the fickleness of the LPGA. Ever since the Founders created the Tour in 1950, he has fought for recognition and respect, fighting against those who belittle women’s sport and economic realities. But the LPGA has always made progress with a guiding spirit. There is no reason to think that this will not be the case with COVID-19.
When 144 players start playing Friday in the Drive On Championship at the Inverness Club, it will not only be the return of competitive golf to the LPGA Tour for the first time in 166 days, it will be the first page of the next chapter in an extraordinary 70-year history. And if the past is a prologue, the Tour will return stronger than ever.
Back then, players went everywhere to promote their Tour – minor league baseball games, boxing games, wherever sports fans gathered. They would not listen to those who said that their idea would not work. This is what Commissioner Mike Whan means when he tells today’s players to “behave like a Founder”. The LPGA is yours – act accordingly.
The following years presented several problems. In 1971, what was such a mild recession by today’s standards that it is not even worth noting, reduced the LPGA tour to 20 tournaments. But the following year he returned to 29 years after singer Dinah Shore and Colgate Palmolive executive David Foster gave new energy – and resources – to women’s play.
Later in the same decade, Nancy Lopez arrived. In the late 1990s, the LPGA was becoming the global golf tour when Asian players joined those of Great Britain, Australia, South Africa, South America and the European continent.
So in 2011, the punitive impact of The Great Recession reduced the Tour to 23 tournaments. But by 2017, it had returned to 34.
The LPGA entered 2020 with more cash prizes and more TV exposure than ever. A new TV contact from 2022 was even more beautiful news.
And then the world stopped.
Every step of the way the LPGA has proceeded with caution. The first cancellation came on January 30 at Blue Bay China and the second and third on February 2 with Honda Thailand and the HSBC Women’s Champions in Singapore. On March 12, the first tournament in the United States – the Volvik Founders Cup – was suspended.
The return to competitions in Toledo, Ohio, first with the Drive On Championship and then with the Marathon Classic presented by Dana, will put the familiar faces of the LPGA in a city with long ties to the Tour but in brand new conditions.
In addition to the usual concerns about the length of the rough and the speed of the greens, tournament officials will have a much greater responsibility for ensuring the safety of everyone on the spot. There will be no fans in Toledo or pro-am neither at Drive On nor at the Marathon. But there will be facial masks, tests, social distance and thermal scanners.
The new normal could also include some old ways of doing things.
In the days before LPGA went global, players and caddies would put 50,000 miles per year on their cars by driving from tournament to tournament. They now earn 100,000 frequent flyer miles each year. That relationship is changing for some.
“We are just moving away from Orlando and starting our 16-hour trip to Toledo,” said 2018 inspirational champion ANA Pernilla Lindberg in a text message. “Planning to arrive on Monday afternoon. Excited to return to play but the fully aware life of the Tour will have a different aspect in many respects. ”
Evian Championship 2018 winner Angela Stanford clearly needed a tutorial on how to drive from her home in Fort Worth, Texas, Ohio. He posted this on Twitter:
Well, I packed my bags for Toledo this morning. All the emotions you can imagine, excited, nervous, anxious, all. It was very sweet to get out of the driveway. About 15 minutes down the road ……
I forgot my golf clubs. ????????????????♀️
# 2020 # letstrythisagain– Angela Stanford (@Angela_Stanford) 23 July 2020
No one who has passed this will forget 2020. And “Let’s try again” applies in so many ways.
Morgan Pressel is flying from South Florida to Toledo. “Definitely excited to be returning to competitions,” Pressel said in a message. “I know it will be a little different for everyone, but the LPGA has worked hard to get us back to work as safely as possible.”
The most positive way to look at the Coronavirus pandemic is that it grabbed the world by the collar and shouted “Let’s try again.”
COVID-19 will force us to rethink everything – how we work; how we play and maybe how we take care of each other.
The return of the LPGA to the Drive On Championship and Marathon Classic is much more than going back to golf. It’s about coming back to life with an idea of what “Let’s try again” might mean.
:quality(85)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/infobae/INRYCKLRJFDPXLPLE3MUV63A3A)
