LPGA Tour unveils lean 2010 schedule

Reflecting a year of economic and organizational turmoil, the LPGA Tour on Wednesday released a leaner schedule for its upcoming 2010 season.

It also announced a new sponsor and home for the second major of the year.

There are only 24 official tournaments on the schedule for next season, which begins overseas on Feb. 18 at the Honda LPGA Thailand. That is down from 27 events on the 2009 docket, which started in Hawaii at the now-defunct SBS Open at Turtle Bay.

The downsized schedule reflects the tour's struggles to hang onto sponsors during the economic downturn. The LPGA will head into the '10 season with incoming commissioner Mike Whan at the reins for the first time.

Whan replaces acting commissioner Marty Evans, who took over for Carolyn Bivens after she was forced out by players in July.

Evans said the new schedule reflects tournaments already under contract, as well as those that are "very, very close" to being so. The tour continues to have discussions with sponsors, but those talks are mainly focused on 2011.

"This is the schedule as of today," Evans said at a press conference held Wednesday at Sugar Land (Texas) City Hall. The tour is in the Houston area for this week's season-ending LPGA Tour Championship.

The tour will remain overseas for its second event, the HSBC Women's Champions in Singapore, and will not begin play in the United States until a month later when the LPGA Classic starts at its new home in California on March 25.

The first major of the season, the Kraft Nabisco Championship, will be played April 1-4 at its longtime location at Mission Hills.

But the second major of year has a new sponsor and host course.

The popular Wegmans LPGA at Locust Hill Country Club in Rochester, N.Y., will become the LPGA Championship, to be played June 24-27. Wegmans -- itself a dedicated LPGA supporter -- replaces longtime LPGA Championship sponsor McDonald's.

The U.S. Women's Open will be played July 8-11 at Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pa., and the Women's British Open will be held at Royal Birkdale in South Port, England, beginning July 29.

The schedule, as it looks now, ends with the LPGA Tour Championship on Nov. 18-21.

There is one tournament -- the LPGA Korea -- listed on the schedule without a date of competition.

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