2009 LPGA Tour Schedule Announced

by Ryan Ballengee on Nov 19, 2008 10:39 AM EST

Today, the LPGA Tour unveiled its 2009 schedule. Golf News Net has a piece up detailing the key changes between this year's schedule and 2008. Among them are:

Appoximately $7 million less total prize money
Three events off of the schedule, with the addition of a previously played event
The Stanford event is now the season finale

Check out Hound Dog's take on this. He very correctly points out a very odd stretch of events - the US Women's Open, Evian Masters, Ricoh Women's British Open, and Solheim Cup in a row. If a player doesn't get into any of these, they're looking at about two full months off from Tour. That's kind of scary.

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think they'll call the Stanford event...

…The Michelle Wie Championship ? (bwaaaahahahaaaa) :-)

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Nov 19, 2008 11:02 AM EST reply actions

no

But a few more wins and they might start calling it the “Angela”

Truth has a well-known liberal bias.

by dianemarie on Nov 19, 2008 2:26 PM EST up reply actions

thanks for the credit

but I hadn’t noticed the US Open-Evian-British-Solheim sequence. You’re absolutely right though – a low-priority player won’t be able to play from July 5 until August 28.

by hound dog on Nov 19, 2008 1:17 PM EST reply actions

there is always...

…the Futures Tour to stay sharp. Makes you wonder if some of the ladies might enter some of the men’s mini-tour events. They are scattered all over the country.

Some could go to Asia and play at home for a month.

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Nov 19, 2008 1:26 PM EST up reply actions

Do we have a 2009 Futures Tour sched?

I haven’t seen one, but maybe this is step 1 in a bigger plan.

by Ryan Ballengee on Nov 19, 2008 1:27 PM EST up reply actions

not yet

but there IS a story on the first Egyptian player – Naela El Attar – to qualify for the Futures Tour

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Nov 19, 2008 1:53 PM EST up reply actions

futures tour

That’s a nice thought, but LPGA EXEMPT players aren’t allowed to compete on the FUTURES Tour. I don’t know where the break will be with the new classification system, but there are going to be a lot of players who don’t qualify for the premier events during that stretch who won’t be able play FUTURES Tour either.

Truth has a well-known liberal bias.

by dianemarie on Nov 19, 2008 2:24 PM EST up reply actions

Touche

Maybe they’re working on rewriting the DFT qualifications?

by Ryan Ballengee on Nov 19, 2008 2:40 PM EST up reply actions

that's FULLY exempt players

isn’t it ?

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Nov 19, 2008 2:43 PM EST up reply actions

that's the way it seems

On the 2007 LPGA Money List, Jin Young Pak finished No. 129. She was the highest ranked LPGA player to compete on the FUTURES Tour this year. Non-Exempt status began at No. 126. Incidentally, she finished No. 5 on the FT this year so next year she’ll be exempt on the LPGA next year, and therefore unable to compete on the FT during the downtime if she doesn’t qualify for the premier events. No. 6 on the FT this year is Song Yi Choi who will be able to play FT events if she chooses.

Truth has a well-known liberal bias.

by dianemarie on Nov 19, 2008 3:14 PM EST up reply actions

ok

so there were LPGA players playing DFT tournaments in ’07.

I see what you’re saying about the LPGA players – if the top 60 are in a limited field event, and nobody below 126 plays on the DFT – that leaves another 60+ who have nowhere to play.

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Nov 19, 2008 4:57 PM EST up reply actions

Transcript

Here’s the transcript of what Commissoner Bivens had to say. One part, about the numbers, I thought was very curious.

As far as LPGA official money events in 2009, we’ll have 31 official money events. So you don’t have to count. That’s versus 34 in 2008. Given what could have been the potential negative economic impact on our schedule, we view this as a barometer of stability, appeal, and value for our players and our property.

Players will compete for nearly $55 million of official money. Again, so you don’t have to add it up, that’s down from a little more than $60 million in 2008. The average prize money will be $1.767 for those of you taking out three decimal points. And that’s similar to this year, which was a little more than $1.77.

by Ryan Ballengee on Nov 19, 2008 2:50 PM EST reply actions

wow

insults AND fantasy land comments ! woohooo. Did she at least take off her rose colored glasses before taking questions ?

“you don’t have to count” ?? that’s what the LPGA needs more of – snide comments from the commish.

Losing 9% of your schedule and $7 million in prize money is not a “barometer of stability”. A weakening TV deal isn’t “stable”.

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Nov 19, 2008 4:55 PM EST up reply actions

This may warrant it's own post

ya think?

by Ryan Ballengee on Nov 19, 2008 5:40 PM EST up reply actions

up to you...

…personally, I’m tired of her snide comments – and even though I’m all in favor of smacking the media around when they write crap – they didn’t deserve comments like these when she was just giving out some stats.

"this ball will fit in that fairway"

by courtgolf on Nov 19, 2008 6:03 PM EST up reply actions