Friday 20 March 2020 13:59, UK
The LPGA Tour has postponed three more events due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, while the opening women's major of the year has been rescheduled.
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The Lotte Championship, due to be held in Hawaii on April 15-18, as well as the Hugel-Air Premia LA Open (April 23-26) and the LPGA Mediheal Championship in California (April 30-May 3) are the latest to be called off due to the COVID-19 crisis.
The ANA Inspiration - traditionally kicking off the major season the week before the Masters - has been rescheduled for September 10-13, with the Portland Classic now moving a week later to September 17-20.
In a statement to players, LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan said: "We held out on these events as long as we could, hoping conditions would improve.
"Unfortunately, the current combination of the World Health Organization categorizing COVID-19 as a pandemic, local markets implementing very aggressive event/gathering limitations, and unprecedented, broad-scale travel restrictions that impact so many of our players and caddies, made hosting an LPGA official event under these conditions simply not possible or prudent.
"We are focused on giving you as many playing opportunities as we can. I will share more details about the back half of 2020 as soon as I can. I wish I could tell you when the LPGA Tour will resume our schedule, but the truth is, no one has those answers.
"Virtually all our events are concerned given the conditions they currently face in their respective markets. At this point, the only option is to reschedule what we can and hope the COVID-19 situation starts to improve."
Nine LPGA Tour events have now been postponed or cancelled this season due to the coronavirus pandemic, with the next scheduled tournament now the inaugural Pelican Women's Championship in Florida on May 14.
