NAPLES, Fla. — The LPGA released its 2023 schedule on Friday at the CME Group Tour Championship, where 60 women are competing for a $2 million winner’s check, the largest in tour history. Next year’s schedule will include 33 tournaments and a record prize fund of $101.4 million.
The year will begin in Orlando, Florida, Jan. 19-22 at Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions at Lake Nona, though there won’t be a Florida swing this year. After a full month off, the tour then moves to Asia for three events in Thailand, Singapore and China. The LPGA hasn’t competed in China in three years due to ongoing travel restrictions.
The first full-field event of the season, the LPGA Drive On Championship, will be held March 23-26 at Superstition Mountain G.C., in Gold Canyon, Arizona. The LPGA introduced tour-backed Drive On events during the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2022 Drive On, won by Leona Maguire, was contested at Crown Colony Golf and Country Club in Fort Myers, Florida.
Superstition Mountain hosted the 2004-2008 Safeway International and is home to a number of LPGA players.
With four limited-field events to start the season, the majority of players on the LPGA will have more than four months off between starts. While some wanted a longer offseason, many are concerned about the long break between events, particularly those who are further down the money list.
“I just had a month off and have this one (Pelican), and then I’m going to have four months off,” said Inglis, who finished the year 100th on the Race to CME Globe, at last week’s Pelican LPGA Championship.
The dates of the Chevron Championship have moved to April 20-23, after the Masters. The LPGA major will be contested for the first time at The Club at Carlton Woods in The Woodlands, Texas.
New, previously announced events on the schedule include the Mizuho Americas Open at Liberty National and the return of the Hanwha LIFEPLUS International Crown at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco.
A jam-packed summer includes four majors in the span of eight weeks, including the U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach, the KPMG Women’s PGA at Baltusrol and the AIG Women’s British Open at Walton Heath (Old Course) in Surrey, England. The U.S. Women’s Open and KPMG will be held back-to-back on opposite ends of the country with a week off in between.
In September, the Solheim Cup will be staged in Spain for the first time, one week ahead of the Ryder Cup in Rome.
The fall Asian swing includes…
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