It came as no surprise when on Friday the LPGA announced the postponement of three more tournaments. What was not expected was that the LPGA has set a date for the ANA Inspiration, which is to take place between 10th and 13th September.
The LPGA has announced it is postponing three tournaments amid the fears over the Coronavirus pandemic, including the first major on the 2020 golf calendar, the ANA Inspiration.
It’s Manic Monday, so here is a very quick round up of all the results and stories from the weekend on the, PGA Tour, European Tour, LPGA and Women’s European Tour.
We've all been there. One day we play great golf, nailing the drives and holing putts from everywhere, and the next – well complete rubbish. This phenomenon, however, is not purely an affliction of the amateur golfer as demonstrated by Matt Every who shot the lights out in round one of the Arnold Palmer invitational with a bogey-free seven-under-par 65 only to go out on Friday and shoot 83 and miss the cut!
What did Scott Piercy think when he chose to share social media posts which at best one could describe as controversial? Surely he realised in this day and age that such views might not sit well with the public? Clearly not and it will hurt him in the pocket as sponsors start to distance themselves from the player.
There was plenty of excitement at the last week’s events and plenty of great play. Here is GolfPunk’s pick of the best shots and we use the word ‘best’ in a rather loose way for one of them!
Forest of Arden Marriott Hotel & Country Club will welcome 59club clients from across Europe on the 12-13th March 2020. An extension to the ceremony will see The Westin Abu Dhabi Golf Resort & Spa host the awards to recognise excellence across Asia, The Middle East & Africa on the 20th April 2020, as the Service ‘Excellence’ Awards are split for the first time.
The Scottish government has refused planning permission for a controversial plan to build an 18-hole championship golf course in the Highlands of Scotland. The plan had been to build a championship golf course at Coul Links, Embo, near Dornoch.
It was a fine victory for Adam Scott last weekend, he is a great ball striker, but I must confess I rather sighed when I saw him using a long putter to great effect once again. It was a similar feeling to that I had when Scott won the Masters back in 2013. I’m sorry, but I am with the brigade who consider these long putters cheat sticks.
Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the bunker, or waste area, the Patrick Reed saga pops its nose out again. This time its the world number two Brooks Koepka giving his two pennyworth and he, as usual, does not pull any punches. Koepka described Reed’s actions as “building sandcastles in the sand.”
As expected, the LPGA has confirmed that they have cancelled two more events in Asia. The Honda LPGA Thailand in Pattaya, Thailand that was scheduled to be played between 20th and 23rd February and the HSBC Women's World Championship in Singapore the following week are both casualties of the Coronavirus scare.
Due to the vagaries of the world ranking system, Rory Mcilroy is set to grab the top spot from Brooks Koepka. Neither player is playing this week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am which means when the hard sums are crunched next Monday McIlroy will regain World Number One for the first time since 2015.
