Whan had some confidence about his course knowledge going into the round, as his family has had a vacation home at Lake Oconee for the past five years. It was his personal connection to the location that helped the event come about. The LPGA Tour’s month-long Asia Swing was cancelled due to the complications pertaining to the spreading of COVID-19. To break up what would have been more than a month off, Whan helped put together the new Drive On event.

As part of his commentating duties, Whan took some time to do on-course interviews with players. It provided an opportunity to showcase Whan’s genuine rapport with the players on tour. The mutual respect and the relationships Whan has with the athletes made the interviews better than you’d expect from a commissioner.

.@LPGACommish: “If you were commissioner for an hour – your first decision would be?”@daniellekang: “Hire Mike Whan back.”

Perfect answer, Danielle. ? pic.twitter.com/JzgzwIh2G9

— LPGA (@LPGA) October 22, 2020

From some self-deprecating humour about his Whoop band warning that he’s not used to walking so much, to casually using DK as Danielle Kang’s nickname, Whan proved himself a natural.

The post LPGA commissioner Mike Whan tried working as an on-course commentator—and was actually pretty good appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Keely Levins
The coronavirus continues to take its toll on the 2020 LPGA Tour schedule. In Commissioner Mike Whan and his team’s latest update on Wednesday, the Meijer LPGA Classic and Q School were cancelled, the ShopRite Classic’s date was moved for a second time, and the tour said there will be no local qualifying for events for the rest of 2020.

The LPGA said the Meijer event will be played in 2021 in Grand Rapids, Mich., while the ShopRite, in Galloway, N.J., takes over its dates of Oct. 2-4.

Q School was eliminated, Whan said, because current LPGA players are getting fewer opportunities to compete.

“As we look to the remainder of our 2020 season and ahead to 2021, we wanted to make sure that the athletes who earned the opportunity to play on the LPGA Tour for 2020 have that full-season opportunity in 2021,” Whan said.

Instead of the planned 33 events on the 2020 schedule, there are now 20. Without the expected number of opportunities to play in order to maintain their LPGA card, how could players lose status for 2021? It didn’t seem fair. So, players’ status from the start of 2020 will carry over to 2021. With that development, holding Q School, which concludes with the Q Series, wasn’t necessary.

NurPhoto
Brooke Henderson plays in the 2019 Meijer LPGA Classic.

Fewer tournaments hasn’t changed the “official” status of the 2020 season.

“We will have official wins, players can shuffle into a winner category, they can play their way into the Tournament of Champions in Orlando,” Whan explained, “but we feel players were not given the season that they earned in ’19 for ’20.”

There remains two ways for non-members to get a card for 2021. If a non-member wins an event, she has the option to join the tour. (Hinako Shibuno had that opportunity last year after winning the Ricoh Women’s British Open, but declined.) The other way is via the Symetra Tour. If the Symetra Tour plays eight or more events in 2020, the top five finishers on the money list will get LPGA status for 2021, but less status than is usually given in that category.

“I know for college kids that want to go to Q School this year, this is terrible news,” Whan said. “I think for most Symetra Tour players that wanted to play their way off of the tour this year, it’s terrible news. I’m sure LPGA players who didn’t like [their priority] entering ’20 still don’t like their priority entering ’21. But everybody is getting in ’21 what they would have earned in ’19, and it takes a lot of the anxiety off the table about what is or isn’t going to happen in ’20, and what can or can’t happen relative to the country [the players are] in. Some of our players currently can’t physically leave their country regardless of what we can do on testing when you get here.”

The LPGA is scheduled to resume play more than a month after the PGA Tour, with the Marathon Classic, July 23-26 in Sylvania, Ohio.

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By Keely Levins
Citing a need to protect the players and those who follow the tour during the COVID-19 outbreak, LPGA Tour Commissioner Mike Whan released a statement early Friday UAE time announcing the postponement of the next three events, including the year’s first major championship.

Beginning next week, the three events—Volvik Founders Cup, Kia Classic and ANA Inspiration—were set to be played in consecutive weeks in Phoenix, Carlsbad, Calif., and Rancho Mirage, Calif. Rather than cancel the tournaments, Whan said the plan is to reschedule all three for later in 2020.

“This is a difficult situation and as we navigate these uncertain times, we appreciate the support of all those involved with the LPGA,” Whan said in a statement. “I am fully committed to rescheduling these important events on our 2020 schedule, especially our first major, the ANA Inspiration. Our thoughts are with all of those around the world affected by this virus. And on a personal level, it pains me to see the impact of this health crisis on our athletes, our sponsors and our fans. That said, I know keeping our LPGA family safe, and all those who follow us safe, has to be my top priority.”

The announcement comes after the LPGA previously cancelled three events in Asia due to the spread of the coronavirus. The Women’s Australian Open was the last LPGA event contested. It ended on Feb. 16, meaning the tour will be dark for at least seven weeks running through the scheduled end of the ANA in the first week of April.

Additionally, the Symetra Tour’s two upcoming events in California also have been postponed.

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