LPGA Tour Cancels Asia Events Over Coronavirus Outbreak

The LPGA Tour has cancelled its upcoming events in Thailand and Singapore after already cancelling one in China

LPGA Tour Cancels Asia Events Over Coronavirus Outbreak

The LPGA Tour has been forced to cancel its upcoming Asian events over the next month due to health and safety concerns surrounding the coronavirus.

Latest: Coronavirus and Golf

"It is always a difficult decision to cancel events and the LPGA greatly appreciates the understanding and all the efforts made by our title sponsors (Honda and HSBC) as well as IMG to host incredible events for our players," the LPGA said in a statement.

"The health and safety of our players, fans and everyone working on the event is always our highest priority.

"While we are disappointed that these tournaments will not take place this season, we look forward to returning to Asia soon."

The tournaments in question are the LPGA Honda Thailand and the HSBC Women’s World Championship.

The LPGA Honda Classic at Siam Country Club in Pattaya features a purse of $1.6m and was due to take place next week from 20th-23rd February.

The HSBC Women's World Championshp in Singapore has been cancelled as well.

That event features a $1.5m purse and was due to take place the following week from 27th February to 1st March.

The reduced-field tournament is one of the biggest on the tour and has been won by the likes of Sung-Hyun Park, Michelle Wie, Inbee Park and Paula Creamer in recent years.

The LPGA also cancelled the Blue Bay LPGA in Hainan, China last month due to the virus.

It was due to take place from 5th-8th March.

This all means the LPGA Tour and its players will be having an extended break with this week's Women's Australian Open the last event until the Founders Cup in Phoenix, Arizona on 19th March.

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There have been more than 40,000 cases of the virus confirmed across the world with over 900 deaths recorded in China.

Many sporting events have been cancelled including the start of the China Super League football season and the China Open snooker.

Latest: Coronavirus and Golf

The Chinese Grand Prix may also be affected in April, a month that also features the Volvo China Open on the European Tour.

That may well be affected too.

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