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| - After a 2020 season upended by the coronavirus pandemic, the LPGA on Friday announced a 2021 schedule featuring 34 tournaments across North America, Europe and Asia worth a record $76.45 million in prize money. The LPGA was hard-hit by the pandemic, losing events on its Asian swing last February weeks before other sports including tennis and the major US sports leagues, were forced to shut down operations. Five months of inactivity followed before play resumed in July with a revamped schedule capped by this week's Tour Championship in Florida, the 18th event of the year. In 2021, all of the events that were postponed in 2020 because of the pandemic will return to the schedule, although the tour has made adjustments to cope with pandemic-related challenges that will linger into the new year. Full-field events won't begin until late February, and the usual Asia swing has been moved back to late April and early May. "We can all agree that 2020, while certainly not the 70th anniversary year that we expected, was a year that we will never forget," LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan said in a statement. Whan praised LPGA staff in getting competition underway, and said the tour had even been able to sign up new sponsors and marketing partners. The 2021 season will open with the Tournament of Champions presented at Four Seasons Golf and Sports Club Orlando in Florida on January 21-24. For 2021 only the field will feature winners from the past three seasons. Full-field events begin with the February 25-28 Gainbridge Championship at a Florida venue still to be announced. The ANA Inspiration returns to its place as the first major of the year at Rancho Mirage, California, April 1-4. The HSBC Women's World Championship in Singapore April 29-May 2 heralds the start of the Asia Swing, which will also include the Honda LPGA Thailand and the Blue Bay LPGA on Hainan Island in China. The Tour's two usual stops in Australia were previously postponed to 2022 for pandemic-related reasons. Other highlights of the calendar include a new match play competition in May, the US Women's Open at the Olympic Club in San Francisco June 10-13 and the Women's PGA Championship in Georgia June 24-27. The women's PGA Championship marks the end of qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics golf competition, which will be held August 4-7. The July 22-25 Evian Championship opens a month of stops in Europe capped by the Women's British Open at Carnoustie August 19-22. The Solheim Cup Europe v United States matchplay event will be held at Inverness in Toledo, Ohio, September 4-6, and the season will conclude with the Tour Championship November 18-21. bb/rcw
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