LPGA 2015 schedule gets new major sponsor
NAPLES, Fla. – The LPGA Tour revealed Tuesday a 2015 schedule that includes 33 tournaments, $61.6 million in prize money – and one very important new sponsor.
At the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship at Tiburon Golf Club, the Tour announced that All Nippon Airways (ANA), the largest airline in Japan, will assume sponsorship of the first major of the season, which Lexi Thompson won this year when it was known as the Kraft Nabisco Championship.
The deal is for five years, with purse increases that will take the current $2 million purse to $2.5 million.
The tournament also will stay at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, Calif., which has staged the event since 1972.
The new tournament will be called the ANA Inspiration. ANA carried 42 million passengers worldwide in 2013 and was the first airline to launch the Boeing 787.
Of the 33 official tournaments – which is up one from this year – 22 will be held in North America, with nine in Asia/Australia and two in Europe. As well, 2015 is a Solheim Cup year. The competition will be held in Germany.
In 2011 there were 23 official events with purses worth $43.65 million. Emerging from the down days of fleeing sponsors and a sluggish economy, the players will now vie for the most money ever offered in LPGA Tour history.
The $61.6 million is a $4 million bump from this year.
Further, 33 of the 34 events will appear on television. Two of them – the U.S. Women's Open and the KPMG Women's PGA Championship, will appear on network TV. Only the U.S. Women's Open appeared on network TV this year.
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2015 LPGA Tournament schedule, purses
Jan. 28-31: Coates Golf Championship, Ocala, $1.5 million
Feb. 5-8: Pure Silk Bahamas LPGA Classic, Paradise Island, Bahamas, $1.3 million
Feb. 19-22: ISPS Handa Women's Australia Open, Melbourne, Australia, $1.2 million
Feb. 26 -March 1: Honda LPGA Thailand, Chomburi, Thailand, $1.5 million
March 5-8: HSBC Women's Championship, Singapore, $1.4 million
March 19-22: Founders Cup, Phoenix, $1.5 million
March 26-29: Kia Classic, Carlsbad, Calif., $1.7 million
April 2-5: ANA Inspiration, Rancho Mirage, $2.5 million
April 15-18: LOTTE Championship, Oahu, Hawaii, $1.8 million
April 23-26: Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic, San Francisco, $2 million
April 30-May 3: Volunteers of America North Texas Shootout, Irving, Texas, $1.3 million
May 14-17: Kingsmill Championship, Williamsburg, Va., $1.3 million
May 21-24: Airbus LPGA Classic (tentative), Mobile, Ala., $1.3 million
May 28-31: ShopRite LPGA Classic presented by Acer, Galloway, N.J., $1.5 million
June 4-7: Manulife LPGA Classic, Cambridge, Ontario, Canada, $1.5 million
June 11-14: KPMG Women's PGA Championship, Westchester, N.Y., $3.5 million
June 25-28: Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G, Rogers, Ark., $2 million
July 9-12: U.S. Women's Open, Lancaster, Pa. $4 million
July 16-19: Marathon Classic presented by Owens Corning and O-I, Sylvania, Ohio, $1.5 million
July 23-26: Meijer LPGA Classic presented by Kraft, Belmont, Mich., $1.8 million
July 30-Aug. 2: Ricoh British Open, Turnberry, Scotland, $3 million
Aug. 13-16: Cambia Portland Classic, Portland, Ore., $1.3 million
Aug. 20-23: Canadian Pacific Women's Open, Vancouver, Canada, $2.25 million
Aug. 27-30: Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic, Prattville, Ala., $1.3 million
Sept. 10-13: The Evian Championship, Evian-les-Bains, France, $3.25 million
Sept. 17-20: Solheim Cup, Sankt Leon-Rot, Germany
Oct. 1-4: Reignwood Pine Valley LPGA Classic, Beijing, China, $2.1 million
Oct. 8-11: Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, $2.0 million
Oct. 15-18: LPGA KEB-Hana Bank Championship, Taipei, Taiwan, $2. Million
Oct. 22-25: Blue Ray LPGA, Hainan Island, China, $2.0 million
Oct. 29-Nov. 1: Fubon LPGA Taiwan Championship, Inchon, Korea, $2.0 million
Nov. 5-8: Mizuno Classic, Shima-Shi, Mie, Japan, $1.3 million
Nov. 12-15: Lorena Ochoa Invitational presented by Banamex, Mexico City, Mexico, $1.0 million
Nov. 19-22: CME Group Tour Championship, Naples, $2 million