LPGA 2010 Schedule Update I

Thanks to Wisconsin Reader for pointing this out.

LPGA's 2010 Schedule: 24 Events, 11 Foreign by Gene Yusada

International events continue to increase their influence on the schedule, a result of greater overseas demand for the LPGA and a smaller number of total events. Of the 24 tournaments, 11 – nearly half – will be staged outside of the U.S. As recently as this year, LPGA officials have said they prefer international events to account for one-third of the tour’s schedule.

But in a depressed U.S. economy where title sponsors are hard to come by, the LPGA had little choice but to seize global opportunities. Though critics likely will focus on the diminished schedule overall, a case could be made that the tour saved more U.S. events than expected. Of the eight tournaments that had title-sponsorship contracts expiring this year, five renewed their deals. The three exceptions: LPGA Corning Classic, Michelob Ultra Open at Kingsmill and Sybase Classic are gone.

The LPGA, however, still has work to do. Three events on the calendar – one in China, another in South Korea and the LPGA Tour Championship – have not yet announced their sponsors nor tournament sites.

This sounds similar to the plan that Annika Sorenstam suggested and I followed up with earlier this week.