LPGA reeling with lost tourneys, sponsors

The LPGA Tour announced Tuesday that the Kapalua LPGA Classic, slated for Oct. 15-18, has been canceled due to the lack of a title sponsor. That's another development in a disturbing trend for the LPGA, which has had a slight drop in average purses and has had several sponsors pull out of or not renew contracts. One of the tour's majors, the McDonald's LPGA Championship, will be known as the LPGA Championship next year unless a sponsor is found to replace McDonald's. And the tournament must find another site as well. The LPGA has lost seven tournaments since 2007 and six more are sponsorless, including this year's China LPGA, an IMG-run event scheduled for the week after the now-defunct Kapalua.
The tour has a number of up-and-coming stars but the economy is hitting it hard. Hawaii hosted three LPGA events in 2008 and may not host any next year. Florida had three events but is in jeopardy of not having any next year, and another golf hotbed, Arizona, had one but may also be without one in 2009. That's a tough trifecta of tournament-less states.
Said LPGA deputy commissioner Libba Galloway in a statement: ``We are extremely disappointed with (Kapalua Land Co.s) decision not to conduct the October 2009 event. We will vigorously enforce all our legal rights under the contract due to this breach.'' Kapalua ran the tournament without a title sponsor in 2008 and was contracted to stage a tournament through 2012. Morgan Pressel represents Kapalua on tour and won the inaugural Kapalua event last fall.