{{ubiquityData.prevArticle.description}}
{{ubiquityData.nextArticle.description}}
The Cambia Portland Classic, scheduled for Sept. 16-19 on the LPGA Tour, will move locations from Columbia Edgewater Country Club to Oregon Golf Club in West Linn, Oregon.
The reason for the move, according to a statement sent to players, is the rise in the homeless population near the original host course.
“With respect to the health and safety of the LPGA players, staff, fans and the local community, Tournament Golf Foundation has elected to relocate the tournament for 2021,” the statement said.
For a domestic security situation to prompt a change in venue is unprecedented; in 2014, the Honda LPGA Thailand was played despite an attempted coup d’état there. Also in recent years, the LPGA Tour has staged events affected by wildfires (the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open in 2020) and a typhoon (the UL International Crown in 2018).
And the move is extraordinary in that preparation for infrastructure and marketing typically are well in the works 12 weeks before the first ball is in the air.
“It was not an easy decision to take a step away from Columbia Edgewater Country Club, which has been the home of the Portland Classic for many years and has played a huge role in the success of the event for more than 30 editions of its 50-year history,” the statement read. “While the contract is not yet 100 percent finalized with the Oregon Golf Club for the 2021 Portland Classic, we wanted you to hear this news from us as soon as possible.”
Kevin Streelman tops the list of 12 golfers to earn a place in the Open Championship as the highest-ranked non-exempt players in the Official World Golf Ranking at the end of June.
Streelman (No. 52) is joined by Russell Henley (53), Charley Hoffman (57), Bubba Watson (59), Brendon Todd (64), Chris Kirk (69), Talor Gooch (70), Lanto Griffin (72) and Cameron Tringale (73).
Mexico’s Carlos Ortiz (55), Canada’s Mackenzie Hughes (65) and South Korea’s KH Lee (67) also earned spots.
An additional place in the field for the 149th Open is available for the highest non-exempt player who finishes in the top five (and ties) this week at the John Deere Classic at TPC Deer Run in Silva, Illinois, July 8-11.
The Open will be played July 15-18 at Royal St. George’s.
This year’s Champion Golfer of the Year will take home a record winner’s check of $2,070 million, following the R&A’s decision to increase prize money for the 149th Open Championship.
The St George’s winner will earn $135,000 more than the $1.93 million Shane Lowry received when he won the 2019 Open Championship at Royal Portrush.
“We have increased the prize fund for the Open this year and believe it fully reflects the Championship’s stature in world sport,” R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers said. “As the only men’s major championship played outside of America, the Open has a global role to play and we are determined to continue to attract the top players.”
The total prize purse this year is $11.5 million compared to $10.75 million in 2019, equal to the Masters but less than the $12 million at the PGA Championship and $12.5 million for the U.S. Open.
Meanwhile, on Thursday the R&A opened the ticket ballot for the 150th Open Championship at St Andrews. It will remain open until Oct. 4, with results to be announced at the end of November.
Annika Sörenstam, a 10-time major champion and member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, reportedly will be one of three women to accept membership at Pine Valley Golf Club, according to a club announcement that was e-mailed to its membership Friday.
Joining Sörenstam at the New Jersey golf club, which has had male-only membership for 108 years, are accomplished women’s amateur golfers Sarah Ingram and Meghan Stasi.
“As has been our custom, all prospective candidates must be socially compatible, share a deep passion for the game of golf, and be able to play the golf course with the skill level our founder George Crump intended,” club president Jim Davis wrote in April to members when he announced the end of the club’s all-male status.
The Hero Indian Open has become the latest major golf event to fall foul of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The tournament was scheduled for Oct. 28-31 but has been scrubbed from the European Tour’s international schedule because of the ongoing threat posed by the virus.
“The European Tour will look to schedule a replacement tournament in the final week of October but there are no definitive plans as to where that will be at this stage,” a statement from the European Tour said.
English amateur Sam Bairstow earned a spot in the Open Championship after finishing in a tie for second place in the final qualifier at St Annes Old Links. He shot 63-69 to share second place with Spanish European Tour player Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño, one stroke behind former English amateur international Ben Hutchison.
Bairstow will join Joe Long, Laird Shepherd, Matthias Schmid, Christoffer Bring, Cole Hammer, Yuxin Lin and Abel Gallegos as the amateurs in the field.
Seven-time European Tour winner Fernández-Castaño is the only player from the 12 who earned spots at the final qualifier to have played the Open before.
TAP-INS
Gareth Bale, an international soccer star from Wales, becomes a supporting partner of the Cazoo Open, the European Tour event in his home nation that will be played July 22-25 (READ MORE). ...Golf Australia confirms the Australian Open will return after missing 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and will be played Nov. 25-28 at the Australian Golf Club in Sydney (READ MORE). ... The Georgia State Golf Association and Georgia Section PGA express sadness about the shooting death Saturday of PGA professional Gene Siller at Pinetree Country Club in Georgia.
Staff and Wire Reports