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On the heels of the R&A postponing this week’s Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific in Thailand because of fears and travel complications stemming from the coronavirus outbreak, the LPGA announced late Sunday it is cancelling two more upcoming tournaments in Asia.
In a release, the LPGA stated: “Due to the continued health concerns and recent advisories in some Asian countries that large-scale events should be cancelled or postponed as a result of the coronavirus, the LPGA and its partners have made the decision to cancel the 2020 Honda LPGA Thailand, which was scheduled to take place February 20-23 in Pattaya, Thailand, and the 2020 HSBC Women’s World Championship, which was scheduled to take place February 27-March 1 in Singapore.
“It is always a difficult decision to cancel events and the LPGA greatly appreciates the understanding and all the efforts made by our title sponsors (Honda and HSBC) as well as IMG to host incredible events for our players. The health and safety of our players, fans and everyone working on the event is always our highest priority. While we are disappointed that these tournaments will not take place this season, we look forward to returning to Asia soon.”
The tournaments are the second and third the LPGA has cancelled because of the coronavirus. Late last month, the tour cancelled the Blue Bay LPGA tournament, originally scheduled for March 3-5 in China.
The PGA Tour Series-China has relocated an upcoming Q-School to Indonesia, with the rest of its schedule in flux, and men’s alpine skiing World Cup races scheduled for Feb. 15-16 in China also have been cancelled.
Cindy Reid, a noted American golf instructor who has been teaching in China for more than a decade, posted pictures on social media of a vacant Costco in Shanghai and commented that the streets of one of the world’s most bustling cities are vacant as residents remain shuttered indoors.
An accurate total number of virus casualties remains a mystery, although by Sunday state-run media in China listed fatalities for the nation at 813, surpassing mortality estimates from the SARS virus of 2002-04. The World Health Organization estimates there are more than 37,000 cases of coronavirus affecting 28 countries with the vast majority of cases and deaths coming in mainland China.
Staff and Wire Reports