[PHOTO: Meg Oliphant]
The LPGA made an unusual announcement overnight, Australian time, that it had to cancel an upcoming tournament due to an event underwriter’s financial neglect.
The Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship was scheduled to begin March 20 at Palos Verdes Golf Club in a suburb south-west of Los Angeles. However, on Friday in the US, the LPGA removed the event from the 2025 schedule, with the tour calling out the unnamed underwriter for “failing to fulfill any portion of its payment obligations to the LPGA Tour for the 2024 and 2025 events”.
“We apologise for the impact this has on our players, as well as on our fans, partners and volunteers. We also want to express our heartfelt gratitude to the staff and members at Palos Verdes Golf Club, Palos Verdes Estates, and tournament operator, Outlyr, for their exceptional partnership and hospitality,” said interim LPGA commissioner Liz Moore. “It is our intention to return to Palos Verdes in the future to host title sponsor, Fir Hills, once again alongside these great partners. We remain dedicated to bringing this event back to our schedule to honour the incredible legacy of Seri Pak, who has been a wonderful ambassador for the game and this event.”
The event was started in 2018 and has been the tour’s de facto Los Angeles stop. Nelly Korda is the defending champion after winning last year in a playoff. There are now 34 events (32 official) and now just two events in March in the lead up to the tour’s first major, the Chevron Championship.
Asked if the event will be back on the schedule this year or at any other time, an LPGA spokesperson said, “We’re doing our best. We exhausted every effort to keep this on the schedule this year. We’re working with the underwriter and hopefully when this is resolved, we can find time to get it back on the schedule. I don’t want to speculate one way or the other [if it’s possible].
“We’ve been working with the underwriter throughout 2024 and now into 2025 to come up with a resolution. We worked hard and exhausted every effort. We hope to get this resolved.”
The move comes during a turbulent time for the LPGA, as commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan unexpectedly stepped down earlier this month after an up-and-down tenure as tour leader.