This week, the LPGA returns to China for the first since 2019. The third edition of the Buick LPGA in Shanghai marks the return of the LPGA. Danielle Kang returns to Qizhong Garden Golf Club, where she won the event both in 2018 and 2019. She will try to complete a Shanghai triple.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the event was cancelled for three consecutive seasons.
In Shanghai, 62 LPGA members, 15 China Golf Association players and four sponsors invites will compete for $2.1 million in prize money in the 72-hole event. The field includes four players who are ranked in the top 10 on the Rolex Rankings.
Some LPGA members have expressed concerns about the LPGA’s continued participation in China. Amy Olson said Golfweek in two years she did not feel safe for players to compete there. Olson stated that too many people have turned a deaf ear to the Chinese government’s mass imprisonment and persecution against the Uyghurs in the Xinjiang Province. Olson added that Chinese officials were not transparent about what was going on in their hospitals or within their borders when the COVID-19 epidemic began.
Olson, a mother-to-be on maternity leave said, “China’s actions are in direct opposition to everything we believe in as an organization that fights for women’s right and has fought for them day in and out.”
Angela Stanford, like Olson has also made a commitment to not compete in China or Saudi Arabia because of human rights concerns.
Shanghai is the opening event of the LPGA Asia Swing. The tour will then head to South Korea for the BMW Ladies Championship. Next, the tour will return to Malaysia for Maybank Championship. Finally, the LPGA Asia Swing will conclude with a stop in Japan at the Toto Japan Classic.
Here’s an in-depth look at the field.
