With the announcement today of a new event in China scheduled for the open week in October, it's become even clearer that the LPGA brass is envisioning a split season in 2008. With only 4 events scheduled in August and September, there's a little bit of a late-summer vacation for the LPGA's top players before the Pacific Rim run-up--from Hawaii to China to Korea to Japan to Mexico--to the ADT Championship. So there's an extra incentive to get into, say, the top 50 by mid-September--you get to play in limited-field, cut-less events in what is essentially an extended playoff series and thereby pad your winnings for the year and maybe even make a move up the world (and Mostly Harmless) rankings.
Although maybe I'm too hasty to call it a split season--it's more like a 3-part season. Perhaps the spotty winter and spring schedule is by design, allowing the top players a little extra time to rest and recover from an intense October and November. It'll be interesting to see how the Thailand and HSBC World Match Play events--on hiatus this season--fit into the segmented 2009 season. Stay tuned!
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