After months of waiting for the LPGA Tour to resume, Malaysia’s leading golfer Kelly Tan is ready and eager to get back into the swing of things.
“I’m excited and grateful that the tour is starting and I get to compete again,” shares the 26-year-old who will be playing her third tournament of 2020 in next week’s spectator-less LPGA Drive On Championship in Toledo, Ohio.
Tan, who has spent much time in Calgary, Canada, working with her strength and conditioning coach Rich Hesketh, is currently back in the States.
“I’m in Florida now working with my coach, Gary Gilchrist. I got to play lots of golf in the past few months, which has really helped. And my game feels really good at the moment, and hopefully I’ll be able to perform well during the tournament.”
The LPGA Tour, which has been idle since February, resumes with the LPGA Drive On Championship, to be played at Inverness Club on July 30-August 2.
The US$2,000,000 Marathon LPGA Classic will be played the subsequent week at Highland Meadows Golf Club, followed by Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club in North Berwick on August 13-16.
A week later the AIG Women’s British Open will be played at Royal Troon Golf Club, Scotland.
“At the moment I’m not scheduled to play in the Scottish Open or the British Open. I can still play my way into the British Open by finishing in the top five at the Marathon LPGA Classic amongst the players that are not already in. So the list can go down quite a bit,” says Tan, who hails from Batu Pahat, Johor.
With its return to a competitive schedule amidst a season tainted by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the LPGA Tour will put in place necessary back-to-play protocols; those involved, eg players, caddies and staff, will undergo testing for Covid-19 and maintain social distancing as safety becomes the top priority.
“There’s going to be lots of back-to-play protocols, so it’ll be different,” says Tan. “But at least we know we will be in a safe environment. I’ll be starting my seven-day-at-home testing to ensure that I test negative before I travel.”
Tan is back on the LPGA Tour this season after regaining full playing rights via last year’s Q-Series at Pinehurst, but had only managed to play two events in Australia before the tour was suspended.
She played four full seasons on the LPGA Tour from 2014 but lost full playing rights following the 2017 season, competing mainly on the second-tier Symetra Tour in 2018 and 2019 where she won the Florida’s Natural Charity Classic last year for her first international professional title.
