The first shots of the 2011 PGA Tour season are scheduled to be struck Thursday afternoon. About an hour later, the LPGA finally will get around to unveiling its 2011 schedule.
Though no one keeps such trivia, it might be the first time a higher-tier sports entity has kept its full calendar-year docket off the market until after New Year's Day. That's the nature of the challenge LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan was left to shovel out of.
"The first thing you need to do when turning a business around is to stop the slide," Whan said at last year's season finale.
When Whan arrived 15 months ago, nine U.S. events had no title sponsor beyond 2010. Eight renewed their deals, but it has been a bigger struggle to add events in the current economic climate.
The LPGA has announced two additions — both in Asia, where the women's game might be the strongest. Two U.S. events have fallen off, though the Toledo stop is merely taking a one-year hiatus.
A schedule posted on the LPGA's Web site over the weekend showed 24 events, starting in mid-February, plus the biannual Solheim Cup. It later was taken down, with officials calling it "incomplete."
One LPGA standout, meanwhile, isn't waiting to make her first 2011 start. Brittany Lincicome teed it up Tuesday against a handful of Florida minitour pros in Orlando, Fla., tying for third. Her payday: $115.
Burke, Stricker honored: Hall of Famer Jack Burke Jr. and Steve Stricker will be honored with two of the Golf Writers Association of America's highest awards.
Burke, the 1956 Masters winner, will receive the William D. Richardson Award for lifetime contributions to the game. Stricker topped voting for the ASAP sports/Jim Murray Award for cooperative efforts with media.
USGA Women's Committee Chairman Barbara Douglas, who is battling ovarian cancer, will receive the Ben Hogan Award for perseverance in golf despite a physical ailment or handicap.
Tap-ins: Karrie Webb is joining the LPGA's Board of Directors, elected as a player representative along with Allison Fouch. … Of the 92 players invited to the Masters, 11 belong to Orlando's Lake Nona Golf & Country Club, including former champion Trevor Immelman and U.S. Open winner Graeme McDowell.
— Jeff Shain