The LPGA has reduced this week’s Cambia Portland Classic from 72 to 54 holes because of the hazardous air quality caused by fires in the Pacific Northwest.
The event will now be played Friday through Sunday at Columbia Edgewater Country Club in Portland, Oregon.
“As we have said throughout recent months, 2020 has been the year of health and safety, and this situation is no different,” said LPGA chief tour operations officer Heather Daly-Donofrio. “Our meteorologist says that it is unlikely that air-quality conditions will improve before midday Thursday, and we cannot risk the health of our players, staff, volunteers, broadcast crew and others at the course. This is not a choice we made lightly, but we are confident that this is the right decision.”
It’s the second week in a row that the LPGA has had to call an audible. Last week, at the ANA Inspiration, tournament officials allowed caddies to use a golf cart during competition because of high temperatures that approached 110 degrees. Though air quality was also an early-week concern, it turned out to mostly be a non-issue.
The course in Portland was closed Tuesday, and the Wednesday pro-am has already been canceled.