LPGA Tour unveils 2012 schedule

Daytona Beach, FL – The LPGA Tour released it 2012 schedule event slate features five new events.

As had already been announced, the tour opens the season February 9-12 in Australia with its first new stop. That will be followed by events in Thailand and Singapore before the first stateside event takes place March 15-18 with the LPGA Founders Cup in Arizona.

The tour will head to California for two tournaments, the second of which is the year's first major, the Kraft Nabisco Championship.

After two weeks off, the tour will move to Hawaii for another new tourney, then quickly shifts back to Alabama the following week.

In the first week of May, the tour will have a two-day event in Brazil. The next three events are in New York and New Jersey, including the year's second major, the Wegmans LPGA Championship.

After a pair of events, including a new stop in Canada, the year's third major -- the U.S. Women's Open -- will be contested at Blackwolf Run in Kohler, Wisconsin.

After a two-week respite, the tour heads to France for the Evian Masters, which will be a major starting in 2013. The tour returns to the U.S. for two events, including the return of the Jamie Farr Toledo Classic, which was off the slate last year.

The tour heads north of the border to Canada the last week of August, then will play a new event at an old location as the Kingsmill Resort hosts the Kingsmill Championship.

The following week is the season's final major, the Women's British Open at Royal Liverpool. The tour returns to the U.S. the next week for the Navistar LPGA Classic, which is the last full-field event in the states.

In October, the tour goes back to Asia for four straight weeks. The tour will shift to Mexico for Lorena Ochoa's event before the season wraps up November 15-18 with the second playing of the CME Group Titleholders.

According to the tour's release, LPGA Tour commissioner Michael Whan also revealed that the LPGA renewed eight of the nine tournament contracts that ended in 2011 and 10 of 11 marketing partnerships that also required new contracts.

With the addition of the new events, and the return of the Jamie Farr, the total purse in 2012 increased to $47 million after being $40.4 million last year.