NZ Women’s Open canned

Lydia Ko will not get the chance to play an LPGA tournament on home soil this summer.

The New Zealand Women’s Open, which was scheduled for February 2019, will not go ahead after the tournament lost its major sponsor.

Ko finished in a tie for 22nd at the inaugural LPGA-sanctioned event at Windross Farm in Auckland in 2017.

The second LPGA-sanctioned event was originally scheduled for 2018 but was moved to February 2019 to tie in with the Australian Open and hopefully produce more favourable weather for the event. The 2017 tournament, held in October, finished a day late after high winds and heavy rain created havoc.

In a statement, New Zealand Golf chief executive Dean Murphy said bringing the LPGA Tour to New Zealand is a huge undertaking which requires significant commercial support.

New Zealand Golf and tournament promoters, The Clubhouse, who staged the 2017 event are in discussions with the LPGA Tour about being part of their tour schedule in early 2020.

Cancellation of the 2019 event comes after title sponsor McKayson pulled out of the tournament.

The Clubhouse managing director, Michael Goldstein is remaining positive about the event’s future.

‘‘We are heartened by the strong ongoing support for the event amongst our local partners and are looking forward to working with New Zealand Golf and the LPGA Tour for the 2020 event,’’ he said.