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The LPGA should have its full array of stars on display when it returns to Galloway Township in June.

The tour announced Monday that the ShopRite LPGA Classic will return June 14-20 after a three-year absence. On Wednesday, the LPGA released the rest of its 2010 schedule, which consists of 24 tournaments, the fewest since 1971. The tour comes to Galloway Township one week before the LPGA Championship in suburban Rochester, N.Y.

Players are not required to participate in every tournament. But the schedule bodes well for the Classic.

Having fewer events means more time off, so players will not skip as many tournaments, organizers say.

Perhaps more importantly, the Classic should serve as a valuable tune-up opportunity for the LPGA Championship, one of the tour’s four majors.

“We’re thrilled at where we are (on the schedule),” Tim Erensen, executive director of the Classic, said Wednesday by phone. “Typically in the LPGA, being a week before a major has been very positive for your strength of field.

“We’re in a pretty good spot to attract the best field we can.”

That was one of the sticking points when the Classic folded in 2006. For years, the Classic was the event right before the McDonald’s LPGA Championship in Maryland. But then-LPGA commissioner Carolyn Bivens, who has since been ousted by the players, gave that spot to another tournament, which has since folded.

The LPGA announced Wednesday that supermarket chain Wegman’s is the new sponsor of the LPGA Championship, and that the event will be in Pittsford, N.Y., from June 24-27.

The Classic has been a good tune-up event in the past. In 2003, Angela Stanford won in Galloway Township and finished second in the U.S. Women’s Open one week later.

“I think everybody wants to play well going into (a major),” Golf Digest senior editor Ron Sirak said by phone. “I think most players like to play that week before a major and get into a good rhythm for the event coming up.”

Sirak, who is in Houston this week covering the Tour Championship, said the players he has talked to are thrilled about returning to southern New Jersey.

“It was perfect when Atlantic City was the week before the McDonald’s tournament,” Sirak said. “The players loved that two-week stretch. I think they’re very excited about going back.”

Even if players are not as concerned with preparing for the LPGA Championship, they still are likely to play in the Classic.

“One of the good things about that schedule is the top players are going to play virtually every tournament,” Sirak said.

The Classic’s June date also has been good in the past for attracting top college talent, since the NCAA season ends in May. Current LPGA stars Cristie Kerr and Paula Creamer played as amateurs in the Classic when they were teenagers. Creamer finished second in the Classic in 2004 when she was 17.

“We should be in a good position if there is a worthy player coming out of college, or a player in college deserving of the opportunity to play,” Erensen said. “We’ll have the ability to do that.”

The success of the Classic takes on even more importance for the LPGA due to the small schedule. Acting Commissioner Marty Evans said at a news conference Wednesday in Houston that, while the organization has fallen on hard times, its return to Galloway Township is one of the reasons for optimism in 2010.

“Nothing is more encouraging to our members and our business than hearing the words, ‘We want you back,’ ” Evans said, according to a transcript of the conference on the association’s Web site.

Sirak said the tour has made some poor decisions in the past few years and needs to focus on mid-sized markets such as southern New Jersey.

“I think the Atlantic Citys, Rochesters, Toledos are the backbone of the LPGA,” Sirak said. “You go into markets of those size, and people support the tournaments.”

One area that appears to no longer be part of that equation is northern New Jersey. The Sybase Classic, which was held the past three years in Clifton, Passaic County, was not included on the schedule released Wednesday.

Evans said the schedule is not necessarily final and negotiations are ongoing with several prospective tournaments.

“We continue to discuss the opportunities with Sybase, but at this point they have not made a decision,” Evans said.

One obstacle could be related to Monday’s announcement. ShopRite had been a presenting sponsor for the Sybase Classic in the absence of the Galloway Township tournament.

Now, that sponsorship will go toward helping the LPGA re-establish itself in southern New Jersey.

“I think that getting this tournament back in the mix was a huge, huge victory for the LPGA,” Sirak said.

____________________________________________________________

LPGA 2010 schedule

(Does not include early-week events associated with tournaments)

Feb. 18-21 — Honda PTT LPGA Thailand (Chonburi, Thailand)

Feb. 25-28 — HSBC Women’s Champions (Singapore)

March 25-28 — LPGA Classic Presented by J Golf (Carlsbad, Calif.)

*April 1-4 — Kraft Nabisco Championship (Rancho Mirage, Calif.)

April 29-May 2 — Tres Marias Championship (Morelia, Michoecan, Mexico)

May 13-16 — Bell Micro LPGA Classic (Mobile, Ala.)

June 10-13 — State Farm Classic (Springfield, Ill.)

June 18-20 — ShopRite Classic (Galloway Township)

*June 24-27 — LPGA Championship Presented by Wegmans (Pittsford, N.Y.)

July 1-4 — Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic Presented by Kroger (Sylvania, Ohio)

*July 8-11 — U.S. Women’s Open (Oakmont, Pa.)

July 22-25 — Evian Masters (Evian-les-Bains, France)

*July 29-Aug. 1 — RICOH Women’s British Open (South Port, England)

Aug. 20-22 — Safeway Classic Presented by Coca-Cola (North Plains, Ore.)

Aug. 26-29 — CN Canadian Women’s Open (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada)

Sept. 10-12 — P&G Beauty NW Arkansas Championship Presented by Walmart (Rogers, Ark.)

Sept. 30-Oct. 3 — Acapulco LPGA Classic (Acapulco, Mexico)

Oct. 7-10 — Navistar LPGA Classic (Prattville, Ala.)

Oct. 14-17 — CVS/pharmacy LPGA Challenge (Danville, Calif.)

Oct. 29-31 — LPGA China (TBA)

Nov. 5-7 — Mizuno Classic (Shima-shi, Japan)

Nov. 11-14 — Lorena Ochoa Invitational (Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico)

Nov. 18-21 — LPGA Tour Championship (TBA)

TBA — LPGA Korea (TBA)

*Majors

Contact Jason Mazda:

609-272-7193

JMazda@pressofac.com

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