The LPGA is continuing its schedule tweaks.
In 2026, the Black Desert Championship in Utah, after its inaugural edition, won’t be contested.
Instead Black Desert, as a sponsor, will become a marketing partner of the LPGA. Therefore, the financial agreement between the two entities will be reallocated, and, according to Golfweek, there will be a partner summit at Black Desert between LPGA officials and stakeholders.
“Through this marketing partnership, Black Desert will help advance our mission by increasing opportunity, visibility, and growth across the tour for the remainder of our agreement,” Ricki Lasky, the LPGA’s chief tournament and business officer, told Golfweek in a statement.“Their continued partnership represents a powerful step forward in our collective effort to elevate the women’s game globally. We are deeply grateful to Black Desert for recognizing the goals we are working towards as a tour—and for aligning their support to help us achieve them.”
In 2025, Black Desert Resort was the lone course to host both an LPGA and PGA Tour event.
Black Desert stepped up as one of the LPGA’s strongest sponsors, boasting a $3 million purse (one of the largest on tour for a non-major), along with comped rooms and free chartered flights for players. The tournament was played in early May, a week after the year’s first major, the Chevron Championship.
Last month, the LPGA announced that the Match Play at Shadow Creek in Las Vegas wouldn’t be held next year after T-Mobile pulled out as the title sponsor. However, an event in which the LPGA will partner with the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund for a co-sanctioned tournament with the Ladies European Tour will be contested at Shadow Creek next season.
Craig Kessler, the LPGA commissioner, will reportedly reveal the 2026 schedule at the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship in two weeks. When he took over as commissioner earlier this year, one of his visions was altering the schedule to allow “our athletes to perform at the highest levels and to recover as opposed to zigzagging the country or the world.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as After Inaugural Edition, LPGA’s Black Desert Championship Won't be Held in 2026.
