Ladies European Tour: Schedule announced for 2021 with record-breaking prize fund
- Published
The Ladies European Tour will feature 27 events in 2021, with a "record-breaking" 19m euros (£16.7m) prize pot.
Nine new fully sanctioned tournaments have been added to the roster, with prize money up 6m euros on 2019.
South Africa will stage the first event in May, with Europe hosting most tournaments between June and September.
The season-finale will again be held in Spain and decide who wins the Race to Costa del Sol and a bonus of 250,000 euros split between the top three.
All tournaments cancelled in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic will return to the schedule along with a new team series that features events in New York, London, Singapore and Saudi Arabia.
The addition of "new and innovative tournaments shows how much interest and momentum there is behind women's sport," said Ladies European Tour chief Alexandra Armas.
There will be three new events in Sweden, a return to Finland for the first time in 10 years and events in the Czech Republic, England, France, Spain, Scotland and Switzerland, as well as India, Kenya, Morocco and Dubai.
The season is also expected to feature the Olympics golf competition in Tokyo and Europe's defence of the Solheim Cup against the United States in Ohio.
Catriona Matthew, who captained Europe to victory at Gleneagles in 2019 and will again lead the team this year, said: "I have six captain's picks for the first time this year and I am looking forward to playing with some of Europe's best as I assemble my team."